Author's first name missing from Chicago styles

lmullen
In RC3, the Chicago styles appeared correctly both when exporting a bibliography and when inserting a citation into MS Word. In RC 4, none of the Chicago styles outputs the author's first name. I checked my Zotero items to make sure that the first-name fields have data, and they do.

Has the style been updated so that the first name was accidentally left out? Can the style be corrected?

Thanks for the great program. I'm looking forward to using it's latest version.
  • bdarcus
    The style has not been updated, but needs to be (since the current styles use the old schema). I'd guess there may have been some accidental change in the code that accounts for the problem.
  • erazlogo
    Yes, author's first name disappeared a few weeks ago. A Chicago CSL update according to the new schema should be available shortly, where this error will be fixed.
  • amos26
    This is a great program, but I also noticed that first names weren't showing up when I selected "CMS (Note with Reference List)."

    Also, I am completely new to Zotero - does it download the upgrades automatically or notify me of available updates?
  • erazlogo
    New versions of Chicago note styles are available at http://www.zotero.org/styles/ (under dev styles). They will only work with the Zotero development XPI or a future 1.0.2 release of Zotero, due soon. But if anyone can test them now please report any bugs on this forum.
  • amos26
    Thanks so much for the speedy response. But how does the average Joe User install these styles? Should we just wait for the new release, and will we be automatically alerted about its availability?
  • erazlogo
    There is a link "install" next to the style--just click on that. But I think you have to wait for Zotero 1.0.2 release first.
  • amos26
    Thanks again.
    The install link lets you download the file. But then what do you do? It's a script of some sort, right?
    Alright, I'll wait for 1.0.2.
  • erazlogo
    Once you get 1.0.2 Zotero will automatically install the style from that link.
  • simon.shamus.riley
    I am having the same issue described above: Chicago Manual of Style citation format isn't providing authors' first names on the first instance of citation.

    Just over a month ago the CMS 17th edition update was released, so at first I thought it was probably an error in the update. However, I've since tried using alternative versions (Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition, Taylor & Francis - Chicago Manual of Style, Feminist Economics, etc.) and none of them are behaving as they should in this regard. I'm using the MS Word plugin, and I've tried updating Zotero standalone and re-installing the Word plugin, but still no success. I can confirm that the entries are not missing first names in Zotero, and I'm now out of ideas.

    Any suggestions on where the problem might be or how to address it would be much appreciated!
  • adamsmith
    There are many Chicago styles. Only the "full note" ones includes first names in footnotes. Feminist Economics is an author-date style and T&F has a note and an author date version. None of these would ever or should ever have printed first names (except for disambiguation in author-date styles).
  • simon.shamus.riley
    Hi adamsmith, thanks for the prompt reply. Sorry for not having been more specific about the Chicago style I was referring to. As you might have guessed, I'm submitting to Feminist Economics (a T&F journal) which bases its style guide on Chicago 15th Author-Date.

    However, the References section of Style Guidelines provided on the Feminist Economics homepage (http://www.feministeconomics.org/pages/author-instructions/style-guidelines/) explains that:

    "On the first citation of a work, the first name as well as the last name of all authors cited must be given. Thereafter, the last name only with the date of publication will suffice. Only use et al. in succeeding mentions of sources with four or more authors."

    A quick look at some of their articles confirms that the first instance an author is mentioned in in-text references, that author's first and last names are included. I understood that this was general Chicago author-date policy, but clearly I am mistaken, so the issue appears to be with the the Feminist Economics CSL specifically.

    Thanks again!
  • adamsmith
    Yeah, we got a list from T&F that said the style behaves like standard Chicago author-date, which it clearly doesn't. I don't think the first author thing was ever in the Chicago Manual for author-date styles. I've actually never seen this as a requirement for such styles at all.

    We'll take a look, but might not be quick.

    cc @damnation
  • damnation
    edited November 10, 2017
    @simon.shamus.riley

    Can you test this one out? Right click and save and usually Zotero knows what to do with the file: https://github.com/POBrien333/styles/raw/d15f7ec7d80448a535333ddfd6202d00821aa7af/feminist-economics.csl

    Made this quite quickly, so let me know what needs fixing. :)
Sign In or Register to comment.