amsrefs package problem

Question

I am using the amsrefs package with the author-year option. I want to delete the author's initial from the \cite command by using the amsrefs package. can anybody suggest how to achieve this?

e.g. \cite{CR11} --> output is Alfread A, 1997

but I want the output to be: Alfread 1997

Answer 1

You probably have a wrong entry for that author, as the following example shows; upon compiling test.tex, which calls nonsense.ltb as recommended in the documentation of amsrefs, I get the following:

File test.tex

\documentclass{article} 
\usepackage[author-year]{amsrefs} 
\begin{document} 
\ocite{Sokal96} recommends Bourbaki's 
text~\cite{Bourbaki70} for a gentle introduction to set theory. 
\begin{bibdiv} 
\begin{biblist} 
\bibselect{nonsense} 
\end{biblist} 
\end{bibdiv} 
\end{document}

File nonsense.ltb

\documentclass{article} 
\usepackage{amsrefs} 
\begin{document} 
\begin{bibdiv} 
\begin{biblist} 
\bib{Bourbaki70}{book}{ 
title={Th\'eorie des ensembles}, 
author={Bourbaki, Nicolas}, 
date={1970}, 
publisher={Hermann}, 
address={Paris} 
} 
\bib{Sokal96}{article}{ 
title={Trangressing the boundaries}, 
subtitle={Toward a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity}, 
author={Sokal, Alan}, 
journal={Social Text}, 
volume={46/47}, 
date={1996}, 
pages={217--252} 
} 
\bib{SokalB1998}{book}{ 
title={Fashionable Nonsense}, 
subtitle={Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science}, 
author={Sokal, Alan}, 
author={Bricmont, Jean}, 
publisher={Picador USA}, 
address={New York}, 
date={1998} 
} 
\end{biblist} 
\end{bibdiv} 
\end{document} 

What can be wrong?

I get "Sokal Alan (1996)" in the first citation if the author field is

author={Sokal Alan},

without the comma.