Author Initials Before Last Name in First Author

laurenclatch
I figured out how to edit the citation styles, and I have been able to put the (first and middle) initials before the last names of all authors except the first author.

Is there some way to do this? I realize that this is an unusual request, but my boss requested this specifically.

Currently the author section of my bibliography citations are as follows:
Johns S, R Gabe, A McGuire.

And I would like it to look as follows (but still keep in alphabetical order by the first last name i.e., Johns):
S Johns, R Gabe, A McGuire.

Any advice?
  • yip2
    I wonder how did you figure out how to edit the citation style? I could not. The step-by-step guide says 'Download the style you want to edit to your computer, and open it in a (plain) text editor like Notepad on Windows'. But HOW exactly can we download it and open it? By pressing which button on which webpage can we do that? Sorry if this is the most obvious thing in the world to you but it is a complete mystery to me ...
  • adamsmith
    There are various ways, but https://zotero.org/styles and right-click -->"Save link as" on the style in question is one.

    @lauren -- sorry for overlooking this earlier. If you still need this, you want to delete name-as-sort-order="first"
  • yip2
    Thank you! I have now managed to open it on zotero test pane and am trying to eliminate the initial of the first name from citation of all book authors. I found this in the CSL specification but wonder if it actually tells us how to do the elimination? Or should I be looking somewhere else?

    'Name-part Formatting

    The cs:name element may contain one or two cs:name-part child elements for name-part-specific formatting. cs:name-part must carry the name attribute, set to either “given” or “family”.

    If set to “given”, formatting and text-case attributes on cs:name-part affect the “given” and “dropping-particle” name-parts. affixes surround the “given” name-part, enclosing any demoted name particles for inverted names.

    If set to “family”, formatting and text-case attributes affect the “family” and “non-dropping-particle” name-parts. affixes surround the “family” name-part, enclosing any preceding name particles, as well as the “suffix” name-part for non-inverted names.

    The “suffix” name-part is not subject to name-part formatting. The use of cs:name-part elements does not influence which, or in what order, name-parts are rendered. An example, yielding names like “Jane DOE”:'
  • adamsmith
    you just want form="short" set on name for that. The name-part formatting is for styling parts of names (e.g. putting last names in small caps -- what the specifications refer to as "nam-part-specific formatting), not for determining whether they're present.
  • yip2
    Thank you. I found something similar to what seem to be describing on the test pane - could you kindly tell me what exact edits are required to eliminate the initial? There are already many references to 'form="short"'.

    '<macro name="editor">
    <names variable="editor" delimiter=", ">
    <name prefix=" " and="text" delimiter-precedes-last="never" et-al-min="4" et-al-use-first="1" initialize-with=". "/>
    <label form="short" prefix=" (" suffix="), "/>
    </names>
    </macro>
    <macro name="author">
    <names variable="author">
    <name form="short" and="text" delimiter-precedes-last="never" et-al-min="4" et-al-use-first="1" initialize-with="" sort-separator=""/>
    <label form="short" prefix=" (" suffix=")"/>
    <substitute>
    <names variable="editor"/>
    </substitute>
    </names>
    </macro>
    <macro name="author-bibliography">
    <names variable="author">
    <name and="text" delimiter-precedes-last="never" et-al-min="4" et-al-use-first="1" initialize-with="." name-as-sort-order="all" sort-separator=" "/>
    <label form="short" prefix=" (" suffix=")"/>
    <substitute>
    <names variable="editor"/>
    </substitute>
    </names>
    </macro>
    <macro name="author-long">
    <names variable="author">
    <name and="text" delimiter-precedes-last="never" et-al-min="4" et-al-use-first="1" initialize-with=". "/>
    <substitute>
    <names variable="editor">
    <name and="text" delimiter-precedes-last="never" et-al-min="4" et-al-use-first="1" initialize-with=". " sort-separator=" "/>
    <label form="short" prefix=" (" suffix=")"/>'
  • adamsmith
    where exactly do you want to eliminate the initials?
    And what style is this based on?
  • yip2
    Thank you, I want to eliminate the initials of the first names of authors and editors in the citation. This is to meet the style guide of Human Rights Law Review. There is no ready style for that available in the Zotero Style Repository so I am using the style of European Journal of International Law for modification.
  • adamsmith
    It looks like the style adds initials for some items but not for others. The macro author doesn't add initials (see the form="short" there), the macro author-long does.

