Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

James

I did a style for the JRAI but can't work out how to submit it. I'll copy it in a separate comment box below for anyone who want to use or improve it.

There are a couple of issues I can't solve related to this citation option:

<option name="disambiguate-add-year-suffix" value="true"/>

Firstly, it doesn't disambiguate between the same name in author field and the editor field, when the editor's name is substituting for the author. This is quite a common occurrence. For example, Smith is the editor of a book published in 2004 and also had a chapter in that book. I want to cite both the book and the chapter, but the citation and the bibliography do not have a year suffix.

This could be solved by a disambiguation option that worked with the author-short macro, in which the editor's name is substituted for a citation with no author.

Secondly, it doesn't disambiguate between two citations with no dates by the same author.

This seems to be true of all the available author-date styles, so the problem would seem to be in the CSL citation option above.

If anyone is able to provide a solution, it would help to fix all the existing author-date styles on Zotero.

James

Deleted as style can now be found in the zotero style directory

bdarcus

I did a style for the JRAI but can't work out how to submit it.

See here.

Firstly, it doesn't disambiguate between the same name in author field and the editor field, when the editor's name is substituting for the author.

I would call this a Zotero bug.

Secondly, it doesn't disambiguate between two citations with no dates by the same author.

Hmm ... this is a tricky one. How should the processor handle this case? It would seem really strange to me to see:

(Doe, n.d.a)
So I'm not sure a null date can be disambiguated.

This seems to be true of all the available author-date styles, so the problem would seem to be in the CSL citation option above.

Well, the implementation of it.

James

Bdarcus, Thanks for the comments. I did see the information at
http://www.zotero.org/styles#getInvolved
but I'm afraid after a couple of hours of trying to figure it out I gave up. I couldn't see anyway to upload a .csl file.

While (Doe, n.d.a) might seem odd, if you are in a situation where you have to reference more than one unpublished work by the same author you do need some way to disambiguate.

Rintze

I did see the information at http://www.zotero.org/styles#getInvolved
but I'm afraid after a couple of hours of trying to figure it out I gave up. I couldn't see anyway to upload a .csl file.

What operating system do you use? Some time ago I posted a few pointers on using TortoiseSVN, a front-end for subversion (svn), which makes uploading styles a lot easier:

http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/3808/wrong-german-citation-in-chicago-and-harvard-style/?Focus=16585#Comment_16585

bdarcus

While (Doe, n.d.a) might seem odd, if you are in a situation where you have to reference more than one unpublished work by the same author you do need some way to disambiguate.

What about a title? E.g.:

(Doe, n.d., Some Short Title)
There are two issues here: your individual case, and the general question of the expectations of how a CSL implementation should work. My current sense WRT to the latter is that an item without a date cannot and should not be disambiguated in this way, and that one should instead include other rules for disambiguation.

Is that supportable?

mark

My current sense WRT to the latter is that an item without a date cannot and should not be disambiguated in this way, ...

I fail to see the distinction between works with and without a date WRT disambiguation. Why should a date get a,b and n.d. not?

bdarcus

@mark: the logic behind the position I stated above is that the suffix is designed to disambiguate things published within the same year, while an "n.d" by definition has no date. So there's nothing to disambiguate; the date is null, not the string "n.d."

Ultimately, I'm not religious about this; am curious what canonical styles like Chicago and APA have to say about it.

James

@Rintze

I tried to follow your instructions and I used TortoiseSVN to set up a repository on my computer, however, none of that explained to me how to upload a completely new style or where to put it. Besides, isn't this the coding of the Zotero programme itself. The only styles I can find are the core styles here:

https://www.zotero.org/svn/extension/trunk/styles/

I am only try to submit the .csl file for a new citation style.

I've now spent quite a few hours trying to do this and still haven't worked out how. Admittedly, I am a complete novice at this. My only prior experience of coding was some very basic stuff in MS Excel, but I did manage to produce the .csl file, but am defeated by this next stage. I know that everyone is involved in volunteering their time and I don't like to suggest extra work, but it really might be worth including some sort of 'idiot's guide' if the aim is to get social scientists, most of whom aren't familiar with this sort of thing, to produce and submit new styles by themselves.

Rintze

The steps to upload a new style with TortoiseSVN are:

1) Install TortoiseSVN
2) Check out a working copy of the CSL styles: http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-checkout.html
The only thing you have to do here is enter the right URL, which is https://www.zotero.org/svn/csl/, and select a destination folder on your computer.
3) After the CSL styles have been downloaded to the designated folder, place your new CSL style in this folder and add the file in TortoiseSVN:
http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-add.html
4) Upload the newly added CSL file by performing a commit action, and include a short description on what you did (adding a new style for JRAI):
http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-commit.html
After a successful commit your style should appear automatically in the style repository.

