Changing the format of Bible reference

Is there any way to customize the format of the Bible book reference when a Bible verse is copied and pasted? Every time I copy a Bible verse, I have to change the reference format, which is tedious.

The format that Logos uses does not conform to any standard format used by publishers. For example, the citation is "Ro 8:28" rather than "Romans 8:28" or "Rom 8:28" or "Rom. 8:28".

It would be wonderful if this format could be changed in the settings, either to always use the full book name or to use the SBL abbreviations of Bible books. I don't know any publisher that uses the format Logos uses.

Also, the citation format varies depending on the way that the text is copied.

Select text and choose Copy form the Context menu, uses the strange book abbreviation: Ro 8:28
Select text and choose Copy Verse (Styled) from the Context menu, uses the full book name: Romans 8:28
Use the Copy Bible Verses Tool, uses the full book name: Romans 8:28

A custom style in the Copy Bible Verses Tool can use a short book name. But again, it is a non-standard abbreviation.

The ideal would be to be able to specify in the settings the format of Bible books to use SBL, Chicago Traditional, Chicago Shorter, T & T Clark, etc. The use of a British publisher (such as T & T Clark) would also separate chapter and verse with a period rather than a colon as in American styles: Rom. 8.28

If FL does not want to add this level of customization, at least it would be helpful to use one of the standard abbreviations, such as SBL or Chicago style. This would save a lot of time for writers who use Logos.

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Comments

MJ. Smith

2 bump

Harry Hahne

Too bad no one has noticed by suggestion for consistency in the behavior of Logos.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1123935#Comment_1123935

Yes, Philana has been MIA on bug reports

Philana R. Crouch

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1123941#Comment_1123941

Yes, Philana has been MIA on bug reports

Sorry MJ,

I thought I had captured most of them. I'll take a look.

Philana R. Crouch

I'll bring this suggestion to the team's attention.

Daniel Baker

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1126180#Comment_1126180

I'd like to amen Harry Hahne's concern. I'm trying to use SBL abbreviations in a very long document with many Scripture references.

Philana R. Crouch

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1192924#Comment_1192924

I'd like to amen Harry Hahne's concern. I'm trying to use SBL abbreviations in a very long document with many Scripture references.

Hi Daniel,

I've brought this up again internally, if we do decide to implement something like this we'll announce it in release notes.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1192946#Comment_1192946

Vote at Standardize the format of Bible reference with choice of styles | Faithlife

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1192960#Comment_1192960

I have the feeling that this is not an easy thing to change and could result in more errors on searches and other basic functions.

It is an effort for me to change the citations manually. But I am not going to vote for this. I am afraid that we could lose more than we would gain.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1193014#Comment_1193014

I have the feeling that this is not an easy thing to change and could result in more errors on searches and other basic functions.

As an IT retiree, I don't share your concerns - think of it as simply doing the citation style choice for bibliographies and footnotes for inline Bible references. In other words, they already have a pattern to duplicate and they already recognize the styles as input, IIRC.

Luke

Agreed. I realize this hasn't gotten attention in almost two years, and maybe it's been fixed and I just don't know it? But there is already the option when editing a “copy Bible verse” style to use “[FullVerseRef] — e.g., John 3:16” and “[ShortVerseRef] — e.g., Jn 3:16.” Since this is already available, having a third option be [SBL], or [Chicago], etc., should not be difficult. And, for anyone writing anything to be published anywhere (besides perhaps through Logos, personal blogs, personal publishing, etc.) other formatting options are required. Please make this happen (unless you already have and I'm just unable to figure out how to make it work. Entirely possible!). It should be an easy fix that will help anyone doing any writing in the academic or Christian publishing world. Thanks for listening!

Harry Hahne

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1277110#Comment_1277110

third option be [SBL], or [Chicago], etc

I absolutely agree. SBL style is widely used for Bible citations in academic publications related to biblical studies. It would be easy to change in software with a lookup table, but time consuming for the user to change, particularly in a document with a lot of references. Perhaps the book abbreviations could be based on the citation style already available in the Settings

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1277113#Comment_1277113

I absolutely agree. SBL style is widely used for Bible citations in academic publications related to biblical studies. It would be easy to change in software with a lookup table, but time consuming for the user to change, particularly in a document with a lot of references.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 4:5–6. (SBL Ed 1&2)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 8:28. (SBL Ed !&2)

SBL seesm to correspond to the Short Passage Reference style from CBV, and the Context Menu > Styled will reflect the current CBV style e.g.

ESV Re 4:5–6, although it cannot provide a full citation.

But CBV can be styled for any combination of Reference style using

[ShortBookName]	e.g., Ro
[ChapterNum]	e.g., 8
[VerseNum]*	e.g., 28

e.g. [ShortBookName].[ChapterNum]:[VerseNum] Ro.8:28

Harry Hahne

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1277158#Comment_1277158

SBL seesm to correspond to the Short Passage Reference style from CBV

SBL Handbook of Style Second Edition, 124-125 lists the following abbreviations: Romans should be abbreviated Rom and Revelation should be abbreviated Rev.

Chicago Manual of Style uses Rom. or Rom for Romans and Rev. or Rv for Revelation.

Both styles use different abbreviations than CBV.

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1277176#Comment_1277176

SBL seesm to correspond to the Short Passage Reference style from CBV

SBL Handbook of Style Second Edition, 124-125 lists the following abbreviations: Romans should be abbreviated Rom and Revelation should be abbreviated Rev.

Forgive my ignorance as I was confusing requirements.

The Biblical Citation style for SBL Ed. 2 can only come from CBV, but bible book abbreviations are not consistent with SBL.

1 Ki 3:1–2 ESV should be 1 Kgs 3:1–2 ESV

I note that the en dash in 1–2 is studiously correct[:)]

But I fear that a macro will be needed to avoid a laborious Find/Replace for each book cited.

Julie Steadman

I absolutely agree with this. Im new to Logos and ive managed to customise my copy and paste option so that i use the short reference but it is too short especially for those who are not so familiar with the bible…. Ro should be Rom and 1 Co should be 1 Cor etc… I still have to go in and change all of mine..
I would love it if you could add this feature to make the short bible refs slightly longer !! :-) never seen them abbreviated like this before…
I am loving the fact that i can format my copy and paste options.. i have to say when i was with biblesoft i had to go into each verse number to make it superscript so that huge tedium has been taken away - this is sooo much better.
I am loving Logos over all - glad i finally made the switch after all these years….