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For a project I am working on, I use manuscript type of reference works that I would like to cite and include in the bibliography.

Though these manuscripts have an editor and year of publication, it is customary to cite them by the title of the manuscript, and list them under that title in the bibliography as well. This is more meaningful for readers.

I was initially using natbib, and here the @misc entry type and key entry field solved it for me. For example:

@misc{CSPD16991700,
    title    = {{Calendar of State Papers Domestic: William III, 1699 - 1700}},
    editor   = {{Edward Bateson}},
    key      = {{CSPD 1699-1700}}, 
    year     = 1937
}

In the text, I would see something like

(CSPD 1699-1700, pp. 13-25)

which is more meaningful than

(Bateson (1937), pp. 13-35)

I migrated recently to biblatex, but now this construction does not work anymore.

I can use the \citetitle, and add a shorttitle in the entry to achieve the proper citation, but the work is still added in the bibliography under the editor, and not under the title.

What is a robust and acceptable solution for this using biblatex? Thank you in advance for suggestions I can look into.

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    Without having more information, I can only recommend that you use biber as the engine and then add the following field: options = {useeditor=false} to the entries in question. See §.3.1.3.1 of the manual for more information.
    – jon
    Jul 9, 2014 at 16:00
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    You might try and use the shorthand field: shorthand= {CSPD 1699-1700}. Please note that your editor field should read editor = {Edward Bateson} instead of editor = {{Edward Bateson}} to avoid treating the name "Edward Bateson" as a unit like "NASA" or "European Commission".
    – moewe
    Jul 9, 2014 at 16:06
  • @jon and @moewe Thank you for the remarks and suggestions. The shorthand and options entries did the trick indeed (I already used biber as engine). I also changed the type to reference being clearer and more specific than misc. I have added the solution that worked for my to my initial question.
    – wdrenth
    Jul 9, 2014 at 17:54
  • Well, if your question is solved, you might want to add an answer yourself and accept it, so we know the question is solved.
    – moewe
    Jul 9, 2014 at 18:30

1 Answer 1

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The following change to the entry resulted in how I want to use this reference: in the citation the a shortened, but meaningful, version of the title should be used, and in the bibliography the publication should be sorted under its title:

@reference{CSPD16991700,
    options   = {useeditor=false},
    title     = {{Calendar of State Papers Domestic: William III, 1699 -- 1700}},
    editor    = {Edward Bateson},
    shorthand = {CSPD, 1699--1700}, 
    year      = 1937
}

Using the authoryear style and biber backend, it shows in the bibliography as Calendar of State Papers..., and where cited as CSPD, 1699--1700.

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