PLoSOne puts in references but no reference list...

dwe
Hello all,

I am a rather inexperienced Zotero user, so apologize if I have missed something obvious here. I need to reference a Word document for PLoSOne and installed the PloSOne reference style. It lets me add citations in the text but, when I come to insert the reference list, it tells me that the bibliographic style does not define a bibliography and that I need to choose another style if I need a bibliography list.... It works fine with Vancouver.

I am running Word 2011 on a Mac.

Any help with this would be much much appreciated!

David.
  • ajlyon
    Just to confirm -- this is the PLoS style from here: http://www.zotero.org/styles/ ?

    PLoS ONE uses the same style as other PLoS journals. If you are using the Endnote style from the PLoS website, it might have issues; support for Endnote styles is flaky.
  • dwe
    Unfortunately yes, it is the style from the link.
  • adamsmith
    Are you using the beta version of Zotero? Other people have reported similar issues with the beta
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/9652/the-current-bibliographic-styles-does-not-define-a-bibliography-please-choose-another-style/
    my hunch would be that there is a problem with auto-conversion of styles.
    (Zotero 2.0.9 and 2.1b use slightly different styles. The ones on the repository are almost all for 2.0.9, though they can be converted easily)

    I'm also still not sure what Zotero 2.1 does when you install styles from the repository - are they auto-updated, too?
  • ajlyon
    I believe they are auto-updated upon install.
  • dwe
    Yes, I am using the beta version. I guess that's the problem. I'd be really grateful for any ideas on how to get around it.

    To answer the questions on the link to the other discussion, yes I am changing biblio style using the Word plug-in and, as I said, it works all OK with at least one other style (Vancouver(.
  • adamsmith
    could you help troubleshoot this?
    go to the Zotero data folder
    http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#locating_your_zotero_library
    open the folder called "styles" and find the file that's called "plos.csl"
    open it with a text editor (notepad, textedit, gedit...)
    select all and copy&paste to public gist at
    gist.github.com
    then post the address here.
  • dwe
    Let me know if this works (or not):


    git@gist.github.com:de825baf4e48e71b6e82.git
  • dwe
    Sorry, or maybe this link: Use this clone URL yourself.
    git clone git@gist.github.com:de825baf4e48e71b6e82.git gist-de825baf

    I am a bit confused with the git gist thing!
  • adamsmith
    edited January 31, 2011
    no, this is how it should look
    https://gist.github.com/279604

    go to gist.github.com
    paste the text.
    click on "Create public gist" on the bottom of the page
    copy and paste what's in your URL bar.
  • dwe
    https://gist.github.com/804582 ?
  • adamsmith
    that works, thanks.
    That style is from a file called plos-one.csl , right?
    and you don't have a style called "plos.csl" in that directory?
    If you do, please post that the same way.

    If not, if you directly install the general plos style
    http://www.zotero.org/styles/plos/dev?install=1
    does that work for you?
  • dwe
    https://gist.github.com/804620

    This is plos.csl but it was in a folder called Hidden in my styles folder.

    Do you want me to try installing directly from your link?
  • adamsmith
    OK, thanks - that's helpful. So that style is still in the "old" csl, so it doesn't work in Zotero 2.1b (to be clear - that's not your fault at all - this is as an explanation and a note to Zotero devs)
    To narrow this down, yes, please do try installing the style from the link above and see if that works.
  • dwe
    Glad it's not my fault :)
    I just tried installing from the direct link and I now have plos.csl in the style directory (i.e. not in the "Hidden" folder) but it still doesn't work. I've posted the new plos.csl at

    https://gist.github.com/804661

    Thanks for your help.
  • adamsmith
    edited January 31, 2011
    OK - thanks a lot - so styles installed from the repository don't seem to upgrade.
    As a quick thank you for your help I've upgraded the plos style for you
    download it from this link (save link as...)
    https://gist.github.com/raw/804674/a1e60f0fb81d3435e6ec78ad98de9efbd6a67501/plos.csl
    then drag the downloaded file 'plos.csl' to any open Firefox Window
    Firefox will prompt whether you want to update the style, click OK and you should be good to go. Let us know if there are any more problems.
    For future reference, the procedure for upgrading styles is described here
    http://citationstyles.org/downloads/upgrade-notes.html#updating-csl-0-8-styles

    you will need to do this with all styles from the repository until this is fixed in Zotero.

    edit: The style will appear as "Public Library of Science Journals"
  • adamsmith
    ticket opened here
    https://www.zotero.org/trac/ticket/1774
  • dwe
    That works perfectly, thanks a lot!! Now I've got no excuse not to finish this article. Snd thanks for the link to how to update styles. Cheers.
  • Simon
    FWIW, the underlying issue here was quite simple: Zotero was failing to register when a dependent style (in this case, PLoS One) contained a bibliography. Further discussion here. The fix is already implemented and will be available in the next Zotero 2.1 release.
  • adamsmith
    thanks - that's what I thought initially, but then dwe reported that the independent plos.csl also didn't work (and the style he posted also wasn't upgraded) - but I guess Zotero just took the already installed style from the hidden folder?
  • Simon
    edited February 1, 2011
    Zotero will never modify style files. The upgrading takes place dynamically on each style load.
  • adamsmith
    ok, makes sense - thanks for the explanation.
Sign In or Register to comment.