bibtex bachelor thesis citation

• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
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• LaTeX Guide
• Citing with BibTeX

LaTeX Guide : Citing with BibTeX

• Introduction
• Getting Started
• UW-Madison Templates

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.

• Bibliography management with BibTeX An introduction to using BibTeX and .bib files for bibliography management, including solutions to common problems. From Overleaf.
• BibTeX Basic introduction to the BibTeX file format and how to use it with LaTeX.
• Choosing a BibTeX style Guide from Reed College on various citation styles and how to use them with BibTeX and LaTeX.

Citation Managers and LaTeX/BibTeX

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.

• JabRef Free citation manager with BibTeX support. Made by researchers for researchers.

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

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

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.

• Better BibTeX for Zotero A plugin for Zotero that makes it easier for LaTeX users to manage bibliographic data.
• How to link your Overleaf account to Mendeley and Zotero For users with premium subscriptions only.

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:

• Save all your references into a single EndNote group
• Select the references in EndNote (use Ctrl +A for Windows or Cmd + A for Mac OS to select all)
• From the main menu choose File > Export...
• Choose BibTeX Export as the file output style (this may require installing the BibTeX Export style from the Style Manager)
• Save the file
• 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.

• Can I use Overleaf with EndNote? Instructions for using EndNote to manage references for an Overleaf LaTeX project.

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

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

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

• Exporting references from Mendeley Instructions for exporting your Mendeley reference library to a variety of formats. Note that this creates a static file.
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• Last Updated: May 29, 2024 3:50 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/latex

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Cite a Thesis in BIBTEX

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Guide to Writing Your Thesis in LaTeX

The bibliography and list of references.

The Graduate School requires a Bibliography which includes all the literature cited for the complete thesis or dissertation. Quoting from the Graduate School’s Guidelines for the Format of Theses and Dissertations :

“Every thesis in Standard Format must contain a Bibliography which lists all the sources used or consulted in writing the entire thesis and is placed at the very end of the work. The complete citations are arranged alphabetically by last name of the author. Individual citations are not numbered. No abbreviations in titles of published works will be accepted. The full title of a book, journal, website, proceedings, or any other published work must be italicized or underlined. Citations must follow standards set by the style manual that the student is using. The bibliography for URI theses is not broken into categories.”

The List of References is not required by the Graduate School, but is the style commonly used in Engineering, Mathematics, and many of the Sciences. It consists of a numbered list of the sources used or consulted in writing the thesis in the order that they are referenced in the text. There can be either one List of References for the entire thesis, or a List of References at the end of each chapter.

Both the Bibliography and the List of References will be generated by the urithesis LaTeX class. All you need to do is add information about your sources to the references.bib file, which is a database containing all of the necessary information about the references, then cite the reference in your thesis using the \cite{} command.

Generating the Bibliography and References

The bibliography and list of references are generated by running BibTeX. To generate the bibliography, load the file thesisbib.tex into your editor, then run BibTeX on it.

If each chapter has its own list of references, you will need to run BibTeX on each chapter to update its list of references. If there is one list of references for the whole thesis (because you used the oneref option, you will only need to run BibTeX on the top level file thesis.tex .

How to Add a Bibliography Entry

When we want to refer to a source in the thesis, we place an entry for that source in the file references.bib , then cite the source in the thesis with the \cite{LABEL} command. The syntax for an entry in the references.bib file is of the form:

ENTRYTYPE is the type of bibliographic entry such as Book , Article , or TechReport , that this entry describes. At the end of this page is a list of all possible entry types .

LABEL is a unique string that is used to refer to this entry in the body of the thesis when using the \cite{LABEL} command.

The FIELDNAMEn entries are the fields that describe this entry, (ie. author, title, pages, year, etc.). Each entry type has certain required fields and optional fields. See the list of all entry types for a description of the available fields.

As an example, suppose we have a paper from a conference proceedings that we want to cite. First we make an entry in the our references.bib file of the form:

We then cite this source in the text of our thesis with the command \cite{re:toolan:as03} . This will generate a Bibliography entry that looks something like:

and a List of References entry that looks something like:

Types of List of References

The Graduate School requires that the bibliography is always at the end of the thesis and sorted alphabetically by author, therefore there is no options that affect it. The list of references is optional, therefore there are a few different ways that it can created.

By default a separate list of references appears at the end of each chapter, and are sorted by the order that they are cited in that chapter. The option oneref (see options ) will create a single list of references for the whole thesis, which due to the requirements of the Graduate School, will appear after the last chapter and before any appendices.

