Confused about citation styles

mmplx
I'd like to get some biblio in BibTeX format. One way is to Export Items from the context menu. Another (cumbersome) way is to temporarily set Export/Item Format to BibTeX and then do a quick copy. A third way is to Create Bibliography from Items, again from the context menu. But by default there is no BibTeX style so I went to Cite/Style Manager and added it. So there are plenty of options.

But I'm confused about some aspects of the above:

- Why are there two different lists of styles, a fixed one for quick copy and an extendable one to create bibliographies? And, for example, why is BibTeX included in one by default but not in the other one?

- What is the relationship between the export action in the context menu and the export settings panel? In particular, why is Item Format included as an export setting, when it's not actually referring to the format for an export action but for a quick copy instead (and for a good reason, because export actions should produce a file while quick copy is just a text fragment).

Thanks in advance.
  • mmplx
    > Why are there two different lists of styles, a fixed one for quick copy and an extendable one to create bibliographies? And, for example, why is BibTeX included in one by default but not in the other one?

    I was able to answer this one myself. I didn't realize at first, but the Item format dropdown in fact includes two sections, Citation Styles and Export Formats, the list that is fixed and includes BibTeX by default is Export Formats, but the Citation Styles section is appropriately updated from Cite/Style Manager, e.g. it now reflects that I added the BibTeX style.

    I still kind of confused about having BibTeX twice, but I assume export formats are quite different beasts from citation styles, even though both can be set for quick copy.
  • adamsmith
    edited March 16, 2024
    Why are there two different lists of styles, a fixed one for quick copy and an extendable one to create bibliographies? And, for example, why is BibTeX included in one by default but not in the other one?
    First this isn't quite right: quick copy includes all styles available through "Create Bibliography" as an option. More specifically, within quick copy, you have all installed citation styles and all available export formats as options. You can add to the installed citation styles, whereas adding to the available export formats, while technically possible, isn't an option for most regular users.
    BibTeX in Zotero is in this latter category: it's an export format, not a citation style.
    (There is, I'll admit somewhat confusingly, a citation style called "BibTeX" available. It's designed for tools other than Zotero without proper BibTeX support. You should not use it with Zotero.)
    - What is the relationship between the export action in the context menu and the export settings panel? In particular, why is Item Format included as an export setting, when it's not actually referring to the format for an export action but for a quick copy instead (and for a good reason, because export actions should produce a file while quick copy is just a text fragment).
    The export settings are all about Quick copy, as the heading at the top, right below Export, indicates.
    I think you're just interpreting "format" wrong -- that's not "file format" (I think we'd use "file type" if that was intended) but the format -- citation, bibliography, metadata format(!) -- that quick copy produces.

    Beyond this, if you regularly work with BibTeX, you probably want to look at the BetterBibTeX add-on.
  • mmplx
    Thanks for the clarifications! It's clearer now.

    > a citation style called "BibTeX" ... You should not use it with Zotero

    Why? I found it to be the more convenient option to copy&paste BibTeX without installing additional plugins. The quick copy option can take advantage of the export format, but it's cumbersome having to temporarily set the item format to BibTeX and back. And the export action produces an entire file.

  • adamsmith
    Off the top of my head: Because it's less accurate, can produce invalid citekeys and potentially other invalid things, doesn't have proper linebreaks so is harder to read (and fix if needed). Citation styles just aren't set up to handle the full complexities of an export format.

    You can use Zutilo to assign multiple quick copy formats to different keyboard shortcuts. I think Actions & Tags for Zotero 7 has that too, but not sure.
  • mmplx
    I see, it makes sense. For LaTeX I'm going to export the entire file each time something gets updated then, it's not that bad. And for more informal references from my external notes I'll just set quick copy to Chicago style or similar. Thanks again!
  • dstillman
    edited March 16, 2024
    Again, if you're using any sort of BibTeX workflow, you probably want to use the Better BibTeX plugin (which can automatically keep a BibTeX file updated). The built-in BibTeX support is really just for generic file exchange.
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