bibtex-management

name	bibtex-management
description	Manage BibTeX databases including parsing, validation, formatting, and fixing common issues. Use when working with references.bib files, validating citations, or resolving bibliography errors.
metadata	{"author":"core-team","version":"1.0.0"}

BibTeX Management

Your Task

When working with BibTeX files, ensure:

1. Valid syntax - All entries parse correctly
2. Complete fields - Required fields present for each type
3. Consistent formatting - Uniform style throughout
4. Accurate data - No typos in fields
5. Proper citation keys - Follow naming convention

---

BibTeX Entry Types

Common Entry Types and Required Fields

Type	Required Fields	Optional Fields
@article	author, title, journal, year	volume, number, pages, month, doi
@book	author/editor, title, publisher, year	edition, address, isbn
@inproceedings	author, title, booktitle, year	editor, pages, organization, publisher
@incollection	author, title, booktitle, publisher, year	editor, chapter, pages
@techreport	author, title, institution, year	type, number, address
@phdthesis	author, title, school, year	type, address
@mastersthesis	author, title, school, year	type, address
@misc	author, title, year	howpublished, note, url
@online	author, title, url, year	urldate, accessed

---

Citation Key Convention

Standard Format

AuthorYear[Suffix]

Examples:

• Smith2023 - Single author
• SmithJones2023 - Two authors
• SmithEtAl2023 - Three+ authors
• Smith2023a, Smith2023b - Multiple works by same author/year

Rules

1. Use first author's surname (capitalized)
2. For two authors: both surnames
3. For three+ authors: first surname + "EtAl"
4. Four-digit year
5. Lowercase letter suffix if needed for disambiguation
6. No spaces, hyphens, or special characters

---

Entry Formatting

Standard Format

@article{SmithJones2023,
  author    = {Smith, John A. and Jones, Mary B.},
  title     = {A Study of Color Perception in Digital Interfaces},
  journal   = {Journal of Human-Computer Interaction},
  year      = {2023},
  volume    = {45},
  number    = {3},
  pages     = {123--145},
  doi       = {10.1000/example.2023.123},
}

Formatting Rules

1. Opening brace on same line as @type{key,
2. Fields indented with 2 spaces
3. Field names lowercase, aligned
4. Values in braces {...} (not quotes)
5. Each field on its own line
6. Trailing comma after last field
7. Closing brace on its own line

---

Field-Specific Rules

Author Names

Format: {Surname, First Name and Surname, First Name}

author = {Smith, John A. and Jones, Mary B. and Brown, Robert},

Multiple names: Separate with and (not commas)

Corporate authors: Wrap in extra braces

author = {{World Health Organization}},

Titles

Preserve capitalization with braces:

title = {A Study of {RGB} Color Spaces in {HCI}},

Book titles: Capitalize normally Article titles: Only first word and proper nouns capitalized (BibTeX style handles this)

Page Numbers

Use double dash for ranges:

pages = {123--145},

DOIs

Include without https://doi.org/ prefix:

doi = {10.1000/example.2023.123},

URLs

url = {https://example.com/paper},
urldate = {2023-12-15},

---

Validation Checklist

Required Field Validation

For each entry, verify:

• Citation key follows convention
• All required fields present
• No duplicate citation keys
• Author names properly formatted
• Year is four digits
• Page numbers use double dash

Common Issues to Check

Issue	Fix
Missing required field	Add the field
Duplicate citation key	Add suffix (a, b, c)
Single dash in pages	Replace with --
Unprotected capitals	Wrap in {}
and missing between authors	Add and
Stray commas in values	Remove or escape
Mismatched braces	Balance { and }
URL encoding issues	Escape special chars

---

Fixing Common Problems

Problem: Missing Author

Detection: Entry has no author field

Fix: Add author or use key field for sorting:

@misc{NoAuthor2023,
  title  = {Annual Report},
  year   = {2023},
  key    = {Annual Report},
}

Problem: Special Characters

Escape these in BibTeX:

Character	Escape
&	\&
%	\%
$	\$
#	\#
_	\_
{	\{
}	\}
~	\~{}
^	\^{}

Accented characters:

author = {M{\"u}ller, Hans},  % Müller
author = {Gonz{\'a}lez, Maria},  % González

Problem: Inconsistent Capitalization

Detection: Article titles with random capitalization

Fix: Use sentence case, protect proper nouns:

% Bad
title = {A Study of RGB Color Spaces},

% Good
title = {A study of {RGB} color spaces},

Problem: Duplicate Keys

Detection: Two entries with same key

Fix: Add suffix or rename:

@article{Smith2023a,
  ...
}
@article{Smith2023b,
  ...
}

---

BibTeX vs BibLaTeX

Key Differences

Feature	BibTeX	BibLaTeX
New entry types	Limited	@online, @software, etc.
Name handling	Basic	Sophisticated
Unicode	Limited	Full support
Date formats	year, month	date field
URL handling	Manual	Built-in

BibLaTeX-Specific Fields

@online{Website2023,
  author  = {Smith, John},
  title   = {Example Website},
  url     = {https://example.com},
  urldate = {2023-12-15},
  date    = {2023},
}

---

Harvard Style Specifics

For Harvard citation style:

Entry Requirements

Type	Must Have
Journal article	author, year, title, journal, volume, issue, pages
Book	author, year, title, edition (if not first), place, publisher
Website	author/organization, year, title, URL, access date

Edition Format

edition = {3rd},
% or
edition = {Revised},

Online Sources

Always include access date:

urldate = {2023-12-15},
note    = {Accessed: 15 December 2023},

---

Entry Templates

Journal Article

@article{AuthorYear,
  author  = {Surname, First and Surname, First},
  title   = {Article Title in Sentence Case},
  journal = {Journal Name},
  year    = {2023},
  volume  = {10},
  number  = {2},
  pages   = {100--120},
  doi     = {10.xxxx/xxxxx},
}

Book

@book{AuthorYear,
  author    = {Surname, First},
  title     = {Book Title},
  publisher = {Publisher Name},
  year      = {2023},
  address   = {City},
  edition   = {2nd},
  isbn      = {978-0-000-00000-0},
}

Conference Paper

@inproceedings{AuthorYear,
  author    = {Surname, First},
  title     = {Paper Title},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Conference Name},
  year      = {2023},
  pages     = {100--110},
  address   = {City, Country},
  publisher = {Publisher},
}

Website

@online{AuthorYear,
  author  = {Surname, First},
  title   = {Page Title},
  url     = {https://example.com/page},
  urldate = {2023-12-15},
  year    = {2023},
}

Software

@software{AuthorYear,
  author  = {Surname, First},
  title   = {Software Name},
  version = {1.0.0},
  url     = {https://github.com/example/repo},
  year    = {2023},
}

---

Validation Script Usage

# Check BibTeX syntax
biber --tool --validate-datamodel references.bib

# Check for common issues
checkcites --undefined --unused main.aux

# View warnings during LaTeX compilation
biber main  # Check output for warnings

---

Quick Reference

Task	Action
New entry	Use appropriate type template
Multiple authors	Separate with and
Protect capitals	Wrap in {...}
Page range	Use -- (double dash)
Special chars	Escape with \
Corporate author	Double braces {{...}}
Duplicate key	Add letter suffix
Missing field	Add required field for type