Since I do not convince anyone, I might add that "section" is an existing csl variable (used atm for bill).
As it has been done for other types (with the last Zotero 2.0 RC), it would be great to add a section field to journalArticle.

Any answer would be much (much!) appreciated (even a "NO"). Thank you!

Bionatsci - look at the link to the thread Gracile provides above - they do coincide

Do any journals which have "sections" also have "issues"?

Yes, they have. In each issue, there are different parts with their own pagination (continuous all along the year ). At the end of the year, you can bind each part...

The people who designed the organisation of those journals need their heads knocking together.

You're right. But this old system had its own justification and that's why it was used for more than 150 years in the three main french legal journals (Dalloz, Semaine Juridique aka JCP, Gazette du Palais)
However this is changing and one of them has already gave up this system (too complex for online publishing). But we still need to cite past articles!

Thank you...

The sectioning method described by Gracile is also used for Japanese official case reports. The idea is (or was) that reported cases for all courts be distributed early as a single bound volume (once per month, say), to distribute the information quickly. Libraries would then split the sections with a knife (literally), and bind the sections for each year together for ease of reference.

Since the section label may be integrated into the cite differently in different styles, it should be recorded as a separate field.

So +1 here too.

The sectioning method described by Gracile is also used for Japanese official case reports.

@fbennett, in view of the above, are there any additional Zotero item types, apart from the proposed "journalArticle", which you think would benefit of a "section" field? See http://aurimasv.github.io/z2csl/typeMap.xml to see which item types already have it.

Don't these 'sections' and 'parts' each have their own ISSN?

@DWL-SDCA, I think that's usually the case for modern scientific publications, yes, but that wouldn't solve the issue for @Gracile. Normally, when citing articles from the journals you list, you would just include the section/part name in the journal title. But in the original post above, the references look like "AbbrJournal, Year, Part", so we need a dedicated "Part" field so we can separately print the section/part information.

@Gracile, do you have any links to citation style guides that describe this format?

adamsmith -- yes. I see, now. Section after year when the article is cited. Do any databases or catalogs provide metadata with journal section in a separate field from the title? It seems even if Zotero were to add a section field to the article type, populating the section field would require hand editing.

Gracile-- does this citation requirement only apply to certain French language journals or also to the journals I listed in my earlier post.

This raises questions about metadata transfer formats, BibTeX, MODS, RIS, etc. How should I adjust my SafetyLit database structure and metadata export formats to facilitate fulfillment of Zotero's import needs when Gracile's problem is solved?

Sorry, I don't receive any notifications from the forums, even when I'm mentioned. Annoying.
 
 

How is this different from individual journals? Don't these 'sections' and 'parts' each have their own ISSN?

They don't have their own ISSN. These sections (or parts, category, heading, rubric) are parts of the same issue. As I (almost) wrote in my original post, they used to have their own pagination (this has changed around 2001-2003…)
 
 

in the original post above, the references look like "AbbrJournal, Year, Part", so we need a dedicated "Part" field so we can separately print the section/part information.

Indeed.
I should precise that there are two cases: 
Author, Title, AbbrJournal, Year, Part, Pages.
Author, Title, AbbrJournal, Year, Part, ArticleNumber. [e.g.: Drago (R.), « Le Conseil de la Concurrence », JCP G, 1987, I, 3300.]

But the article number doesn't need a dedicated field, it could be added to the section/part field.

As we'll see though, ArticleType is sometimes required. Does it need a dedicated field? We'll see that.
 
 

do you have any links to citation style guides that describe this format?

The Law group of the French Publishers Association (Syndicat national de l'édition) has recently released a guide to legal citation, Ref-Lex. That's just a starting point.

They call the section/part information "Rubrique" (Rubric). They also have two other pieces of information: "Type d'article" (ArticleType) and "Numéro d'article" (ArticleNumber).

Two cases are distinguished by the SNE : either the article cited is secondary, i.e. it's a comment of a legal case which is actually cited ; either the article cited is primary.