The option aparefs will cite references using the APA style, which is the last name of the author and year of publication, such as (Toolan, 2006), instead of the default IEEE style, which is a number, such as [1]. This option will also sort the references alphabetically by author, instead of in order of citation. The options oneref and aparefs can be used together to create a single list of references using the APA style.

Supported Bibliography Entry Types

The following is a list of all the entry types that can be used. Click on the desired type to see a detailed description of how to use that type.

• Article – An article from a journal or magazine
• Book – A book with an explicit publisher
• InBook – A part of a book, such as a chapter or selected page(s)
• InCollection – A part of a book having its own title
• Booklet – Printed and bound works that are not formally published
• Manual – Technical documentation
• InProceedings – An article in a conference proceedings
• Proceedings – The entire proceedings of a conference
• MastersThesis – A Master’s thesis
• PhDThesis – A Ph.D. dissertation
• TechReport – A report published by a school or other institution
• Unpublished – A document that has not been formally published
• Electronic – An internet reference like a web page
• Patent – A patent or patent application
• Periodical – A magazine or journal
• Standard – Formally published standard
• Misc – For use when nothing else fits

Articles that have not yet been published can be handled as a misc type with a note. Sometimes it is desirable to put extra information into the month field such as the day, or additional months. This is accomplished by using the BIBTEX concatenation operator “#“:

Example .bib using this type:

Books may have authors, editors or both. Example .bib using this type:

Inbook is used to reference a part of a book, such as a chapter or selected page(s). The type field can be used to override the word chapter (for which IEEE uses the abbreviation “ch.”) when the book uses parts, sections, etc., instead of chapters

Incollection is used to reference part of a book having its own title. Like book , incollection supports the series, chapter and pages fields. Also, the type field can be used to override the word chapter.

Booklet is used for printed and bound works that are not formally published. A primary difference between booklet and unpublished is that the former is/was distributed by some means. Booklet is rarely used in bibliographies.

Technical documentation is handled by the manual entry type.

References of papers in conference proceedings are handled by the inproceedings or conference entry type. These two types are functionally identical and can be used interchangeably. Example .bib using this type:

It is rare to need to reference an entire conference proceedings, but, if necessary, the proceedings entry type can be used to do so.

Master’s (or minor) theses can be handled with the mastersthesis entry type. The optional type field can be used to override the words “Master’s thesis” if a different designation is desired:

The phdthesis entry type is used for Ph.D. dissertations (major theses). Like mastersthesis , the type field can be used to override the default designation. Example .bib using this type:

Techreport is used for technical reports. The optional type field can be used to override the default designation “Tech. Rep.” Example .bib using this type:

The unpublished entry type is used for documents that have not been formally published. IEEE typically just uses “unpublished” for the required note field.

The electronic entry type is for internet references. IEEE formats electronic references differently by not using italics or quotes and separating fields with periods rather than commas. Also, the date is enclosed within parentheses and is placed closer to the title. This is probably done to emphasize that electronic references may not remain valid on the rapidly changing internet. Note also the liberal use of the howpublished field to describe the form or category of the entries. The organization and address fields may also be used. Example .bib using this type:

The nationality field provides a means to handle patents from different countries

The nationality should be capitalized. The assignee and address (of the assignee) fields are not used, however, they are provided. The type field provides a way to override the “patent” description with other patent related descriptions such as “patent application” or “patent request”:

The periodical entry type is used for journals and magazines.

The standard entry type is used for formally published standards. Alternatively, the misc entry type, along with its howpublished field, can be used to create references of standards.

Misc is the most flexible type and can be used when none of the other entry types are applicable. The howpublished field can be used to describe what exactly (or in what form) the reference is (or appears as). Possible applications include technical-report-like entries that lack an institution, white papers and data sheets.

Additional Comments

Because we are effectively creating multiple bibliographies, (one for the actual bibliography, and one for each list of references), the two LATEX commands \bibliographystyle{} and \bibliography{} are not used. They have been redefined to do nothing, and the equivalent of these commands are done automatically when necessary.

When there is a reference that should be included in the bibliography, but does not need to be explicitly referenced in the thesis, use the \nocite{} command. This command works like the \cite{} command, except it does not put the citation in the list of references, only in the bibliography. The \nocite{} command must appear after the first \newchapter{} command, or it will be ignored.

When using the option aparefs , and a citation does not have an author, (such as often occurs with a web page), the key field can be used to specify what to use in the citation instead of the author’s name.