Rintze

Some comments on the way you are committing and removing the style: ideally you add your style only once. If you want to make any changes on a style already committed to the repository, just change the file in your local working copy, and commit the changes when you're done. I guess that now you're removing the style and replacing it, and committing after each step, which creates some unnecessary entries in the log of the repository (https://www.zotero.org/trac/timeline). It also prevents others from easily identifying the changes you make in the style.

Also, just let me know if you need help with validation of your style (the style repository currently lists your style as invalid, which means it doesn't follow the CSL schema completely). See also http://www.zotero.org/support/dev/creating_citation_styles

James

Sorry about that. I was having a slight issue in identifying the correct file using jedit to change the line endings to unix style.

I was wondering if the RNV programme is compatible with Vista as it doesn't seem to run at all on my computer, but I've just tried it on an XP machine and it doesn't do anything on that either. Is this some sort of strange .exe that just sits in the background?

You could advise me how to get it working, or if it's simpler let me know what actually needs changing. I don't think it can be very serious as it works fine as far as I can tell. Thanks.

Rintze

I was wondering if the RNV programme is compatible with Vista as it doesn't seem to run at all on my computer, but I've just tried it on an XP machine and it doesn't do anything on that either. Is this some sort of strange .exe that just sits in the background?

It is a command-line program, so you can't just double-click it. Instead, you have to run it from the command prompt, and instruct the program which schema to use and which CSL file. So for instance, you could use the program using the line:

C:\>"C:\Program Files\RNV.exe" c:/csl.rnc c:/jrai.csl
You can just drag the RNV.exe onto the command prompt window (this will copy the path of RNV.exe to the command prompt), and then type in the locations of the other two files (note that RNV requires forward slashes when you indicate the location of the schema and csl files)

The schema can be downloaded at http://xbiblio.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/xbiblio/csl/schema/trunk/csl.rnc?view=markup

PS. checking your latest style with RNV showed that at line 158, you call upon a variable year-date, which doesn't exist. You might get what you want by replacing:
<key variable="year-date"/>with
<key variable="issued"/>

James

I got there just before you! It's taken me longer to get the style submitted properly than to write the thing! Never mind, it's an accomplishment for me! Thanks for your advice.

bdarcus

Hang in their James; these skills become useful to you down the road in ways you can't predict.

James

Sorry, need more advice. When you click install on the style repository it says it is not a valid .csl file. I can't think why it wouldn't be. Can you suggest anything?

Also, is there any chance of someone more competent in programming correcting the 'zotero bug' mentioned above, about failure to disambiguate a single person as author and editor. That would be excellent.

dstillman

Installation was failing on 1.0.7 due to the UTF-8 BOM at the beginning of the file. This is fixed in 1.5 (and maybe on the 1.0 dev branch—I don't recall), but I've removed the BOM, so it should now work fine.

James

There is a problem with editing small-caps using the MS Word plug-in.

Please see the following thread

James

Below, there is a link to a version of the JRAI style which doesn't use small caps for the author's name in the bibliography. Currently small caps isn't supported by the MS Word plug-in causing problems if you try to edit the bibliography.

http://www.box.net/shared/clogymxhyf

In all other respects it is the same as the JRAI style in the style repository.

James

The JRAI style has been updated today with two minor corrections.

The version that doesn't use small-caps in the bibliography has also been updated and is available here: http://www.box.net/shared/clogymxhyf

The latter version has better compatibility with the MS Word add-on.

James

I submitted a new version of the JRAI style to the repository today. The changes include:

1) Web addresses in the bibliography are now given in the following format:

SURNAME, F. 2008. Title. Other details. (Available on-line: www.internet.com, accessed 10 October 2001).

This is as close as I can get to the way links are given in the recent articles in the JRAI eg. Those in Stef Jansen’s article in JRAI (December 2009) 15:4 pp.815-832, which uses the following format:

SURNAME, F. 2008. Title. Other details (available on-line: www.internet.com, accessed 10 October 2001).

It may seem a small difference, but unfortunately I think it would require a fairly complicated rewrite of the style to remove that full-stop. Anyway, I do think it is more logical to put the web address in a separate sentence.

2) The category of Presentation is now dealt with as follows:

SURNAME, F. 2008. Title. Type presented at the Meeting Name, Place, Date.

e.g.

