Comprehensive guide to BibTeX entry types, required fields, formatting conventions, and best practices.
BibTeX is the standard bibliography format for LaTeX documents. Proper formatting ensures: - Correct citation rendering - Consistent formatting - Compatibility with citation styles - No compilation errors
This guide covers all common entry types and formatting rules.
Most common entry type for peer-reviewed journal articles.
Required fields:
- author: Author names
- title: Article title
- journal: Journal name
- year: Publication year
Optional fields:
- volume: Volume number
- number: Issue number
- pages: Page range
- month: Publication month
- doi: Digital Object Identifier
- url: URL
- note: Additional notes
Template:
@article{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last1, First1 and Last2, First2},
title = {Article Title Here},
journal = {Journal Name},
year = {2024},
volume = {10},
number = {3},
pages = {123--145},
doi = {10.1234/journal.2024.123456},
month = jan
}
Example:
@article{Jumper2021,
author = {Jumper, John and Evans, Richard and Pritzel, Alexander and others},
title = {Highly Accurate Protein Structure Prediction with {AlphaFold}},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2021},
volume = {596},
number = {7873},
pages = {583--589},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2}
}
For entire books.
Required fields:
- author OR editor: Author(s) or editor(s)
- title: Book title
- publisher: Publisher name
- year: Publication year
Optional fields:
- volume: Volume number (if multi-volume)
- series: Series name
- address: Publisher location
- edition: Edition number
- isbn: ISBN
- url: URL
Template:
@book{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Book Title},
publisher = {Publisher Name},
year = {2024},
edition = {3},
address = {City, Country},
isbn = {978-0-123-45678-9}
}
Example:
@book{Kumar2021,
author = {Kumar, Vinay and Abbas, Abul K. and Aster, Jon C.},
title = {Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease},
publisher = {Elsevier},
year = {2021},
edition = {10},
address = {Philadelphia, PA},
isbn = {978-0-323-53113-9}
}
For papers in conference proceedings.
Required fields:
- author: Author names
- title: Paper title
- booktitle: Conference/proceedings name
- year: Year
Optional fields:
- editor: Proceedings editor(s)
- volume: Volume number
- series: Series name
- pages: Page range
- address: Conference location
- month: Conference month
- organization: Organizing body
- publisher: Publisher
- doi: DOI
Template:
@inproceedings{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Paper Title},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Conference Name},
year = {2024},
pages = {123--145},
address = {City, Country},
month = jun
}
Example:
@inproceedings{Vaswani2017,
author = {Vaswani, Ashish and Shazeer, Noam and Parmar, Niki and others},
title = {Attention is All You Need},
booktitle = {Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 30 (NeurIPS 2017)},
year = {2017},
pages = {5998--6008},
address = {Long Beach, CA}
}
Note: @conference is an alias for @inproceedings.
For chapters in edited books.
Required fields:
- author: Chapter author(s)
- title: Chapter title
- booktitle: Book title
- publisher: Publisher name
- year: Publication year
Optional fields:
- editor: Book editor(s)
- volume: Volume number
- series: Series name
- type: Type of section (e.g., "chapter")
- chapter: Chapter number
- pages: Page range
- address: Publisher location
- edition: Edition
- month: Month
Template:
@incollection{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Chapter Title},
booktitle = {Book Title},
editor = {Editor, Last and Editor2, Last},
publisher = {Publisher Name},
year = {2024},
pages = {123--145},
chapter = {5}
}
Example:
@incollection{Brown2020,
author = {Brown, Peter O. and Botstein, David},
title = {Exploring the New World of the Genome with {DNA} Microarrays},
booktitle = {DNA Microarrays: A Molecular Cloning Manual},
editor = {Eisen, Michael B. and Brown, Patrick O.},
publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press},
year = {2020},
pages = {1--45},
address = {Cold Spring Harbor, NY}
}
For PhD dissertations and theses.