About the Bibliography Format

The bibliography format used by the urithesis class is based on the IEEE format. See the article “How to Use the IEEEtran BIBTEX Style” by Michael Shell for more details.

Citation Management and Writing Tools: LaTeX and BibTeX

• LaTeX and BibTeX
• Other Citation Tools
• LaTeX & BibTeX & Overleaf
• Zotero & BibTeX
• Mendeley & BibTeX
• JabRef & BibTeX  

LaTeX & BibTeX (& Overleaf)

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 .

Overleaf at MIT

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:

• To export all of the references in a certain library to BibTeX, click on the Actions drop-down menu in Zotero and select "Export Library..."
• To export only certain references, select those references using control-clicks and shift-clicks, then right click one of them and select "Export Selected 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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• Last Updated: Aug 23, 2024 10:01 AM
• URL: https://libguides.mit.edu/cite-write

Overleaf for LaTeX Theses & Dissertations: Home

• Using Templates on Overleaf
• Reference Managers and Overleaf
• Adding Tables, Images, and Graphs

Tips and tools for writing your LaTeX thesis or dissertation in Overleaf, including templates, managing references , and getting started guides.

Managing References

BibTeX is a file format used for lists of references for LaTeX documents. Many citation management tools support the ability to export and import lists of references in .bib format. Some reference management tools can generate BibTeX files of your library or folders for use in your LaTeX documents.

LaTeX on Wikibooks has a Bibliography Management page.

Find list of BibTeX styles available on Overleaf here

View a video tutorial on how to include a bibliography using BibTeX  here

Collaborate with Overleaf

Collaboration tools

• One version of your project accessible to collaborators via a shared link or email invitation
• Easily select the level of access for collaborators (view, edit, or owner access)
• Real-time commenting speeds up the review process
• Tracked changes and full history view help to see contributions from collaborators
• Labels help to organize and compare different versions
• Chat in real time with collaborators right within the project

How to get started writing your thesis in LaTeX

Writing a thesis or dissertation in LaTeX can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it – nothing looks as good as a LaTeX-produced PDF, and for large documents it's a lot easier than fighting with formatting and cross-referencing in MS Word. Review this video from Overleaf to help you get started writing your thesis in LaTeX, using a standard thesis template from the Overleaf Gallery .

You can upload your own thesis template to the Overleaf Gallery if your university provides a set of LaTeX template files or you may find your university's thesis template already in the Overleaf Gallery.

This video assumes you've used LaTeX before and are familiar with the standard commands (see other tutorial videos  if not), and focuses on how to work with a large project split over multiple files.

Add Institutional Library contact info here.

Contact Overleaf   or email [email protected]

5-part Guide on How to Write a Thesis in LaTeX

5-part LaTeX Thesis Writing Guide

Part 1: Basic Structure corresponding  video

Part 2: Page Layout corresponding  video

Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables   corresponding video

Part 4: Bibliographies with Biblatex corresponding video

Part 5: Customizing Your Title Page and Abstract corresponding video

Link your ORCiD ID

Link your ORCiD account to your Overleaf account.

See Overleaf news   on  our blog.

• Next: Using Templates on Overleaf >>
• Last Updated: Aug 20, 2024 5:29 PM
• URL: https://overleaf.libguides.com/Thesis

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• Biblatex citation styles
• 1 Introduction and example
• 2 Citation styles
• 3 Further reading

Introduction and example

Biblatex provides numerous citation styles but if no citation style is set L a T e X uses the one that matches the bibliography style . Here is a minimal example showing use of the biblatex parameter style=alphabetic to set the citation style to alphabetic .

 Open this example in Overleaf (the sample.bib file is created for you).

This example produces the following output:

Citation styles

Standard citation styles include:

• numeric Implements a numeric citation scheme intended for in-text citations. Should be employed in conjunction with the numeric bibliography style .
• numeric-comp Compact variant of the numeric mode. Citations like [1, 2, 3] are replaced by [1-3] .
• numeric-verb Verbose variant of the numeric style. Instead of [2, 5, 7] will print [2];[5];[7] .
• alphabetic Alphabetic citation scheme similar to the standard alpha in style bibtex . To be used in conjunction with the alphabetic bibliography style.
• alphabetic-verb Verbose version of the alphabetic style. Instead of [Doe98, Doe95, Farn2004] will print [Doe98];[Doe95];[Farn2004] .
• authoryear Implements the author-year citation scheme. To be used in conjunction with the author-year bibliography style.
• authoryear-comp Compact variant of the authoryear style. Prints the author only once if subsequent references passed to a single citation command share the same author. Prints Doe 1992, 1995 instead of Doe 1992, Doe 1995 .
• authoryear-ibid A variant of the authoryear intended for footnote citations. Replaces repeated citations by the abbreviation ibidem .
• authoryear-icomp A style combining the features of authoryear-comp and authoryear-ibid
• authortitle Implements the author-title scheme. Intended for citations given in footnotes.
• authortitle-comp Compact variant of authortitle . Instead of Doe, First title; Doe, Second title this will print Doe, First title, Second title .
• authortitle-ibid A variant of the authortitle intended for footnote citations. Replaces repeated citations by the abbreviation ibidem .
• authortitle-icomp A style combining authortitle-comp and authortitle-ibid .
• authortitle-terse Variant of authoritle that only prints the title if the bibliography contains more than one work of the respective author/editor.
• authortitle-tcomp Style combining authortitle-terse and authortitle-comp .
• authortitle-ticomp Style combining authortitle-icomp and authortitle-terse .
• verbose Citation style that prints a full citation when the entry is cited for the first time and a short version afterwards.
• reading Citation style that goes with the bibliography style by the same name. Loads the authortitle style.

There are other non-standard citation styles popular in different journals and thesis

• American Chemical Society (ACS) style
• American Institute of Physics (AIP) style
• American Mathematical Society (AMS) style
• Vancouver system
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) style
• Nature style
• Science style
• Chicago Style
• Harvard referencing style
• American Psychological Association (APA) style

(*) this is a new style, see http://ctan.org/pkg/biblatex-phys

Further reading

For more information see

• Bibliography management in LaTeX
• Biblatex bibliography styles
• Biblatex package documentation
• Table of contents
• Management in a large project
• Documentation Home
• Learn LaTeX in 30 minutes

Overleaf guides

• Creating a document in Overleaf
• Uploading a project
• Copying a project
• Creating a project from a template
• Using the Overleaf project menu
• Including images in Overleaf
• Exporting your work from Overleaf
• Working offline in Overleaf
• Using Track Changes in Overleaf
• Using bibliographies in Overleaf
• Sharing your work with others
• Using the History feature
• Debugging Compilation timeout errors
• How-to guides
• Guide to Overleaf’s premium features

LaTeX Basics

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Mathematics

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• Using the Symbol Palette in Overleaf

Figures and tables

• Inserting Images
• Positioning Images and Tables
• Lists of Tables and Figures
• Drawing Diagrams Directly in LaTeX
• TikZ package

References and Citations

• Bibliography management with bibtex
• Bibliography management with natbib
• Bibliography management with biblatex
• Bibtex bibliography styles
• Natbib bibliography styles
• Natbib citation styles
• Multilingual typesetting on Overleaf using polyglossia and fontspec
• Multilingual typesetting on Overleaf using babel and fontspec
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• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

BIBTEX Citation Generator

- powered by chegg, all of our writing tools, none of the ads, is this source credible consider the criteria below..

Is the purpose to entertain, sell, persuade, or inform/teach ? Journal articles are often designed to inform or teach. Books and websites could have any of these or a combination of the purposes above. So it is important to determine why the source was created and if it is appropriate for your research. For websites in particular, looking at their "About Us" page or "Mission Statement" can help you evaluate purpose.

Accuracy is the reliability and truthfulness of the source. Here are a few indicators of an accurate source:

• Citations or a works cited list. For websites, this can be links to other credible sites.
• Evidence that backs up claims made by the author(s).
• Text that is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
• Information that matches that in other, credible sources.
• Language that is unbiased and free of emotion.

Based on the above the source could be accurate, inaccurate, a mixture of accurate and inaccurate, or hard to tell.

Authority: Author

The author is the individual or organization who wrote the information in the book, in the journal article, or on the website. If no author is listed, there may be another contributor instead. For example, an editor or a translator. A credible author has:

• Written several articles or books on the topic.
• Provided contact information. For example, an email address, mailing address, social media account, etc.
• The experience or qualifications to be an expert on the topic.

Authority: Publisher

The credibility of the publisher can contribute to the authority of a source. The publisher can be a person, company or organization. Authoritative publishers:

• Accept responsibility for content.
• Are often well-known.
• Often publish multiple works on the same or related topics.

Relevance describes how related or important a source is to your topic. While a source may be credible, it does not necessarily mean it is relevant to your assignment. To determine relevance, you should:

• Determine the website's intended audience. Look at the level of the information and the tone of the writing. For example, is it meant for academics or the general public?
• Make sure that the information is related to your research topic.
• Make sure that the information helps you answer your research question.

