How to Store and Call Multiple Abbreviations

dstark · March 30, 2021

The SBL Handbook of Style and the style for the Catholic Biblical Association use similar, but not identical abbreviation sets. One example is with

Eberhard Nestle et al., eds., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2013).

The SBL Handbook of style calls for this resource to be cited simply with the abbreviation

NA²⁸

I've been doing this with the annote variable in Extra. But CBA style calls for

Eberhard Nestle et al., eds., Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2013).

So far so good. CBA doesn't call annote and doesn't need an abbreviated citation in this case.

But if we take instead

Friedrich Blass, Albert Debrunner, and Robert Walter Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961).

then both SBL and CBA style want this resource cited as

BDF

I'm uncertain what needs to happen, e.g., in the CBA style to allow it to call custom citations without requiring Zotero records to be edited for CBA and then, of course, edited again for SBL or another style.

Any assistance with this conundrum would be most appreciated.

Thank you so much for your help!

dstark · March 30, 2021

Similarly, we might take an example with the following journal article

Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “We, They, and All in Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” Word and World 39 (2019): 263–73.

SBL style requires this journal's title to be abbreviated as WW, and this can be accommodated in the Journal Abbr field. Thus, the citation would be

Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “We, They, and All in Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” WW 39 (2019): 263–73.

CBA style often uses the same journal abbreviations as SBL style. But in this case, CBA style requires this journal's title to be written out in full. Thus, the citation should be

Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “We, They, and All in Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” Word and World 39 (2019) 263-73.

Is there a way to specify

1. in a particular item's Zotero record when, e.g., the Publication field rather than the Journal Abbr field should be used and
2. in a related CSL file what to hunt for to trigger this kind of exception?

Thanks so much!