Author initials

mariemcnally
Hi, has anyone found a solution to the glitch where zotero adds the author initials in citations if there are more than one author with the same name? I have got around it by not refreshing the document, but then I can’t get the reference list updated. My only other option as I can see is a bit of a hack - just to remove the initial in the zotero file, and manually add it on the reference. It’s on a 225 page PHD document so this is not fun! Any advice welcome! Thanks. :-)
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    It's not a "glitch" — it's Zotero following style guidelines.

    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/given_name_disambiguation
  • mariemcnally
    Thanks - I think the glitch is that by adding the disambiguation, it doesn't therefore adhere correctly to the APA 7 citation style, and Zotero seems unable to manage this correctly - so (Smith, 2020) should be just that - no matter which Smith wrote it (which was referred to as a glitch in another thread). This article is helpful and the link to disable it was what I was looking for - thank you!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited August 28, 2022
    No, you're mistaken. Zotero meticulously follows APA 7, including its disambiguation rules. You can use a different style that doesn't do disambiguation, but this is in no way incorrect.
  • mariemcnally
    That’s interesting - I have just double checked the APA manual as a result of your comment - I think you are right. I have had notes all over my thesis from not one but 2 supervisors, telling me to “adhere to guidelines”and spent some time trying to fix this (and found a number of other people in the same boat from other Universities as well as my own). But it looks like I already was and you may have saved me a big headache thanks! :-)
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