    So the way I'd fix this is to go down to the citation section and replace all instances of author-long with author. E.g. change
    <if type="book legal_case motion_picture report" match="any">
    <group>
    <text macro="author-long" suffix=", "/>

    to

    <if type="book legal_case motion_picture report" match="any">
    <group>
    <text macro="author" suffix=", "/>

    and do the same in the other instances of author-long
  • yip2
    thank you, I have now done the changes, validated it and saved it into a notepad file but I don't understand the following installation instruction:

    'drag-and-drop the CSL style file onto an open Firefox browser window, and click the “Install” button (you can ignore the grey bar at the top of the window (“This XML style does not appear…”)). '

    The file is in my download box, how can I drag and drop into firefox browser window? Which window and where to drop to? Where is the 'install' button?
  • adamsmith
    Open the folder that contains the file, have any Firefox window open, click the file and hold the left mouse button, move it over to the open Firefox window and let go of the mouse button.

    The install button will appear then, as in the screenshot.

    If you find that confusing, follow the instructions for Zotero Standalone, which work in Firefox, too.
  • yip2
    IT WORKED! Thank you! I wonder if there is a more comprehensible guide to understand what these commands mean and how to change them? For example, I want to make a case citation look like this:

    Case concerning Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America) Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 2003, 161, Declaration of Judge Higgins, at para 49

    Is there an easy way to do it?
  • adamsmith
    The specifications are the only comprehensive guide I'm aware of (it looks like you found them: http://docs.citationstyles.org/en/stable/specification.html ).

    Formatting case citations is quite problematic because of the different nature of legal citations across jurisdictions. What you have available in Zotero is modelled after US case citations (and barely enough to cite those). Citing non-US legal cases (and in particular international and/or EU courts) is going to be clumsy.
  • yip2
    OK no worries, however, how do I add a semi-colon between two book references cited in one footnote? Currently it reads like this:

    'Kohen, 'Keeping Subsequent Agreements and Practice in Their Right Limits', in G. Nolte (ed.), Treaties and Subsequent Practice (2013) , at 32Linderfalk, supra note 14, at 166. '

    Also the editor's name still has an initial even though there is no reference to 'long' in the text file anymore, except these:

    '<else-if position="ibid-with-locator">
    <group delimiter=", ">
    <text term="ibid" form="long" font-style="italic" text-case="capitalize-first"/>'

    '<else-if position="ibid">
    <text term="ibid" form="long" font-style="italic" text-case="capitalize-first"/>'

    Should I change these too and if so, how?
  • yip2
    Hi, could you also tell me how to change 'ibid., at' to just 'ibid. at'?
  • yip2
    And how could I make 'supra' appear in normal font without italics?
  • yip2
    And how could I turn 'supra note' into 'supra n'?
  • adamsmith
    (I do have somewhat limited time, so the more of these you can figure out yourself the more likely I'll be to have time to answer the remaining ones. Formatting supra & ibid, for example, isn't terribly hard).
  • yip2
    Could you kindly recommend a resource which would tell us what to do? The specification guide does not in fact include the word 'supra' at all. When I did a search for ibid, it says the following, which I don't think deals with the fullstop at the end:

    ' “ibid”/”ibid-with-locator”/”subsequent”: cites referencing previously cited items have the “subsequent” position. Such cites may also have the “ibid” or “ibid-with-locator” position when:
    the current cite immediately follows on another cite, within the same citation, that references the same item

    or
    the current cite is the first cite in the citation, and the previous citation consists of a single cite referencing the same item

    If either requirement is met, the presence of locators determines which position is assigned:
    Preceding cite does not have a locator: if the current cite has a locator, the position of the current cite is “ibid-with-locator”. Otherwise the position is “ibid”.
    Preceding cite does have a locator: if the current cite has the same locator, the position of the current cite is “ibid”. If the locator differs the position is “ibid-with-locator”. If the current cite lacks a locator its only position is “subsequent”.

    “near-note”: position of a cite following another cite referencing the same item. Both cites have to be located in foot or endnotes, and the distance between both cites may not exceed the maximum distance (measured in number of foot or endnotes) set with the near-note-distance option (see Note Distance).

    Whenever position=”ibid-with-locator” tests true, position=”ibid” also tests true. And whenever position=”ibid” or position=”near-note” test true, position=”subsequent” also tests true.'

    I very much appreciate your help!
  • adamsmith
    the specifications are a technical document that provide comprehensive documentation on everything that's possible in CSL, but obviously at some level of generality (e.g. describing prefix, suffix, and delimiters instead of "how to I put/delete a comma after ibid").

    A document that describes every possible action in a citation style would be many thousands of pages long.

    The test pane gives you a sandbox where you can try out things without any risk of breaking anything. There's also the visual editor, which you might find easier.

    I try to help people who need a single simple edit (like your first one) or who've made an effort editing a style but hit a roadblock, but that's all I have time for, sorry.
  • yip2
    OK thanks, do you think it is possible that the journal would have a .csl file that meets all of their requirement and that they could send to me for me to install onto my zotero to avoid all these problems? There is no such .csl file on the zotero style repository though.
  • adamsmith
    unlikely -- practically all journals for which CSL styles exist want to see them on the repository (which is used by other reference managers, too). You can ask, obviously.
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