KEENAN, J. 2010. Anthropology in the front line: The War on Terror in Africa. Paper presented at the Research Seminar on Anthropological Theory, Department of Anthropology, The London School of Economics, London, 29 January.

Zotero 2.0 is now able to handle small-caps when used with the Microsoft Word plug-in, so I’m not updating the version without small-caps.

lucas

Thanks, James, for your continued work on the JRAI style. It's well implemented and very useful. (I don't see today's update online yet, but presumably it will show up soon.)

One other feature I would find helpful is sorting sources in multiple-source paranthetical citations. For instance, in the American Psychological Association Zotero style, when one clicks on "Multiple Sources...", a check-box shows up in the upper-right corner of the subsequent dialogue window that reads "Keep Sources Sorted." (That is, one can choose whether or not use sorting.) A few other Zotero styles have this feature as well.

I actually don't know what the JRAI policy is in regard to sorting (alphabetical, chronological, or none) for paranthetical citations. If sorting is not required, then I guess there would be no reason to implement it. I just use the JRAI style for my university work, since it's better implemented than the Harvard style in Zotero. I prefer to sort multiple-source citations chronologically, although alphabetical would also be okay. (In fact, I suspect that alphabetical is the only sorting option for Zotero styles, although I'm not sure.)

adamsmith

<blockquote>(In fact, I suspect that alphabetical is the only sorting option for Zotero styles, although I'm not sure.) </blockquote>
oh no. Zotero can sort according to a lot of things. I'll leave the JRAI implementation to James, but if you want to fix it for yourself, you'll just need
<sort>
<key variable="issued"/>
</sort>
in the citation part of the style, right after all the <option-name lines.

http://www.zotero.org/support/csl_simple_edits
has instructions for simple csl edits

James

Lucas, thanks for mentioning the sorting of multiple citations. I hadn't spotted that until now. I had a look at it seems the JRAI usually sorts alphabetically and then chronologically, so I've modified the style and uploaded it. You will now also have the choice whether to sort or not.

Actually, when I looked this morning the JRAI style had disappeared completely from the style repository, which seems strange, but I can see it here:
https://www.zotero.org/trac/browser/csl/
Hopefully, it will appear soon, but if not, I'd be grateful for advice on where I've gone wrong from anyone with a more thorough understanding of these things!

dstillman

when I looked this morning the JRAI style had disappeared completely from the style repository, which seems strange

You modified it to have an invalid <id> (and a redundant "(dev)"). I've fixed it.

James

Many thanks for sorting that out for me.

James

I wasn't very satisfied with the recent update with the style, which was something of a patch job, so I've done a major rewrite of the JRAI style. This has benefited from the improved documentation on CSL that is now available and so I have been able to make improvements that I hadn't previously realised were actually possible.

Changes include:

1. The bibliography now reverses the order of surname and initial for first and subsequent authors e.g. "Surname, I. & I. Surname"

2. The style is now able to deal with more complicated bibliographic information such as items with editions, translators, editors (including items with both authors and editors e.g. an edited collection of the writings of Karl Marx). These all confirm to the JRAI style.

3. Web addresses display according to the JRAI standard whenever available. This behaviour can be modified for some item types through Zotero preferences.

4. Series names and series volumes display according to the JRAI style whenever available. If this information is not wanted it must be manually deleted.

5. The 'Conference Paper' item type formats like 'Book Section' and should only be used for published conference papers.

6. Unpublished conference papers and other presentations should use the 'Presentation' item type. The 'type' field is required for this item type.

7. There is provisional support for the 'Interview' item type, however I am not aware of any JRAI style precedent for this.

I have tested this new version thoroughly over the last few days and am happy with it, but if you discover any bugs or problems please let me know. As it is a major new version, I think it is sensible to make sure that the previous version of the style is still available for anyone who is not happy with the new version. This legacy JRAI style can be downloaded from here: http://www.box.net/shared/hgf586m7l1

lucas

Many thanks, James. This is fantastic. The implementation of volume and series information is very helpful. The style seems very nearly complete now. The only other feature I'd like to see is the ability to indicate original publication dates for republished works (although I'm not sure of the JRAI convention on this). But from what I understand we need to wait for Zotero to implement this capability centrally.

http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/8239/multiple-dates-for-published-and-republished/

bibliophilia

Hello,

I have looked for the JRAI citation style in the Zotero citation style list but could not find it. Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks,

Dhivya

adamsmith

Go here
http://www.zotero.org/styles
search for "anthropological institute" - Styles are usually listed under their full name, not the abbreviation.

bibliophilia

Hello,

Thank you for the response (I ought to have done a more thorough check).

Regards,

Dhivya