bibtex thesis cite

Guide to BibTeX Type PhdThesis

BibTeX is a reference management tool that is commonly used in LaTeX documents. The “phdthesis” BibTeX type is used for PhD dissertations or theses. In this guide, we will explain the required and optional fields for the “phdthesis” BibTeX type.

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Required Fields

The “phdthesis” BibTeX type requires the following fields:

• author : The author of the thesis.
• title : The title of the thesis.
• school : The name of the institution that awarded the degree.
• year : The year the degree was awarded.

Optional Fields

In addition to the required fields, the “phdthesis” BibTeX type also has a number of optional fields that can be used to provide additional information. These fields include:

• type : The type of the thesis, such as “PhD thesis” or “Master’s thesis”.
• address : The location of the institution.
• month : The month the thesis was submitted.
• note : Any additional information about the thesis.

Here is an example of how to use the “phdthesis” BibTeX type:

In this example, the BibTeX entry defines a PhD thesis authored by John Smith titled “An Analysis of Example”. The degree was awarded in 2022 by the University of Example, and the thesis was submitted in June in Example City, CA. The type of the thesis is specified as “PhD thesis”, and a note is included that provides a URL for the thesis.

The 14 BibTeX entry types

Possibly the most difficult aspect of using BibTeX to manage bibliographies is deciding what entry type to use for a reference source. We list all the 14 BibTeX entry types including their description on when to use.

An article from a journal, magazine, newspaper, or periodical.

A book where the publisher is clearly identifiable.

A printed work that is bound, but does not have a clearly identifiable publisher or supporting institution.

An article that has been included in conference proceedings. See inproceedings for details.

A section, such as a chapter, or a page range within a book.

• incollection

A titled section of a book. Such as a short story within the larger collection of short stories that make up the book.

• inproceedings

A paper that has been published in conference proceedings. The usage of conference and inproceedings is the same. The conference entry was included for Scribe compatibility.

A technical manual for a machine software such as would come with a purchase to explain operation to the new owner.

• mastersthesis

A thesis written for the Master’s level degree.

Used if none of the other entry types quite match the source. Frequently used to cite web pages, but can be anything from lecture slides to personal notes.

A thesis written for the PhD level degree.

• proceedings

A conference proceeding.

An institutionally published report such as a report from a school, a government organization, an organization, or a company. This entry type is also frequently used for white papers and working papers.

• unpublished

A document that has not been officially published such as a paper draft or manuscript in preparation.

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  NPS Thesis Template v2.7 (rel. 3 April 2023): Code Examples (Using template version ≤  2.6? Click here:  IEEE  or  INFORMS )

The following codes are customized for NPS theses and are not intended for use with any other publisher or template. The NPS thesis LaTeX template comes prepackaged with a BibTeX tool and a bib file containing the examples below.

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Citation Management and Writing Tools: LaTeX and BibTeX

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LaTeX & BibTeX

What is latex.

LaTeX is a typesetting program that takes a plain text file with various commands in it and converts it to a formatted document based on the commands that it has been given. The source file for the document has a file extension of .tex. It is widely used at MIT for theses and other technical papers due to its prowess with mathematical and foreign characters. For more information on LaTeX, see  LaTeX on Athena Basics , provided by the Athena On-Line Help system.

What is BibTeX?

BibTeX is a bibliographic tool that is used with LaTeX to help organize the user's references and create a bibliography. A BibTeX user creates a bibliography file that is separate from the LaTeX source file, wth a file extension of .bib. Each reference in the bibliography file is formatted with a certain structure and is given a "key" by which the author can refer to in the source .tex file.  For more information on BibTeX, see  see MIT IS&T's page:  How do I Create Bibliographies in LaTeX .

If you're new to LaTeX/BibTeX, consider using Overleaf ,  an online LaTeX and Rich Text collaborative writing and publishing tool. It includes built-in features to link your Zotero or Mendeley library to your LaTeX document .

MIT Libraries provides Overleaf Pro+ accounts for all MIT faculty, students and staff. Learn more on how to get started with Overleaf.

Zotero & BibTeX

Export from zotero to bibtex.

• click on the File menu in Zotero and select "Export Library..." or
• right-click on the library and select "Export Library..."
• To export all references in a collection, right-click on the collection in the left-hand menu and select "Export Collection..."
• To export only certain references, select those references using control-clicks and/or shift-clicks, then right-click one of the highlighted references and select "Export Items..."
• From the dialog box that pops up, select the BibTeX format, and click OK.
• Navigate to the directory where you are storing your manuscript (your .tex file), and save the file. This will generate a file in the appropriate format for BibTeX to read and create a bibliography from.

Auto-syncing from Zotero to BibTeX

Auto-updating your .bib file when you make changes or additions to your Zotero Library is not available directly in Zotero. You can, however, install and enable a Zotero extension,  Better BibTeX , to enable these features. 

• Once Better BibTeX is enabled, select the folder/library/items you wish to include in your .bib file as you would do in the basic export process described above.
• In the export dialog box, you will now see many more options for your export format. Select the “Better BibTeX” option, and, to set up the auto sync, make sure you also check the “Keep updated” box.
• Click Ok, name your .bib file and save in the same location as your LaTeX file.

