[Tex/LaTex] Excessive fields in biblatex chicago author-date style

biblatexchicago-style

I am trying to produce simple latex document with bibliography, generated from Zotero (export in biblatex, "ISO Western 8859-1" encoding). For bibliography I use biblatex with biber as backend and try to implement biblatex-chicago authordate style.

Here is the code:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[hmargin=3cm,vmargin=3cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{cancel}
\usepackage{soul}
\usepackage[authordate,backend=biber,bookpages=false,doi=false,isbn=false,url=false]                        {biblatex-chicago}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\addbibresource{Example.bib}
\hypersetup{pdfstartview={XYZ null null 1.25}}
\singlespace
\AtEveryBibitem{\clearlist{language}}



\begin{document}

\title{\textbf{Example}\\\emph{Example}: Example}
\author{Example}
\date{}

\maketitle
\section{Example}


Example \parencite{benoit_institutional_2004}. Example by \textcite{benoit_models_2004}.

Examples \parencites{myagkov_forensics_2009}{enikolopov_field_2013}. Examples         \parencites{gandhi_cooperation_2006}{gandhi_authoritarian_2007} especially example  \parencite{levitsky_rise_2002}. \citeauthor{simpser_why_2013}'s (\citeyear{simpser_why_2013}) example.

According to \citeauthor{benoit_institutional_2004}'s (\citeyear{benoit_institutional_2004}) example.

\printbibliography

\end{document}

Here is the .bib database:

@article{enikolopov_field_2013,
title = {Field experiment estimate of electoral fraud in Russian parliamentary elections},
volume = {110},
issn = {0027-8424, 1091-6490},
url = {http://www.pnas.org/content/110/2/448},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1206770110},
language = {en},
issue = {2},
pages = {448-452},
journaltitle = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
shortjournal = {{PNAS}},
author = {Enikolopov, Ruben and Korovkin, Vasily and Petrova, Maria and Sonin, Konstantin and Zakharov, Alexei},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2013},
keywords = {authoritarian politics, nondemocratic government}
}

@book{simpser_why_2013,
title = {Why governments and parties manipulate elections theory, practice, and implications},
isbn = {9781107306882  1107306884  9781107314634  1107314631  9781139343824  1139343823},
language = {English},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
author = {Simpser, Alberto},
date = {2013}
}

@book{myagkov_forensics_2009,
title = {The Forensics of Election Fraud: Russia and Ukraine},
isbn = {9780521764704},
shorttitle = {The Forensics of Election Fraud},
language = {en},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
author = {Myagkov, Mikhail and Ordeshook, Peter C. and Shakin, Dimitri},
date = {2009},
keywords = {Law / Forensic Science, Political Science / Comparative Politics, Political Science / General, Political Science / Political Process / Elections, Reference / Research}
}

@article{gandhi_cooperation_2006,
title = {Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion Under Dictatorships},
volume = {18},
issn = {1468-0343},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0343.2006.00160.x/abstract},
doi = {10.1111/j.1468-0343.2006.00160.x},
language = {en},
issue = {1},
pages = {1-26},
journaltitle = {Economics \& Politics},
author = {Gandhi, Jennifer and Przeworski, Adam},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2006}
}

@article{gandhi_authoritarian_2007,
title = {Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats},
volume = {40},
issn = {0010-4140, 1552-3829},
url = {http://cps.sagepub.com/content/40/11/1279},
doi = {10.1177/0010414007305817},
language = {en},
issue = {11},
pages = {1279-1301},
journaltitle = {Comparative Political Studies},
shortjournal = {Comparative Political Studies},
author = {Gandhi, Jennifer and Przeworski, Adam},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2007-11-01},
keywords = {Authoritarianism, autocracy, Dictatorship, leaders, survival}
}

