BibTeX Formatting Guide

BibTeX Formatting Guide

Comprehensive guide to BibTeX entry types, required fields, formatting conventions, and best practices.

Overview

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.

Entry Types

@article - Journal Articles

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}
}

@book - Books

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}
}

@inproceedings - Conference Papers

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.

@incollection - Book Chapters

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}
}

@phdthesis - Doctoral Dissertations

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.

@mastersthesis - 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}
}

@misc - Miscellaneous

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}
}

@techreport - Technical Reports

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}
}

@unpublished - Unpublished Work

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}
}

@online/@electronic - Online Resources

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}
}

Formatting Rules

Citation Keys

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)

Author Names

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

Title Capitalization

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}}

Page Ranges

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)

Month Names

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.

Journal Names

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

DOI Formatting

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 Formatting

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!

Special Characters

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}

Field Order

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

Best Practices

1. Consistent Formatting

Use same format throughout:

• Author name format
• Title capitalization
• Journal names
• Citation key style

2. Required Fields

Always include:

• All required fields for entry type
• DOI for modern papers (2000+)
• Volume and pages for articles
• Publisher for books

3. Protect Capitalization

Use braces for:

• Proper nouns: {AlphaFold}
• Acronyms: {DNA}, {CRISPR}
• Formulas: {H2O}
• Names: {Python}, {R}

4. Complete Author Lists

Include all authors when possible:

• All authors if <10
• Use "and others" for 10+
• Don't abbreviate to "et al." manually

5. Use Standard Entry Types

Choose correct entry type:

• Journal article → @article
• Book → @book
• Conference paper → @inproceedings
• Preprint → @misc

6. Validate Syntax

Check for:

• Balanced braces
• Commas after fields
• Unique citation keys
• Valid entry types

7. Use Formatters

Use automated tools:

python scripts/format_bibtex.py references.bib

Benefits:

• Consistent formatting
• Catch syntax errors
• Standardize field order
• Fix common issues

Common Mistakes

1. Wrong Author Separator

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}

2. Missing Commas

Wrong:

@article{Smith2024,
  author = {Smith, John}    % Missing comma!
  title = {Title}
}

Correct:

@article{Smith2024,
  author = {Smith, John},   % Comma after each field
  title = {Title}
}

3. Unprotected Capitalization

Wrong:

title = {Machine Learning with Python}
% "Python" will become "python" in title case

Correct:

title = {Machine Learning with {Python}}

4. Single Hyphen in Pages

Wrong:

pages = {123-145}   % Single hyphen

Correct:

pages = {123--145}  % Double hyphen (en-dash)

5. Redundant "pp." in Pages

Wrong:

pages = {pp. 123--145}

Correct:

pages = {123--145}

6. DOI with URL Prefix

Wrong:

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12345}
doi = {doi:10.1038/nature12345}

Correct:

doi = {10.1038/nature12345}

Example Complete Bibliography

% 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}
}

Summary

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!