Problems with styles - including first names when not needed

ewandro

I'm using Zotero 2.0b6.5 with MS word 2007.
Some citations (not all) are showing the first names when not needed (no other author with same family names).
(Lorin M. Hitt and Brynjolfsson 1996) - using Chicago #Not Good#
(L. M. Hitt & Brynjolfsson 1996) - using Harvard #Not Good#

Also, when using Chicago with 3 authors and having 2 author with the same family name all the names are appearing instead of et. al
(Sundar Bharadwaj, Anandhi Bharadwaj, and Bendoly 2007) - using Chicago #Not Good#
(S. Bharadwaj et al. 2007) - using Harvard #Good#

ewandro

Added to the problems with citations in tables these are considerable issues with the plug-in.
Zotero is a great a FREE product but the plug-in limitations are troublesome.

Thanks in advance

adamsmith

Chicago starts et al from 4 authors, not from three.
If that is not correct, please provide the passage from the CMOS.

For the first name problem see:
http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/given_name_disambiguation

(btw. searching e.g. for "first name styles" or "first name citation" would have produced numerous results discussing precisely this issue.)

ewandro

Sorry for Chicago confusion and not had researched "first name".
I just looked the link you sent.
However the only two Hitt's that I have in my DB are "Michael A. Hitt" and "Lorin M. Hitt" they should be treated as different names, I think, since both authors first name and first name letters are different. The first name would be necessary only if both were used in the same document, I think.
But, its a minor thing I must admit

Thanks again

adamsmith

And they aren't in the same document? Are you sure?
And if you are citing different paper by L.M. Hill - are you sure her name is exactly the same in all references?

ewandro

Humm you are right again ... they are both inside the document.
Hitt, L. M., & Brynjolfsson, E. (1996).
Hoskisson, R. E., Wan, W. P., Yiu, D., & Hitt, M. A. (1999)

My question (I need to look the styles definitions) is way when I use Harvard and consequently the reference for the second article becomes (Hoskisson et al. 1999) the reference to the first article still needs the first name (L. M. Hitt & Brynjolfsson 1996).
Not a big deal.

Sorry to disturb

adamsmith

hey, no problem, ask away - I didn't mean to blast you, just to point you towards efficient ways of finding answers quickly.

The intricate questions that you raise in the last paragraph Zotero isn't able to deal with yet (if indeed Harvard doesn't need disambiguation if the author is "hidden" by the et al), but as I understand will be in the future, as the new csl processor is implemented.

komrade

Hi ewandro. I feel your pain - I went through the same challenges with first names. I finally just removed "given-name-disambiguation" until the CSL is fixed to allow only first authors to disambiguate.
There are instructions on how to do that if you follow the link above.

Just to clarify though - there is no such thing as the "Harvard" style. It's merely a popular name for the whole type of Author-Date referencing.
See my little rant here for more:
http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/harvard_style

What Style are you trying to follow? Do you have a particular publication in mind?
If so, you need to ask them about their more minor rules, including disambiguation. They do vary quite a bit between different styles.