Required fields:
- author: Author name
- title: Thesis title
- school: Institution
- year: Year
Optional fields:
- type: Type (e.g., "PhD dissertation", "PhD thesis")
- address: Institution location
- month: Month
- url: URL
- note: Additional notes
Template:
@phdthesis{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Dissertation Title},
school = {University Name},
year = {2024},
type = {{PhD} dissertation},
address = {City, State}
}
Example:
@phdthesis{Johnson2023,
author = {Johnson, Mary L.},
title = {Novel Approaches to Cancer Immunotherapy Using {CRISPR} Technology},
school = {Stanford University},
year = {2023},
type = {{PhD} dissertation},
address = {Stanford, CA}
}
Note: @mastersthesis is similar but for Master's theses.
For Master's theses.
Required fields:
- author: Author name
- title: Thesis title
- school: Institution
- year: Year
Template:
@mastersthesis{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Thesis Title},
school = {University Name},
year = {2024}
}
For items that don't fit other categories (preprints, datasets, software, websites, etc.).
Required fields:
- author (if known)
- title
- year
Optional fields:
- howpublished: Repository, website, format
- url: URL
- doi: DOI
- note: Additional information
- month: Month
Template for preprints:
@misc{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Preprint Title},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
doi = {10.1101/2024.01.01.123456},
note = {Preprint}
}
Template for datasets:
@misc{DatasetName2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Dataset Title},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {Zenodo},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.123456},
note = {Version 1.2}
}
Template for software:
@misc{SoftwareName2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Software Name},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {GitHub},
url = {https://github.com/user/repo},
note = {Version 2.0}
}
For technical reports.
Required fields:
- author: Author name(s)
- title: Report title
- institution: Institution
- year: Year
Optional fields:
- type: Type of report
- number: Report number
- address: Institution location
- month: Month
Template:
@techreport{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Report Title},
institution = {Institution Name},
year = {2024},
type = {Technical Report},
number = {TR-2024-01}
}
For unpublished works (not preprints - use @misc for those).
Required fields:
- author: Author name(s)
- title: Work title
- note: Description
Optional fields:
- month: Month
- year: Year
Template:
@unpublished{CitationKey2024,
author = {Last, First},
title = {Work Title},
note = {Unpublished manuscript},
year = {2024}
}
For web pages and online-only content.
Note: Not standard BibTeX, but supported by many bibliography packages (biblatex).
Required fields:
- author OR organization
- title
- url
- year
Template:
@online{CitationKey2024,
author = {{Organization Name}},
title = {Page Title},
url = {https://example.com/page},
year = {2024},
note = {Accessed: 2024-01-15}
}
Convention: FirstAuthorYEARkeyword
Examples:
Smith2024protein
Doe2023machine
JohnsonWilliams2024cancer % Multiple authors, no space
NatureEditorial2024 % No author, use publication
WHO2024guidelines % Organization author
Rules:
- Alphanumeric plus: -, _, ., :
- No spaces
- Case-sensitive
- Unique within file
- Descriptive
Avoid:
- Special characters: @, #, &, %, $
- Spaces: use CamelCase or underscores
- Starting with numbers: 2024Smith (some systems disallow)
Recommended format: Last, First Middle
Single author:
author = {Smith, John}
author = {Smith, John A.}
author = {Smith, John Andrew}
Multiple authors - separate with and:
author = {Smith, John and Doe, Jane}
author = {Smith, John A. and Doe, Jane M. and Johnson, Mary L.}
Many authors (10+):
author = {Smith, John and Doe, Jane and Johnson, Mary and others}
Special cases:
% Suffix (Jr., III, etc.)
author = {King, Jr., Martin Luther}
% Organization as author
author = {{World Health Organization}}
% Note: Double braces keep as single entity
% Multiple surnames
author = {Garc{\'i}a-Mart{\'i}nez, Jos{\'e}}
% Particles (van, von, de, etc.)
