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I am using the biblatex-chicago package for writing a paper for a journal, that requires footnote citations:

\usepackage[notes,natbib,isbn=false,backend=biber]{biblatex-chicago}

However, I have a problem when it comes to citing two (or more) sources and adding some comments to them. For example, in this case:

\footcites[A argues 123. See][]{Zambernardi2011}[However, B believes 456. See][]{See2001}

the output looks like this:

A argues 123. See A, Titel, Journal, Year; However, B believes 456. See B, Titel, Journal Year.

What I need is a different separator after the citation of A2003. I do not want to have a semicolon, but a period!

@article{Zambernardi2011,
    Author = {Zambernardi, Lorenzo},
    Date-Added = {2017-04-20 12:58:28 +0000},
    Date-Modified = {2017-04-20 12:59:41 +0000},
    Journal = {Review of International Studies},
    Number = {3},
    Pages = {1335-1356},
    Title = {The impotence of power: Morgenthau's critique of American intervention in Vietnam},
    Volume = {37},
    Year = {2011}}

@article{See2001,
    Author = {See, Jennifer W.},
    Date-Added = {2017-04-20 12:57:29 +0000},
    Date-Modified = {2017-04-20 12:58:22 +0000},
    Journal = {Pacific Historical Review},
    Number = {3},
    Pages = {419-447},
    Title = {A Prophet Without Honor: Hans Morgenthau and the War in Vietnam, 1955-1965},
    Volume = {70},
    Year = {2001}}
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  • 1
    Why not just use a \footnote command? I don't really see what you gain from using a complicated long \footcites command. You can do this: \footnote{\citeauthor{A2003} argues 123. See \cite{A2003}. However, \citeauthor{B2009} believes 456. See \cite{B2009}.} – David Purton Apr 21 '17 at 11:16
  • Because I need a certain citation style (Chicago Style) that is not possible with the \footnote and and \cite commands. – feder80 Apr 24 '17 at 6:48
  • How is the \footnote method I gave different to what you want? – David Purton Apr 24 '17 at 6:53
  • I need the full citation in the Footnote when citing a book/article for the first time, then I need a short version of this citation. I cannot do that with \cite. But \footcite in the biblatex-chicago package does that for me. – feder80 Apr 24 '17 at 6:55
  • Hmm. I must be missing something. I do get long and short citations using \cite in \footnote. The biblatex cite tracker doesn't care what citation command you use. It knows whether you have cited it more than once or not. – David Purton Apr 24 '17 at 6:59
1

I'm still not quite sure why you wouldn't see long and short citations with \cite, but does this give the output you want? I think it's more readable than using \footcites. And it does give you the period where you want it. (Note that this is @moewe's alternative answer above, but presented with code and output).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[notes,natbib,isbn=false,backend=biber]{biblatex-chicago}  
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@article{Zambernardi2011,
  Author = {Zambernardi, Lorenzo},
  Date-Added = {2017-04-20 12:58:28 +0000},
  Date-Modified = {2017-04-20 12:59:41 +0000},
  Journal = {Review of International Studies},
  Number = {3},
  Pages = {1335-1356},
  Title = {The impotence of power: Morgenthau's critique of American intervention in Vietnam},
  Volume = {37},
  Year = {2011}
}
@article{See2001,
  Author = {See, Jennifer W.},
  Date-Added = {2017-04-20 12:57:29 +0000},
  Date-Modified = {2017-04-20 12:58:22 +0000},
  Journal = {Pacific Historical Review},
  Number = {3},
  Pages = {419-447},
  Title = {A Prophet Without Honor: Hans Morgenthau and the War in Vietnam, 1955--1965},
  Volume = {70},
  Year = {2001}
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\null\vfill
First Citation.\footnote{\citeauthor{Zambernardi2011} argues 123. See
\cite{Zambernardi2011}. However, \citeauthor{See2001} believes 456. See
\cite{See2001}.}

Subsequent citation.\footnote{\citeauthor{Zambernardi2011} argues 123. See
\cite{Zambernardi2011}. However, \citeauthor{See2001} believes 456. See
\cite{See2001}.}

\printbibliography
\end{document}

enter image description here

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2

The separator between to citations is called \multicitedelim, you can redefine it to be a full stop with

\renewcommand*{\multicitedelim}{\addperiod\space}

Since \multicitedelim is not set with \setunit but directly, it is hard to correct a wrong delimiter choice later on. Since the delimiter is set at a point where we can't know if the next citation has a pre-note we can't condition on that easily either.

So at the moment you can either manually switch \multicitedelim to \addperiod\space locally with

\AtNextCite{\renewcommand*{\multicitedelim}{\addperiod\space}}

before citations where you need a full stop.

Or you use \footnote directly. If your text is longer that becomes a very attractive option.

\footnote{A argues 123. \cite[See][]{sigfridsson}. However, B believes 456. \[See][]cite{worman}}

The pre-note argument is quite well-suited for short introductory 'remarks' like 'cf.', 'see', but not so much for longer discussions.

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  • Thank you! That almost solves my problem. Because now, multiple citations are also separated by a space and period. In these cases, the semicolon would be perfect. So is there a way to get both? – feder80 Apr 21 '17 at 9:34
  • @feder80 When do you want to use a period and when do you want a semicolon? Is there some reliable 'algorithm' to determine that? – moewe Apr 21 '17 at 9:37
  • Yes, there is! I need a period between the end of a citation and the beginning of a text, for example: Citation #period# Text. But I need a semicolon between multiple citations: Citation #semicolon# Citation #period# Text. – feder80 Apr 21 '17 at 10:02

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