A publication date is an important part of evaluating the credibility of a source and its appropriateness for your topic. It is generally best to use content that was recently published or updated, but depending on your assignment, it may be appropriate to use older information. For example, a journal entry from Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War is too outdated to use in a discussion about modern politics and war, but would be appropriate for a paper about the Civil War. Consider the following when evaluating currency:

• Was it published or updated recently? If a website, is there even a publication date listed?
• Is the date of the source appropriate or inappropriate for my assignment?

After analyzing your source, do you believe it is credible, not credible, partially credible, or are you unsure? If you are still unsure, it may help to ask your instructor a librarian for assistance.

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How to cite a book in bibtex generic citation style style.

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Reference List

Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.

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How to cite a Journal in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite Film or Movie in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite a Dictionary entry in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite an E-book or PDF in BibTeX generic citation style style

Use the following template to cite an e-book or pdf using the BibTeX generic citation style citation style.

How to cite an Edited book in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite an Email in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite an Encyclopedia article in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite an Interview in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite a Magazine in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite a Newspaper in BibTeX generic citation style style

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How to cite a Podcast in BibTeX generic citation style style

Use the following template to cite a podcast using the BibTeX generic citation style citation style.

How to cite a Song in BibTeX generic citation style style

Use the following template to cite a song using the BibTeX generic citation style citation style.

How to cite The Bible in BibTeX generic citation style style

Use the following template to cite The Bible using the BibTeX generic citation style citation style.

How to cite a TV Show in BibTeX generic citation style style

Use the following template to cite a TV Show using the BibTeX generic citation style citation style.

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Make PhD citations say "dissertation" rather than thesis

At my school, PhD works are generally referred to as dissertations rather than theses.

My bibtex file has this entry:

And it gets rendered as:

Is there any way to make it say "PhD dissertation" rather than "PhD thesis"?

On another note, why is this the default in LaTeX? Would it be unusual or poor form to change it?

Edit: I'm using the plain bibliography style. I could probably use ieeetr as well:

• This depends on your bibliography style, not your .bib file. So you need to show the LaTeX code you are using to produce the bibliography for us to help you. –  Alan Munn Commented May 4, 2014 at 2:28
• @AlanMunn Thanks, see edit. Using plain style. –  jtpereyda Commented May 4, 2014 at 2:37

2 Answers 2

The text used in plain.bst is hard coded into the file itself, and so isn't customizable from within your document.

What you can do is make a copy of plain.bst and edit it, and then use the copy as your bibliography style.

On a TeX Live system, plain.bst is located in /usr/local/texlive/2013/texmf-dist/bibtex/bst/base/plain.bst . Make a copy of this file and call it plain-diss.bst (or some other name). Save this in the same folder as your document, or put it in your local texmf folder in texmf/bibtex/bst/ .

Edit the file and search for "thesis". You will find the following function:

Change "PhD thesis" to "PhD dissertation" and then save the file.

In your document, use \bibliographystyle{plain-diss} instead of {plain} .

The same general solution will also work for the ieeetr.bst .

A biblatex solution

Another way to do this would be to use biblatex , which provides easy customization of these sorts of things. Here's a schematic document that shows how to do this:

• Thanks! Worked perfectly. I had to search my system (Cygwin) for the file with find / -name plain.bst . My plain.bst was at /usr/share/texmf-dist/bibtex/bst/base/plain.bst . –  jtpereyda Commented May 15, 2014 at 16:35
• Somebody at my school also pointed out that my PhD titles were italicized while my master's titles were not. Comparing the entries, I changed format.btitle "title" output.check to format.title "title" output.check to make them not italic. –  jtpereyda Commented May 16, 2014 at 2:09

For a quick fix, you can use the type field, although it makes the file non portable.

• this seems perfect, but could you pls elaborate on the "non portable" part? –  davyjones Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 14:09
• @davyjones If you use the bib file for other purposes, you probably need to remove the type field. –  egreg Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 14:23
• that's nice. I thought the generated pdf file would be somehow self-contradictorily non-portable. Thanks~ –  davyjones Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 14:29

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BibTeX mastersthesis template

The mastersthesis entry type is intended to be used for a Master's thesis.

Minimal template

Minimal template with required fields only for a BibTeX mastersthesis entry.

Full template

Full template including required and optional fields for a BibTeX mastersthesis entry.