Word, .xsl, Style formatting, bibliography

Hi Rory,

Thanks you for the forum question.

Here’s a clear explanation of why your Harvard .xsl style isn’t giving you a 1.27 cm hanging indent — and how you can modify it if you want to learn, plus an easier alternative in Word that many people actually use with Zotero.
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First: What’s controlling your formatting?
Zotero’s referencing system uses CSL (Citation Style Language) styles, which are XML files (ending in .csl).
Word does NOT style the bibliography via the XSL, it simply receives the formatted bibliography from Zotero and applies a very basic default paragraph style.
This means:
➤ Hanging indents are NOT controlled by the CSL file
The CSL (or XSL) file controls:
• the order of fields
• punctuation
• italics
• authors’ names
• etc.
But NOT:
• paragraph indentation
• spacing
• justification
• fonts
• leader dots
Those are applied by Word styles.
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So how do you get a 1.27 cm hanging indent automatically?
There are two ways:
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1 (Recommended): Modify Word’s "Bibliography" style
This is by far the easiest and most robust.
Steps:
1. In Word, generate your bibliography using Zotero.
2. Right click any bibliography entry.
3. Choose Styles → Bibliography → Modify
4. Click Format → Paragraph
5. Set:
o Indentation → Special: Hanging
o By: 1.27 cm
6. Click OK → OK
Now the bibliography will automatically apply a 1.27 cm hanging indent—even if regenerated.
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METHOD 2: Edit the CSL (XSL) file — if you want to learn how
Even though CSL cannot control the indent itself, you can add a small block that tells Word to apply formatting using an inline style attribute. This is unofficial and not guaranteed to work in all processors, but it functions in Word for many users.
✔️ Example of adding a hanging indent using CSL
Search inside the CSL file for the <bibliography> element.
It probably looks like this:
<bibliography et-al-min="3" et-al-use-first="1" line-spacing="1" entry-spacing="0">
You can add a CSS-like style attribute:
<bibliography
et-al-min="3"
et-al-use-first="1"
line-spacing="1"
entry-spacing="0"
hanging-indent="true"
second-field-align="flush">
Or the more advanced (Word-friendly) version using style:
<bibliography style="text-indent:-1.27cm; margin-left:1.27cm;">
Important notes:
• Word support for CSL formatting is partial.
• Zotero itself states that paragraph formatting is not guaranteed to transfer through CSL.
• If Zotero ever updates the style, you will need to re edit it.
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Recommended approach (for university submissions)
Most universities—including York—expect you to control paragraph formatting using Word styles, not via the referencing tool.
This means:
University guidelines = Harvard content + Word formatting
Zotero handles the content, Word handles the look.
So editing the Word Bibliography style is the correct long-term method.



Kind regards

Jens Bonde
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer

Tel: 0207 987 3777
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