Custom APA CSL Style Fails in Word: “The style you have selected does not appear to be valid”

MonicaMorrison

Hi Zotero team,

I'm trying to use a custom CSL style based on APA 7th edition that removes year suffix disambiguation (i.e., no “a” or “b” after the year). The style installs correctly in Zotero and appears in the Styles list, but when I try to select it in Word (via Document Preferences), I get the following error:

“The style you have selected does not appear to be valid. Please ensure that the file is a valid CSL 1.0.2 style file and try again.”

What I’ve Tried:
Validated the CSL file using the official CSL Validator — it passes with no errors.

Installed the style by double-clicking the .csl file.

Confirmed it appears in Zotero under Settings > Cite > Styles.

Deleted all previous versions from the Zotero data directory (styles folder).

Restarted Zotero and Word.

Tried selecting the style in a brand new Word document — same error.

Environment:
Zotero version: [insert your Zotero version]

Word version: [insert your Word version]

OS: [e.g., Windows 11 / macOS Ventura]

CSL Style Info:
Title: APA 7th edition (No Year Suffix – Final)

ID: http://www.zotero.org/styles/apa-no-year-suffix-final

CSL File:
[Attach your apa-no-year-suffix-final.csl file to the post]

Would really appreciate any help identifying why this style is being rejected in Word. Here is the full CSL code I’m using (pasted below):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<style xmlns="http://purl.org/net/xbiblio/csl"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
version="1.0"
class="in-text"
demote-non-dropping-particle="sort-only"
default-locale="en-US">
<info>
<title>APA 7th edition (No Year Suffix – Final)</title>
<title-short>APA No Suffix Final</title-short>
<id>http://www.zotero.org/styles/apa-no-year-suffix-final</id>
<link href="http://www.zotero.org/styles/apa-no-year-suffix-final" rel="self"/>
<link href="http://www.zotero.org/styles/apa" rel="template"/>
<author>
<name>American Psychological Association</name>
</author>
<category citation-format="author-date"/>
<category field="psychology"/>
<summary>APA 7th edition style with year suffix disambiguation removed (Final)</summary>
<updated>2025-07-03T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
<rights license="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"/>
</info>

<locale xml:lang="en">
<terms>
<term name="et-al">et al.</term>
</terms>
</locale>

<macro name="author">
<names variable="author">
<name and="symbol" initialize-with=". " delimiter=", "/>
<label form="short" prefix=" (" suffix=")"/>
</names>
</macro>

<macro name="issued">
<date variable="issued">
<date-part name="year"/>
</date>
</macro>

<citation disambiguate-add-year-suffix="false" disambiguate-add-givenname="false">
<sort>
<key variable="issued"/>
<key variable="author"/>
</sort>
<layout prefix="(" suffix=")" delimiter="; ">
<group delimiter=", ">
<text macro="author"/>
<text macro="issued"/>
</group>
</layout>
</citation>

<bibliography>
<sort>
<key macro="author"/>
<key macro="issued"/>
</sort>
<layout>
<group delimiter=". ">
<text macro="author"/>
<text macro="issued" prefix=" (" suffix=")."/>
<text variable="title" suffix="."/>
<text variable="container-title" font-style="italic" suffix=","/>
<text variable="volume" font-weight="bold"/>
<text variable="issue" prefix="(" suffix=")"/>
<text variable="page" prefix=", "/>
<text variable="DOI" prefix=". https://doi.org/"/>
</group>
</layout>
</bibliography>
</style>

MonicaMorrison

Apologies:

Environment:
Zotero version: 7.0.16 (64-bit)

Word version: Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2504 Build 16.0.18730.20226) 64-bit

OS: Windows 11

CSL Style Info:
Title: APA 7th edition (No Year Suffix – Final)