author = {van der Waals, Johannes}
author = {de Broglie, Louis}
Wrong formats (don't use):
author = {Smith, J.; Doe, J.} % Semicolons (wrong)
author = {Smith, J., Doe, J.} % Commas (wrong)
author = {Smith, J. & Doe, J.} % Ampersand (wrong)
author = {Smith J} % No comma
Protect capitalization with braces:
% Proper nouns, acronyms, formulas
title = {{AlphaFold}: Protein Structure Prediction}
title = {Machine Learning for {DNA} Sequencing}
title = {The {Ising} Model in Statistical Physics}
title = {{CRISPR-Cas9} Gene Editing Technology}
Reason: Citation styles may change capitalization. Braces protect.
Examples:
% Good
title = {Advances in {COVID-19} Treatment}
title = {Using {Python} for Data Analysis}
title = {The {AlphaFold} Protein Structure Database}
% Will be lowercase in title case styles
title = {Advances in COVID-19 Treatment} % covid-19
title = {Using Python for Data Analysis} % python
Whole title protection (rarely needed):
title = {{This Entire Title Keeps Its Capitalization}}
Use en-dash (double hyphen --):
pages = {123--145} % Correct
pages = {1234--1256} % Correct
pages = {e0123456} % Article ID (PLOS, etc.)
pages = {123} % Single page
Wrong:
pages = {123-145} % Single hyphen (don't use)
pages = {pp. 123-145} % "pp." not needed
pages = {123–145} % Unicode en-dash (may cause issues)
Use three-letter abbreviations (unquoted):
month = jan
month = feb
month = mar
month = apr
month = may
month = jun
month = jul
month = aug
month = sep
month = oct
month = nov
month = dec
Or numeric:
month = {1} % January
month = {12} % December
Or full name in braces:
month = {January}
Standard abbreviations work without quotes because they're defined in BibTeX.
Full name (not abbreviated):
journal = {Nature}
journal = {Science}
journal = {Cell}
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}
journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}
Bibliography style will handle abbreviation if needed.
Avoid manual abbreviation:
% Don't do this in BibTeX file
journal = {Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.}
% Do this instead
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}
Exception: If style requires abbreviations, use full abbreviated form:
journal = {Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.} % If required by style
URL format (preferred):
doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2}
Not:
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2} % Don't include URL
doi = {doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2} % Don't include prefix
LaTeX will format as URL automatically.
Note: No period after DOI field!
url = {https://www.example.com/article}
Use: - When DOI not available - For web pages - For supplementary materials
Don't duplicate:
% Don't include both if DOI URL is same as url
doi = {10.1038/nature12345}
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12345} % Redundant!
Accents and diacritics:
author = {M{\"u}ller, Hans} % ü
author = {Garc{\'i}a, Jos{\'e}} % í, é
author = {Erd{\H{o}}s, Paul} % ő
author = {Schr{\"o}dinger, Erwin} % ö
Or use UTF-8 (with proper LaTeX setup):
author = {Müller, Hans}
author = {García, José}
Mathematical symbols:
title = {The $\alpha$-helix Structure}
title = {$\beta$-sheet Prediction}
Chemical formulas:
title = {H$_2$O Molecular Dynamics}
% Or with chemformula package:
title = {\ce{H2O} Molecular Dynamics}
Recommended order (for readability):
@article{Key,
author = {},
title = {},
journal = {},
year = {},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {},
url = {},
note = {}
}
Rules: - Most important fields first - Consistent across entries - Use formatter to standardize
Use same format throughout: - Author name format - Title capitalization - Journal names - Citation key style
Always include: - All required fields for entry type - DOI for modern papers (2000+) - Volume and pages for articles - Publisher for books
Use braces for:
- Proper nouns: {AlphaFold}
- Acronyms: {DNA}, {CRISPR}
- Formulas: {H2O}
- Names: {Python}, {R}
Include all authors when possible: - All authors if <10 - Use "and others" for 10+ - Don't abbreviate to "et al." manually
Choose correct entry type:
- Journal article → @article
- Book → @book
- Conference paper → @inproceedings
- Preprint → @misc
Check for: - Balanced braces - Commas after fields - Unique citation keys - Valid entry types
Use automated tools:
python scripts/format_bibtex.py references.bib
Benefits: - Consistent formatting - Catch syntax errors - Standardize field order - Fix common issues
Wrong:
author = {Smith, J.; Doe, J.} % Semicolon
author = {Smith, J., Doe, J.} % Comma
author = {Smith, J. & Doe, J.} % Ampersand
Correct:
author = {Smith, John and Doe, Jane}
Wrong:
@article{Smith2024,
author = {Smith, John} % Missing comma!
