Chicago - Word short cut for Author (Date) in addition to (Author Date).

zoowalk
I am using the Chicago style sheet and use keyboard shortcuts in word to insert citations etc.

Currently the only available shortcut for citations is alt + ctrl + a (on a Mac) which produces "(Author Date)". Often tough, I would like to use "Author (Date)" when referring to the author directly.

So far I have been only able to achieve the latter by editing the entry 'manually' in the 'classic view' of Zotero. Is there any way to do this more efficiently/elegantly?

It would be great to have e.g. alt+ctrl+b and obtain "Author (Date)".

Many thanks!
  • adamsmith
    no, Zotero doesn't create citations in Author (Date) format.
    It sounds like you're not working with the Word add-on though, which would seem like a big mistake. Part of why you'd be using Zotero is that a) it keeps track of what you've cited in a document and b) it allows you to change those citations later.
  • zoowalk
    Many thanks. That's a pity since it seems (at least to me) a rather frequent part of the workflow.

    I am not sure why you think, I am not working with the word add-on. I think, i do, but simply use the short-cuts. Would assume this doesn't make a difference in terms of functionality.
  • adamsmith
    It doesn't sound like it, but I maybe misunderstanding -- how exactly are you adding citations to the document?

    If you are working with the Word add-on, use suppress author https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_usage#quick_format_citation_dialog
    (cmd+down, tab-tab-tab-space with the keyboard)
    This is in line with what the Chicago Manual (15.24) has to say about these citations:
    "Where the author’s name appears in the text, it need not be repeated in the parenthetical citation." I.e. where you have Author (Date) in the text, "(Date)" is the citation (and thus created by Zotero) whereas "Author" is part of the text (and should be written by you in the document.


    editing the citations manually will prevent them from updating in the future, both if you change the citation style and if you change the data in Zotero.
  • zoowalk
    OK, got it now.

    this solved it:
    >> whereas "Author" is part of the text (and should be written by you in >>the document.

    I was (wrongly) under the impression that I have to move the author out of the bracket, by editing the entry in the classic view. Will now write author in the word document and add (Year) via "suppress author".

    Many thanks again.
Sign In or Register to comment.