If your bibliographic style uses initials + surname, you may encounter a problem with some transcribed names (for example, Russian ones). Consider the following example from the real world:
@article{epifanov1997,
author = {Epifanov, S. Yu. and Vigasin, A. A.},
title = ...
}
Note that the "Yu" is the initial, not a complete name. However,
BibTeX's algorithms will leave you with a citation -
slightly depending on the bibliographic style - that reads:
"S. Y. Epifanov and A. A. Vigasin, ...". instead of the intended
"S. Yu. Epifanov and A. A. Vigasin, ...".
One solution is to replace each affected initial by a command that
prints the correct combination. To keep your bibliography portable,
you need to add that command to your bibliography with the
@preamble directive:
@preamble{ {\providecommand{\BIBYu}{Yu} } }
@article{epifanov1997,
author = {Epifanov, S. {\BIBYu}. and Vigasin, A. A.},
title = ...
}
If you have many such commands, you may want to put them in a separate
file and \input that LaTeX file in a @preamble directive.
This question on the Web: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=bibtranscinit