Russian GOST (numeric, sorted alphabetically). - does not sort in alphabetic order

KorosiK · November 28, 2018

Hi all,

I experienced a problem: I used several citations in the style above in two different word-docs. Then I copied the citations to one document, creating a new, 3rd one. When I inserted the bibliography, it contained all citations but it was not listed in alphabetic order.

Can someone help me how to solve this problem?

Thx! Kriszta

bwiernik · November 28, 2018

Try to switch to a different style and back.

KorosiK · November 28, 2018

Thanks, tried - same result.

bwiernik · November 28, 2018

Looking at the style code (https://www.zotero.org/styles/gost-r-7-0-5-2008-numeric-alphabetical?source=1), it looks like it first sorts based on the macro "language-sort", which is the contents of the Extra field plus the text "Z999", then sorts alphabetically and by year. This presumably is to first sort items based on the language of the items (stored by the user in Extra).

KorosiK · November 29, 2018

I think, it gives an answer for the problem. So, if the data are deleted from the Extra field, does that mean that sorting will be probably fine?

KorosiK · November 29, 2018

Well, I tried it (deleting the information from Extra field) but gave no better result. What is 'Z999'? Can you explain it with a bit detailed how can I change this (if it is possible?) Thanks!

bwiernik · November 29, 2018

Do the author guidelines for this style specify that items should be arranged by language?

KorosiK · November 29, 2018

Well, I do not know. If someone knows, pls. answer :)

https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/blob/master/gost-r-7-0-5-2008-numeric-alphabetical.csl

bwiernik · November 29, 2018

The style documentation is at http://protect.gost.ru/document.aspx?control=7&id=173511 and http://standartgost.ru/g/ГОСТ_Р_7.0.5-2008

Could you check?

KorosiK · November 29, 2018

Sorry, I cannot, since my Russian knowledge is not eligible (I just wanted to help a student who has used this style and had the problem, but myself cannot speak Russian).

bwiernik · November 29, 2018

The simplest approach for you here would be to edit the style to remove the langauage-sort macro as a sort key. Edit the .csl file and delete the line <key macro="language-sort"/>. Then change the style title and ID lines at the top of the file and save.

General style editing instructions here https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/citation_styles/style_editing_step-by-step

The use of Extra like this doesn’t really make any sense to me, but it was probably an intentional choice by the author.

KorosiK · November 29, 2018

Well, I did it and now the alphabetic order seems to be OK. I will ask the patron to do the same, hope it will be fine for her, too. Thanks a lot for your help and patience!!!!