title = {Title}
}
Correct:
@article{Smith2024,
author = {Smith, John}, % Comma after each field
title = {Title}
}
Wrong:
title = {Machine Learning with Python}
% "Python" will become "python" in title case
Correct:
title = {Machine Learning with {Python}}
Wrong:
pages = {123-145} % Single hyphen
Correct:
pages = {123--145} % Double hyphen (en-dash)
Wrong:
pages = {pp. 123--145}
Correct:
pages = {123--145}
Wrong:
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12345}
doi = {doi:10.1038/nature12345}
Correct:
doi = {10.1038/nature12345}
% Journal article
@article{Jumper2021,
author = {Jumper, John and Evans, Richard and Pritzel, Alexander and others},
title = {Highly Accurate Protein Structure Prediction with {AlphaFold}},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2021},
volume = {596},
number = {7873},
pages = {583--589},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2}
}
% Book
@book{Kumar2021,
author = {Kumar, Vinay and Abbas, Abul K. and Aster, Jon C.},
title = {Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease},
publisher = {Elsevier},
year = {2021},
edition = {10},
address = {Philadelphia, PA},
isbn = {978-0-323-53113-9}
}
% Conference paper
@inproceedings{Vaswani2017,
author = {Vaswani, Ashish and Shazeer, Noam and Parmar, Niki and others},
title = {Attention is All You Need},
booktitle = {Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 30 (NeurIPS 2017)},
year = {2017},
pages = {5998--6008}
}
% Book chapter
@incollection{Brown2020,
author = {Brown, Peter O. and Botstein, David},
title = {Exploring the New World of the Genome with {DNA} Microarrays},
booktitle = {DNA Microarrays: A Molecular Cloning Manual},
editor = {Eisen, Michael B. and Brown, Patrick O.},
publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press},
year = {2020},
pages = {1--45}
}
% PhD thesis
@phdthesis{Johnson2023,
author = {Johnson, Mary L.},
title = {Novel Approaches to Cancer Immunotherapy},
school = {Stanford University},
year = {2023},
type = {{PhD} dissertation}
}
% Preprint
@misc{Zhang2024,
author = {Zhang, Yi and Chen, Li and Wang, Hui},
title = {Novel Therapeutic Targets in {Alzheimer}'s Disease},
year = {2024},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
doi = {10.1101/2024.01.001},
note = {Preprint}
}
% Dataset
@misc{AlphaFoldDB2021,
author = {{DeepMind} and {EMBL-EBI}},
title = {{AlphaFold} Protein Structure Database},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Database},
url = {https://alphafold.ebi.ac.uk/},
doi = {10.1093/nar/gkab1061}
}
BibTeX formatting essentials:
✓ Choose correct entry type (@article, @book, etc.)
✓ Include all required fields
✓ Use and for multiple authors
✓ Protect capitalization with braces
✓ Use -- for page ranges
✓ Include DOI for modern papers
✓ Validate syntax before compilation
Use formatting tools to ensure consistency:
python scripts/format_bibtex.py references.bib
Properly formatted BibTeX ensures correct, consistent citations across all bibliography styles!