BCE Dates?

variable
I found a few old discussions (for example ~2014 — https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/41160/bce-dates) but was unable to find anything fairly recent.

how does one cite BCE dates. For example "~429BCE"?
  • bwiernik
    Put that in Extra like this:

    original-date: -429?
  • variable
    edited June 16, 2026
    I do so, with this example, I get this. See the "C.E" which is incorrect.

    ```
    1. Sophocles. (1928). Sophocles’ King Oedipus: A Version For The Modern Stage [Pdf]. In David R. Clark & Rosalind E. Clark (Eds), & William Butler Yeats (Trans.), Volume II: The Plays: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Series (unexpurgated, Vol. 2, pp. 369-400,882-891). Scribner. https://web.english.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Yeats_Oedipus.pdf (Original work published 429 C.E.)
    ```


  • adamsmith
    Which style is that? Note that you have to use the extra field and you have to add the - before 429 (which works for me)
  • variable
    Ah ha! the use of the 'extra' field was key. I was using the provided textbox for "original date").
  • internationaled
    It does seem to me to be a true and legitimate bug that entering "429 BCE" gets morphed to "429 CE". That could be a problem for a new user or someone who isn't familiar with these forums.

    I've been using Zotero for eight years now and only today noticed this was happening. I don't remember the last time I tried to use a BCE date in a paper but am wondering if it got changed to CE, and I just missed it.

    I wonder if allowing BCE dates in the date fields is on the roadmap. But I know there's always so much on the roadmap.
  • adamsmith
    To be clear, what's happening is just that anything other than a plain date Year/Month/Day date in the date field gets ignored, including BCE, minus signs, any ISO8601 date notation, etc. That's certainly not great and a better date field is needed -- I do think it's somewhere on the list, but it has been for quite some time.
    (Technically I don't think it'd qualify as a bug -- it's not unexpected behavior from Zotero's end -- it's just bad UX)
Sign In or Register to comment.