Different computers generate different citation keys for same items in shared library

edited October 8, 2024
Hi, we use Zotero+BBT with R Markdown to write manuscripts in my lab and have run into an issue where Zotero instances from different users, and also the same user with multiple instances of Zotero (e.g. on their laptop and on their desktop), generate different citation keys for items in the same shared library.

For example, I just tested this with two machines using the same shared library. Both machines are using `auth+year` citation keys, but three items on one computer have the keys Mehr2017, Mehr2017a, Mehr2017b, respectively, and on the other, they have Mehr2017a, Mehr2017b, Mehr2017c. Both machines have "Keep keys unique within each library" selected.

This is an issue because on a collaborative R Markdown manuscript, multiple users may generate new .bib files and if their citation keys are inconsistent, either an existing citation key will fail to knit properly, or worse, it will knit with the wrong item cited (which we might not notice in the reflist).

Are we doing something wrong here?
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