@article{benoit_institutional_2004,
title = {Institutional Change and Persistence: The Evolution of Poland's Electoral System, 1989-2001},
volume = {66},
issn = {1468-2508},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2004.00157.x/abstract},
doi = {10.1111/j.1468-2508.2004.00157.x},
shorttitle = {Institutional Change and Persistence},
language = {en},
issue = {2},
pages = {396-427},
journaltitle = {Journal of Politics},
author = {Benoit, Kenneth and Hayden, Jacqueline},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2004}
}

@article{benoit_models_2004,
title = {Models of electoral system change},
volume = {23},
issn = {0261-3794},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379403000209},
doi = {10.1016/S0261-3794(03)00020-9},
issue = {3},
pages = {363-389},
journaltitle = {Electoral Studies},
shortjournal = {Electoral Studies},
author = {Benoit, Kenneth},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2004-09},
keywords = {Electoral systems, Institutional change, Institutional origins}
}

@article{benoit_electoral_2007,
title = {Electoral Laws as Political Consequences: Explaining the Origins and Change of Electoral Institutions},
volume = {10},
issn = {1094-2939, 1545-1577},
url = {http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/Ha2R36zNUCxGX2yWZGwX/full/10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.072805.101608},
doi = {10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.072805.101608},
shorttitle = {Electoral Laws as Political Consequences},
issue = {1},
pages = {363-390},
journaltitle = {Annual Review of Political Science},
author = {Benoit, Kenneth},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2007-06}
}

@article{levitsky_rise_2002,
title = {The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism},
volume = {13},
issn = {1086-3214},
url = {http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_democracy/v013/13.2levitsky.html},
doi = {10.1353/jod.2002.0026},
issue = {2},
pages = {51-65},
journaltitle = {Journal of Democracy},
author = {Levitsky, Steven and Way, Lucan},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2002}
}

Here is the output:
enter image description here

The main problem I have is excessive fields. For example, in the output above I have "Accessed date" [from urldate filed in .bib file], and I cannot eliminate it, say, in the same way I eliminated language of publication. Neither of suggestions from Guidelines for customizing biblatex styles can do the trick:

    \AtEveryBibitem{\clearname{urldate}}
    \AtEveryBibitem{\clearlist{urldate}}
    \AtEveryBibitem{\clearfield{urldate}}

Moreover, I would need this field for online materials, so I need a different solution.
I had similar problems with other fields, which I just had to eliminate from the .bib database. For example, articles from PNAS have PMID number, which was printed in the bibliography even with

 eprint=false

in the preamble.

What I am doing wrong? I know experts here could write a complicated code to solve this particular problem, but maybe somebody knows how to do it using the options provided in biblatex or biblatex-chicago?

Best Answer

Instead of \AtEveryBibitem{\clearfield{urldate}} you might want to try

\AtEveryBibitem{%
  \ifentrytype{online}
    {}
    {\clearfield{urlyear}\clearfield{urlmonth}\clearfield{urlday}}}

This makes sure the urldate is deleted (well, actually its parts urlyear, urlmonth and urlday are) only for non-@online entries.

Generally, one needs to be somewhat careful with .bib files exported by external programmes as these sometimes do not adhere to best practice.

Your sources look quite good though, save for issn = {0027-8424, 1091-6490}, in enikolopov_field_2013, isbn = {9781107306882 1107306884 9781107314634 1107314631 9781139343824 1139343823}, in simpser_why_2013 and several language = {en},. ISSN and ISBN fields should not contain several ISSN/ISBNs at once as these fields are printed verbosely and you certainly do not want to see all 6 different ISBNs in the bibliography, use the ISBN that the copy of the book you worked with had on its back. While in the language field the "[l]anguages may be specified literally or as localization keys" (the biblatex documentation, §2.2.2 Data Fields, p. 19), the localisation key version is preferable for localisation purposes, so english is better than en.