You can adjust or remove a .bib auto sync of Zotero records at any time by going to your Zotero preferences and clicking on the Better BibTeX tab, followed by the Automatic export tab.

For more detailed instructions on setting up your Zotero export, see the  Zotero and BibTeX Quick Guide .

Linking with Overleaf

In Overleaf, you can link your entire library or a Group library to your Overleaf project. This link allows you to have synced records with Zotero while actively accessing them in Overleaf. More information on linking your Zotero and Overleaf accounts may be found on this Overleaf How-To Guide .

Mendeley & BibTeX

Export to bibtex.

• Within your Library in Mendeley Reference Manager, select the references that you would like to export to BibTeX.
• In the dropdown menu in the toolbar at the top of the screen, click File > Export All > BibTeX (*.bib)
• Make sure you save your BibTeX file to the same location as your LaTeX file.

In Overleaf, you can link your entire library or a subset of your records to your Overleaf project. This link allows you to have synced records with Mendeley while actively accessing them in Overleaf. More information on linking your Mendeley and Overleaf accounts may be found on this Overleaf How-To Guide .

JabRef & BibTeX

If you primarily create documents in LaTeX (versus a word processing software like Microsoft Word) you may want to consider using JabRef as your primary citation management software.

JabRef is a reference manager that acts as an interface to the BibTeX style used by the LaTeX typesetting system. JabRef is open source and is freely downloadable. The graphical interface allows the user to easily import, edit, search, and group citations in the BibTeX format. It also offers automatic citation key generation. JabRef does not offer any citation styles of its own; instead the citation is generated from the BibTeX file by LaTeX. Specifications for each style are given by the chosen style file.

JabRef can be used on Windows, Linux, and Mac.

For more detailed instructions on setting up JabRef as your LaTeX citation management software, see the JabRef Getting Started guidance .

Citation Management Tools

Get help with latex and bibtex.

• Zotero and BibTeX Quick Guide

LaTeX resources at MIT

LaTeX on Athena, Basics  (IS&T)

How do I create bibliographies in LaTeX?  (IS&T)

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BibTeX, natbib, biblatex: Managing Citations in LaTeX: Home

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Guide Contents

Home > Welcome > Yale + Overleaf > Important links > Guide table of contents

LaTeX Bibliography Resources > General bibliography management > Additional software > Back up your library

Bibliography Packages > BibTeX > natbib > Biblatex + biber > How to switch between in a desktop tool on the backend

Citation Styles in LaTeX > Finding your citation style > Importing from databases

Zotero and LaTeX > Why Zotero? > Better BibTeX Settings and Auto-Export > Better BibTeX: Using Quick Copy

Troubleshooting > General protocols > Known issue with csquotes

Workshops > Workshop materials in Overleaf > Workshop descriptions & link to library calendar

Important Links

• CTAN Search CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) is where documentation for almost all LaTeX packages is located. You will need to refer to this documentation to learn more about what a specific package can do and (sometimes) to do effective troubleshooting.
• LaTeX: Bibliography Management A wikibook with general information on getting started in LaTeX's reference and citation regime.
• The Not-So-Short Guide to LaTeX 2e [pdf, CTAN] A reference guide to functionality in LaTeX, including rudimentary, non-BibTeX citing. This introduction shows you how to use LaTeX quickly and effectively to write your documents. It does NOT include much on BibTeX.
• Overleaf Overleaf is a web-based LaTeX editing tool with sophisticated error handling and productivity features. Yale HPC supports the university's Overleaf license. If you use your Yale email address when you create an account or add your Yale email to a current account (you can have multiple emails on your account), you will have access to premium features.
• TeX StackExchange A forum for troubleshooting TeX-based writing.

LaTeX and Yale Library

Yale Library has been offering BibTeX workshops and consultations since the early 2010s, both in conjunction with statistical support from the library and as part of citation management support that librarians offer. This guide provides resources and information for anyone writing in LaTeX related to building your bibliography.

Throughout this guide, you will see the term citation key . This is a unique identifier for every citation. You can customize it to look like what you want, but you will call it within the document using \cite{key} , \citep{key} , \parencite{key} , and so on, depending on which packages you are using to cite. In practice, it can look like \citep{rockelSystematicReviewMembrane2012} . This takes the first author's last name, a few words from the title, and the year — however, you are free to use the information that is most meaningful to you about a citation. You can see examples of how these citation keys are referenced within a document on the Workshop Notes page.

In a bib entry, a key looks like this (note: this is an auto-generated entry using Better BibTeX):

@article{ rockelSystematicReviewMembrane2012 ,   title = {Systematic {{Review}} of {{Membrane Components}} of {{Gram-Positive Bacteria Responsible}} as {{Pyrogens}} for {{Inducing Human Monocyte}}/{{Macrophage Cytokine Release}}},   author = {Rockel, Christoph and Hartung, Thomas},   year = {2012},   month = apr,   journal = {Frontiers in Pharmacology},   volume = {3},   pages = {56},   issn = {1663-9812},   doi = {10.3389/fphar.2012.00056},   urldate = {2023-02-10},   pmcid = {PMC3328207},   pmid = {22529809}, }

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