I've already explained in details when an article is "secondary", see this thread.

But look at these two (primary) references, both are comments of a case :
- Inserguet J.-F, « Le régime juridique de l’avis conforme du préfet en matière d’urbanisation dans les espaces proches du rivage », JCP N 2002, nᵒ 50, p. 1729‑1732.
- Guyomar M., Collin P., « Une autorité administrative peut-elle légalement s’affranchir d’un avis conforme illégal ? », AJDA 2002, nᵒ 2, p. 118.

They are secondary when cited after the case, i.e.:
CE, Ass., 26 oct. 2001, Époux Eisenchteter, nᵒ 216471, Rec., p. 495 ; AJDA 2002, nᵒ 2, p. 118, chron. Guyomar M., Collin P. ; JCP N 2002, nᵒ 50, p. 1729-1732, note Inserguet J.-F.

Notice that the titles have disappeared, replaced by "chron." and "note" which indicate the type of article (ArticleType).
 
 
Now, let's look at the requirements of Ref-Lex:

Primary:

Author(s) [name | initial(s) of given name], Title, AbbrJournal | Date [day | abbr month | year], Issue, Rubric [abbreviated], ArticleType [abbreviated] | ArticleNumber [n° X], Pages [p. X]

Examples (only the first one is of interest) :

-Cadiet L., Le principe de loyauté devant le juge civil et le juge commercial, Procédures 2015, dossier 10 (Author [Name InitialOfGiven], Title, AbbrJournal Year, ArticleType ArticleNumber)

-Hurlin-Sanchez P., Répartition des sièges dans les intercommunalités, le calme avant la tempête ?, CFP 2014, n° 344, p. 54 (Author [Name InitialOfGiven], Title, AbbrJournal Year, Issue, Page)

-Lagarde P., Les principes de base du nouveau règlement européen sur les successions, Rev. Crit. DIP 2014 p. 700 (Author [Name InitialOfGiven], Title, AbbrJournal Year, Page)

ArticleType is immediately after Rubric. They can share the same field. Actually I'd argue that "dossier 10" is Rubric + ArticleNumber, but that doesn't change anything (the guide is not consistent in my opinion, see 1 and 2).

Secondary:

Notice that ArticleType is potentially separated from Rubric by Pages.

AbbrJournal | Date [day | abbr month | year], Issue [n° X], Rubric [abbreviated], Pages [p. X], ArticleType [abbreviated] | ArticleNumber [n° X] | Author(s) [name | initial(s) of given name]

Examples:

-AJDA 2015, p. 100 (AbbrJournal Year, Page)

-CFP 2014, n° 344, p. 54 (AbbrJournal Year, Issue, Page)

-Comm. com. électr. 2010, repère 10 (AbbrJournal Year, Rubric ArticleNumber) *

-D. 2015, Pan., p. 100, obs. Chevrier É. (AbbrJournal Year, Rubric, Pages, ArticleType Author [Name InitialOfGiven]) †

-Dr. famille 2010, prat. 8 (AbbrJournal Year, Rubric ArticleNumber) *

-Gaz. Pal. 1990, 2, pan., p. 10 (AbbrJournal Year, Semester, Rubric, Pages) #

-JCP G 2006, doctr. 100 (AbbrJournal Year, Rubric ArticleNumber) *

-RD bancaire et fin. 2010, alerte 100 (AbbrJournal Year, Rubric ArticleNumber) *

-RLDI 2015/2, n° 100 (AbbrJournal Year/Issue, articleNumber)

* The Rubric is treated as an ArticleType: there is no comma between the Rubric and the ArticleType. The Ref-Lex guide is not really consistent on this, because it mixes up Rubric and ArticleType (see 1 and 2)

† There are both a Rubric and an ArticleType. The ArticleType would only appear when the reference is cited as a secondary source though.

# Semester is always before Rubric : they can share the same field.
 
 
In conclusion, a Section field would be sufficient for most cases. ArticleType which is useful for secondary citations could be treated with a Type/Genre field.