Consider this boiled-down version of the above MWE

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[authordate,backend=biber,bookpages=false,doi=false,isbn=false,url=false]                        {biblatex-chicago}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{filecontents}

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@article{enikolopov_field_2013,
title = {Field experiment estimate of electoral fraud in Russian parliamentary elections},
volume = {110},
issn = {0027-8424, 1091-6490},
url = {http://www.pnas.org/content/110/2/448},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1206770110},
language = {english},
issue = {2},
pages = {448-452},
journaltitle = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
author = {Enikolopov, Ruben and Korovkin, Vasily and Petrova, Maria and Sonin, Konstantin and Zakharov, Alexei},
urldate = {2013-10-28},
date = {2013},
}
\end{filecontents*}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\AtEveryBibitem{\clearlist{language}}
\AtEveryBibitem{%
      \ifentrytype{online}
        {}
        {\clearfield{urlyear}\clearfield{urlmonth}\clearfield{urlday}}}

\begin{document}
  \nocite{*}
  \printbibliography
\end{document}

enter image description here

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Biblatex – using two languages in one reference entry

I finally have found solution in babel docs:

\newcommand\mainlanguage{\expandafter\bbl@set@language\expandafter{\bbl@main@language}}}

\newbibmacro{pagecount}{%
  \iffieldundef{pages}{}
    {\mainlanguage\addnbspace\printfield{pages}}}

Edit: maybe it is a dirty hack and inefficient, but this version don't add unwanted spaces:

\newlength{\trashlength}  
\newcommand\mainlanguage{\expandafter\bbl@set@language\expandafter%
  {\bbl@main@language}{\settowidth{\trashlength}\expandafter%
  \bbl@set@language\expandafter{\bbl@main@language}}\kern-\trashlength}}%

[Tex/LaTex] biblatex: Chicago-style page ranges

Here's a summary of the abbreviation rules described in The Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition, section 9.60).

If the first number in the page range less is than 100: No compression (e.g. 3–10, 71–72, 96–117)
Otherwise if the first number is divisible by 100: No compression (e.g. 100–104, 1100–1113)
Otherwise if the second last digit in the first number is zero: Full compression (e.g. 101–8, 808–33, 1103–4)
Otherwise: Compression down to at least two digits (e.g. 321–28, 498–532, 1087–89, 1496–500, 11564–615, 12991–3001)

Based on the counters discussed in a previous answer the following values address rules 1 and 4.

\setcounter{mincomprange}{100}    % Compress when first number is > 100...
\setcounter{maxcomprange}{100000} %   and has no more digits than 100000 (essentially > 100)
\setcounter{mincompwidth}{10}     % Compress down to two digits

\mkcomprange suppresses leading zeros in the second number. This takes care of rule 3. Rule 2 can be handled by editing some biblatex internals. This is demonstrated with the document below.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[american]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[style=authoryear]{biblatex}

\DeclareFieldFormat{postnote}{\mkcomprange[{\mkpageprefix[pagination]}]{#1}}
\DeclareFieldFormat{pages}{\mkcomprange{#1}}

\setcounter{mincomprange}{100}
\setcounter{maxcomprange}{100000}
\setcounter{mincompwidth}{10}

\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\blx@comprange@check}
  {\blx@comprange@comp{#1}{#2}}
  {\blx@tempcnta=#1
   \divide\blx@tempcnta100
   \multiply\blx@tempcnta100
   \ifnumequal{\blx@tempcnta}{#1}
     {\blx@range@out@value{#1\bibrangedash#2}}
     {\blx@comprange@comp{#1}{#2}}}
  {}{}
\makeatother

\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}

\begin{document}
\noindent
\cites[3--10,71--72,96--117]{cms}{salam} \\
\cite[100--104,1100--1113,2900--2913]{cms} \\
\cite[101--108,808--833,1103--1104]{cms} \\
\cite[321--328,498--532,1087--1089,1496--1500,11564--11615,12991--13001]{cms}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Biblatex – using two languages in one reference entry

[Tex/LaTex] biblatex: Chicago-style page ranges

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