Those working on the citation syntax should make it clear that the "lowest common" cite syntax does NOT also IMPOSE (or GUARANTEE) a specific style on the produced document.
When I say this, I specifically mean: 1. I want my citation and references to be carried over FAITHFULLY to the exported document. 2. I DON'T CARE how (1) is styled. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The above observations would translate to: The Cite object in it's SIMPLEST form specifies just a citekey (or a set of citekeys). The Cite-object is qualified with a footnote saying that any key-value pair -- including "type" -- that is specified with Cite object MAY BE IGNORED by a backend. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note that I am not speaking against Bells and Whistles. I am only saying that Bells and Whistles MUST NOT be imposed upon a backend like ODT where the available tools are NOT AS RICH OR AS MATURE AS that available with other backends like HTML or LaTeX. ---------------------------------------------------------------- A simple search of this discussion list suggests that there already exists ODT/JabRef implementation. I hope those who are working on the syntax also study the EXISTING IMPLEMENTATION and HAVE THAT IMPLEMENTATION INFORM THE ENTERPRISE. If someone puts up a draft that (re)-captures the state-of-the-art, I am willing to do the homework of whetting the spec. against existing IMPLEMENTATION.