If you import a bibliographic record from the library catalog or the ATLA religion database, you will most likely need to edit the information in the record to make sure it is consistent with the needs of Turabian. All fields in Zotero can and should be edited for this purpose. When inserting a record from Zotero into your work, all information will be inserted exactly as it appears in Zotero.
Remember: You are responsible for the formatting of all elements in your work, so you must be careful to check the information in Zotero before blindly inserting it into your work. Below are some examples of fields that commonly need to be edited.
Editing the Title and Short Title.
Zotero can automatically change Sentence Case titles (where only the first word of the title and proper nouns are capitalized) to Title Case (where every major word is capitalized). To do this, right click the title or the Short Title, and select “Transform Text.”
You may also notice that not every record includes a short title, or you may not be happy with the short title that is provided. Sometimes the short title is not very short. Remember to check the short title and edit it if desired. For example, you may change the short title given, “The Discourse on the Bread of Life in John 6,” to the much shorter, “Discourse on the Bread of Life.”
Editing the Author’s Name
Records for different items by the same author may include different forms of the author’s name. Some may include the full middle name, others only a middle initial. It is best to ensure that the same author’s name is entered the same way in every place. Zotero helps with this by automatically suggesting names that you have already used as you are typing.
You should also check to make sure the author is actually the author. Records imported from the library catalog may list the editor of a book as the author. If this happens, click the arrow next to Author and select Editor.
Editing the Place and Publication Information
The place and publication information need to be edited in almost every record. These are often abbreviated, or contain extra punctuation which must be removed to avoid having these extra punctuation marks in your work. In the example below, the colon after “Saint Louis” as been removed. Concordia Publishing House has been spelled out, and the comma at the end has been removed. The copyright symbol and the period have also been removed from the date. You can see the place and publication information before editing on the left, and after on the right.
If the place of publication includes a state in addition to the city (e.g., Wheaton, IL), ensure that the state is listed with the two-letter postal abbreviation with no final punctuation.
Editing Series Information
If the item is a part of a series (e.g., Concordia Commentary), this information may need to be added to the record or corrected. Exclude any initial The from the series title, and include any information given in the book. The series editor is often omitted in citations, but you may include it if needed by adding a person field by clicking the plus sign next to the author or editor’s name. Change the field to “Series Editor” and type the name.
