[Libreoffice] Follow from reference staright to the paper?

Asquator
Hello!

Is there an easy way to follow from a reference number in a libreoffice document straight to the referenced paper? When having many references, it's hard to track which number leads where/search the bibliography every time.

Thank you!
  • tim820
    edited 22 days ago
    There is a VBA macro for MS Word which does that, but I don't believe anyone has done one for LibreOffice.
    https://github.com/sbaydin/ZoteroCiteLinker

    Perhaps a project for someone ? An AI chatbot like Gemini might be smart enough to do a direct translation from ZoteroCiteLinker's VBA to LibreOffice Basic ? LibreOffice Basic has at least partial support for running VBA macros ...
    https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/sbasic/shared/vbasupport.html
  • aborel
    As a workaround, maybe you can use an author-date style instead of a numeric style?
    Since the in-text citations contain partial information about the reference, it reduces the need to look at the full bibliography while you are preparing the document. You can switch to a numeric style whenever you need (and back to author-date if necessary).
  • Asquator
    I think I'll use the workaround, thank you.

    Probably the only feature that is missing for me so far in the integration. Do you think it's possible to implement this in the plugin itself?
  • aborel
    "implement this in the plugin itself": I'm not sure what you mean here?
    The bibliographic style is set through the document preferences of the word processor plugin https://www.zotero.org/support/libreoffice_writer_plugin_usage
  • Asquator
    No no, I'm well aware of the bibliographic style and preferences.

    I wonder if it's possible to implement the quick follow feature in the plugin itself, or should it be a 3rd-party macro?
  • aborel
    edited 20 days ago
    Sorry I read the last message wrong
  • aborel
    Well, theoretically the Word VBA code could be translated into LibreOffice Basic, as suggested by tim820.

    But you need someone who understands both environments well enough to do it.
  • rmconroy
    I used Vancouver all my working life, but then did a musicology degree and discovered the MHRA Style (modern humanities). It puts the references as numbered footnotes on the page you're working on PLUS generates a bibliography at the end.

    This is incredibly useful because you can see at a glance what references are used on this page and where they are used. Unlike author date, it uses numbered footnotes, so it doesn't clutter the text.

    My recommendation is to use MHRA for writing and then change to the journal's preferred style when you are finished.
  • aborel
    I'm working on an a LibreOffice template similar to that for Word (with a lot of help from Claude.AI). It isn't trivial, but I think I'm getting closer to a working prototype... I'll post again when it's functional enough to be testable by someone else.
  • aborel
    edited 9 days ago
    I admit that the code is really Claude's work with the MS Word macro as the first input, and I haven't tested all the features with all possible styles, but here's a LibreOffice template for those who would like to try:

    https://github.com/aborel/ZoteroLinkCitationLibreOffice/blob/main/ZoteroCiteLinker.ott

    My chat with Claude went through several iterations, the template now does what I wanted as a non-user of the Word macros, so it's probably reasonably stable but certainly needs testing by people with higher expectations.

    It is good to remember that interoperability between the Microsoft and LibreOffice environments is probably zero at this point. Any other feedback is welcome on Github, feel free to open an issue and share your experience.
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