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LaTeX Guide : Citing with BibTeX

This guide includes links to software, tutorials, and templates to get you started using LaTeX typesetting and citing souces with BibTeX.

BibTeX

LaTeX uses the BibTeX (.bib) file format to manage and process lists of references in order to produce in-text citations and formatted bibliographies. It is possible to create a BibTeX file from scratch using a text editor, but many literature databases and most modern citation managers can export directly to this format.

Citation Managers and LaTeX/BibTeX

JabRef

Jabref is a free reference manager with native BibTeX and BibLaTeX support—it's designed for use with systems like LaTeX and includes cite-while-you-write functionality for LaTeX editors like Kile, LyX, and TeXstudio.

Zotero

Zotero is a free, open source citation manager. To create a BibTeX file with Zotero:

  1. Save all your references into a single collection folder
  2. Right click that collection in Zotero (Ctrl + click for Mac OS)
  3. Choose Export Collection...
  4. Change the format from RIS to BibTeX
  5. Click OK

This will create a .bib file for you. Because Zotero is open source, there are a number of third-party plugins you can get to add or improve functionality. Better BibTeX for Zotero is highly recommended if you will be using Zotero for citation management for a LaTeX project.

EndNote

EndNote is a powerful citation manager, but the full version cannot be used without the purchase of a software license. The paid version of EndNote can produce a BibTeX file for your references, with some limitations. To do this:

  1. Save all your references into a single EndNote group
  2. Select the references in EndNote (use Ctrl +A for Windows or Cmd + A for Mac OS to select all)
  3. From the main menu choose File > Export...
  4. Choose BibTeX Export as the file output style (this may require installing the BibTeX Export style from the Style Manager)
  5. Save the file
  6. EndNote creates a plain text (.txt) file with BibTeX formatting inside; you will need to manually change it to .bib

Note: these instructions were created using EndNote 20. The process may not be exactly the same for other versions of EndNote.

Mendeley

Mendeley is a free citation manager. Follow the directions below to create a BibTeX file containing the references from a Mendeley collection.

  1. Save all your references into a single folder
  2. Navigate to that folder in Mendeley Reference Manager
  3. Choose File > Export All from the main menu
  4. Choose BibTeX (*.bib) and save your file

Note: the steps may vary depending on the version of Mendeley being used.

Subjects: Reference