Upgrade StorageFeature Request: Manual Reference Override Field for Multi-language or Custom Formatting
Dear Zotero Development Team,
I am writing to suggest a feature that would greatly benefit users dealing with non-English (especially CJK) literatures: a "Formatted Reference Override" field.
The Problem: Currently, Zotero generates citations based on metadata and CSL styles. However, for many local languages like Chinese, existing CSL styles often fail to meet specific institutional requirements (e.g., specific punctuation usage, or the "et al." vs "等" conversion). Modifying CSL files is a high-barrier task for most researchers.
While we can manually edit the bibliography in Word, these changes are lost if the document is unlinked or if we need to refresh the library. This forces users to re-edit the same references repeatedly, which is highly inefficient.
Proposed Feature: Add a field (perhaps under the "Extra" or a new "Manual Citation" section) that allows users to paste a pre-formatted, plain-text reference string.
How it would work: If this field is populated, Zotero would prioritize this text string over the CSL-generated output when creating the bibliography. This would:
Provide a "final resort" for complex local language formatting.
Ensure that manual corrections stay with the item metadata, so users don't have to re-format the same item across different documents or after re-linking Zotero.
This feature would make Zotero much more flexible for the global research community. Thank you for your hard work on this amazing tool.
Best regards, Juo-Lan Kuo
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u15580978/nsobbnil6ksg5jooh0n8.png
I am writing to suggest a feature that would greatly benefit users dealing with non-English (especially CJK) literatures: a "Formatted Reference Override" field.
The Problem: Currently, Zotero generates citations based on metadata and CSL styles. However, for many local languages like Chinese, existing CSL styles often fail to meet specific institutional requirements (e.g., specific punctuation usage, or the "et al." vs "等" conversion). Modifying CSL files is a high-barrier task for most researchers.
While we can manually edit the bibliography in Word, these changes are lost if the document is unlinked or if we need to refresh the library. This forces users to re-edit the same references repeatedly, which is highly inefficient.
Proposed Feature: Add a field (perhaps under the "Extra" or a new "Manual Citation" section) that allows users to paste a pre-formatted, plain-text reference string.
How it would work: If this field is populated, Zotero would prioritize this text string over the CSL-generated output when creating the bibliography. This would:
Provide a "final resort" for complex local language formatting.
Ensure that manual corrections stay with the item metadata, so users don't have to re-format the same item across different documents or after re-linking Zotero.
This feature would make Zotero much more flexible for the global research community. Thank you for your hard work on this amazing tool.
Best regards, Juo-Lan Kuo
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u15580978/nsobbnil6ksg5jooh0n8.png
