10

I want to cite this article:

@article{kc2010ppe,
author = {K.C., Samir and Barakat, B. and Goujon, A. and Skirbekk, V. and Sanderson, W. and Lutz, W.},
journal = {Demographic Research},
number = {55},
pages = {383--472},
posted-at = {2012-07-06 13:25:30},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany},
title = {{Projection of populations by level of educational attainment, age, and sex for 120 countries for 2005-2050}},
volume = {22},
year = {2010}
}

The lead authors name is Samir K.C. (surname is K.C.). I cannot figure out how to get the reference correctly in the text. I am using natbib through biblatex. My .tex file is something like:

\usepackage[natbib=true, backend=bibtex8, firstinits=true, style=authoryear-comp, dashed=false, isbn=false, maxcitenames=3]{biblatex}
...
more preamble and the rest of the paper...
...
Global population forecasts, such as \citet{kc2010ppe} or...

Which outputs...

Global population forecasts, such as K.C. Et al. (2010) or ...

Where as I want a lower case e...

Global population forecasts, such as K.C. et al. (2010) or ...

I suspect this behavior is something to do with the unconventional surname?

Improve this question
  • Almost certainly this is the punctuation tracker being caught out by a very unusual name. Have you tried the obvious wrap-in-braces approach? – Joseph Wright♦ Jan 30 '13 at 9:57
  • yep, I have tried Samir K.{C}. and Samir {K.C.}. Neither have an effect. – guyabel Jan 30 '13 at 10:04
  • Don't sent a "something like this"-snippet. Make a real, complete, small example that others can use for tests. – Ulrike Fischer Jan 30 '13 at 10:07
  • 1
    In the cited document, the author's name is repeatedly given as "Samir KC", i.e. without dots. So, why not use this name when referring to the document? – Alex Jan 30 '13 at 17:15
  • I know the guy. He prefers K.C. – guyabel Jan 31 '13 at 13:18
12

The problem can be circumvented by resetting the punctuation tracker

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@article{kc2010ppe,
author = {K.C.{\midsentence}, Samir and Barakat, B. and Goujon, A. and Skirbekk, V. and Sanderson, W. and Lutz, W.},
journal = {Demographic Research},
number = {55},
pages = {383--472},
posted-at = {2012-07-06 13:25:30},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany},
title = {Projection of populations by level of educational attainment, age, and sex for 120 countries for 2005-2050},
volume = {22},
year = {2010}
}
\end{filecontents}  
\usepackage{biblatex}
\bibliography{\jobname}
\begin{document}  
\citeauthor{kc2010ppe}
\end{document}

The biblatex team have agreed that this is a bug in the package, and it's fixed in the master sources. Thus the next release to CTAN should remove the issue entirely.

Improve this answer
  • works a treat. cheers! – guyabel Jan 30 '13 at 10:33
  • @lockstep Nothing to stop you posting that as a separate answer :-) I think we'll look to revise biblatex in any case: the end of a surname can't be the end of a sentence even if it ends .. – Joseph Wright♦ Jan 30 '13 at 11:59
7

A shorter workaround is to write the author as K.C\adddot, Samir. Quoting section 4.7.3 of the manual:

\adddot

Adds a period unless it is preceded by any punctuation mark. The purpose of this command is inserting the dot after an abbreviation. Any dot inserted this way is recognized as such by the other punctuation commands. This command may also be used to turn a previously inserted literal period into an abbreviation dot.

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  • 2
    Or you can use \isdot in the name formatting directives. That is the approach PL actually takes. The bug arose because the name:last bibliography macro was missing an \isdot. – Audrey Jan 30 '13 at 17:16

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