Incorrect MLA citations

Michael Hite

This question is not just a MAC version question as the Windows version shows the same issues. MLA citations for Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament - Abridged in One Volume (Little Kittle), and The Early Church Fathers to name s few all present incorrect MLA citations. Here is an example from Volume 1, page 144 for the word study for  ἀδελφός from TDNT:

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich. electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-.

The problem is that the author who actual wrote the word study for TDNT doesn't receive credit for his work in the citation. Hans Freiherr von Soden did the work. You can see this by looking at the end of the word study on page 146. This error isn't isolated to this word study but is a flaw in the citation style in a number of resources. It should be:

von Soden, Hans Freiherr. "ἀδελφός" Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol 1. Ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-.

The same problem is evidenced in the Early Church Fathers. Here is a citation from this set:

Schaff, Philip. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Vol. XIII. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997.

Schaff is credited as the author here when in fact John Chrysostom wrote the works in this volume. Schaff was simply the editor of the set, but didn't write the individual works within the set. The proper citation should not only reflect the correct author, but the particular writing within the collection.

Chysostom, John. "Homilies on the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians." The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Vol. XIII. Ed. Philip Schaff. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997.

This error makes a big difference in an academic environment where students should be given proper credit for their sources. One of the great features of Logos is that the resources (at least many of them) can be cited as the print equivalents. With this error however, students are misinformed about the proper credit for the work. As a teacher in an academic environment this flaw is significant.

Is it possible to correct this in future versions?

Dr. Joel Madasu

Thank you for bringing this up! Its the same problem with the Turabian format, that I have noticed recently. I had to adjust the authors/editors manually. For some resources, I had to look at the physical resources (hard copies), so I will not get the citations wrong

Louis St. Hilaire

Michael Hite said:

Is it possible to correct this in future versions?

The answer is "we're working on it".

The software is already capable of handling most of these cases, but it requires adding a lot of data to old books. Newer books (within the last 6 months or so) should work already, and we're working our way through the library.

See the earlier discussion here.

Michael Hite

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/226466#Comment_226466

Louis St. Hilaire said:

Michael Hite said:

Is it possible to correct this in future versions?

The answer is "we're working on it".

That's great to hear - mostly wanted to bring it to attention. Thanks.