Criteria for Accepting Styles

The CSL style repository is unique in its kind, and an important resource for the users of products like Zotero, Mendeley, and Papers. To keep the repository tidy, we use some criteria to determine which styles to accept.

In general, we always accept:

• styles for journals that accept open submissions, and for publishers thereof.
• styles for published style guides, such as those from professional organizations, universities, and university departments.

We might not accept:

• styles for personal use, or for internal use within small- to mid-size organizations. In these cases, where the style author is likely to know everybody who might use the style, it's generally better to distribute the style yourself.
• styles submitted solely for use with an API. (the Zotero Web API recently gained the ability to generate references using CSL styles hosted outside our repository)
• styles of insufficient quality. All styles need to meet our Style Requirements. We usually are able to provide some assistance, but ultimately the submitter has to provide a style that meets our quality standards.

Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. If in doubt, we consult with other maintainers and, for issues of general concern, request input from other project members and the xbiblio-devel mailing list. Anyone can appeal decisions on the mailing list.