"Author" or "Contributor" in book chapter in AMA style

taorninchicago
Hello, all,

I was wondering if i should list a book chapter author as "author" or contributor" in Zotero? it seems like a simple question, however it seems to make a difference in the reference page. Any help is appreciated!
  • adamsmith
    author.
    Contributors are never cited -- not sure what that would be for a book chapter, maybe a research assistant or something along those lines.
  • taorninchicago
    Interesting. I have seen multiple books of mine and some publishing company refer chapter author as “contributor”...however in Zotero, when you list chapter author as “contributor”, they would not show on reference page. Guess I will have to put them as “author” :-p
  • bwiernik
    They might be “contributors” if you were citing the book as a whole (where the chapter authors wouldn’t be cited), but not for the chapter itself, where they would be the primary creator (author).
  • adamsmith
    (but also: these labels are somewhat arbitrary; it's not like some standard exists about how the different roles should be called).
  • DWL-SDCA
    @adamsmith Please elaborate. Certainly chapter authors in an edited book should be cited and appear in the reference list with a cited chapter regardless if the publisher terms the chapter authors as contributors. Did I misunderstand you or are there citation styles that oppose what I said above?
  • bwiernik
    He’s just saying that the terminology used for different types of creators isn’t at all standardized.
  • adamsmith
    and to only use contributor in Zotero for people that are not cited.

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