Bibliography Entry Types for .bib file
Entry types
When entering a reference in the bibliography database, the first thing to decide is what type of entry it is. No fixed classification scheme can be complete, but BibTeX provides enough entry types to handle almost any reference reasonably well.
References to different types of publications contain different information; a reference to a journal might include the volume and number of the journal, which is usually not meaningful for a book. Therefore, database entries of different types have different fields for each entry type, the fields are divided into three classes:
-
Required
- omitting the field will produce an error message and may result in a badly formatted bibliography entry. If the required information is not meaningful, you are using the wrong entry type. Optional
- the field's information will be used if present, but can be omitted without causing any formatting problems. A reference should contain any available information that might help the reader, so you should include the optional field if it is applicable. Ignored
- the field is ignored. BibTeX ignores any field that is not required or optional, so you can include any fields you want in a bibliography entry. It's often a good idea to put all relevant information about a reference in its bibliography entry - even information that may never appear in the bibliography. For example, if you want to keep an abstract of a paper in a computer file, put it in an 'abstract' field in the paper's bibliography entry. The bibliography database file is likely to be as good a place as any for the abstract, and it is possible to design a bibliography style for printing selected abstracts.
BibTeX ignores the case of letters in the entry type.
Subtopics
- article entry
- book entry
- booklet entry
- conference entry
- inbook entry
- incollection entry
- inproceedings entry
- manual entry
- mastersthesis entry
- misc entry
- phdthesis entry
- proceedings entry
- techreport entry
- unpublished entry
article entry
An article from a journal or magazine.
Format:
@ARTICLE{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , journal , year
Optional fields: volume , number , pages , month , note , key
book entry
A book with an explicit publisher.
Format:
@BOOK{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author or editor , title , publisher , year
Optional fields: volume , series , address , edition , month , note , key
booklet entry
A work that is printed and bound, but without a named publisher or sponsoring institution.
Format:
@BOOKLET{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: title
Optional fields: author , howpublished , address , month , year , note , key
conference entry
An article in the proceedings of a conference. This entry is identical to the 'inproceedings' entry and is included for compatibility with another text formatting system.
Format:
@CONFERENCE{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , booktitle , year
Optional fields: editor , pages , organization , publisher , address , month , note , key
inbook entry
A part of a book, which may be a chapter and/or a range of pages.
Format:
@INBOOK{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author or editor , title , chapter and/or pages , publisher , year
Optional fields: volume , series , address , edition , month , note , key
incollection entry
A part of a book with its own title.
Format:
@INCOLLECTION{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , booktitle , year
Optional fields: editor , pages , organization , publisher , address , month , note , key
inproceedings entry
An article in the proceedings of a conference.
Format:
@INPROCEEDINGS{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , booktitle , year
Optional fields: editor , pages , organization , publisher , address , month , note , key
manual entry
Technical documentation.
Format:
@MANUAL{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: title
Optional fields: author , organization , address , edition , month , year , note , key
mastersthesis entry
A Master's thesis.
Format:
@MASTERSTHESIS{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , school , year
Optional fields: address , month , note , key
misc entry
Use this type when nothing else seems appropriate.
Format:
@MISC{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: none
Optional fields: author , title , howpublished , month , year , note , key
phdthesis entry
A PhD thesis.
Format:
@PHDTHESIS{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , school , year
Optional fields: address , month , note , key
proceedings entry
The proceedings of a conference.
Format:
@PROCEEDINGS{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: title , year
Optional fields: editor , publisher , organization , address , month , note , key
techreport entry
A report published by a school or other institution, usually numbered within a series.
Format:
@TECHREPORT{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , institution , year
Optional fields: type , number , address , month , note , key
unpublished entry
A document with an author and title, but not formally published.
Format:
@UNPUBLISHED{citation_key, required_fields [, optional_fields] }
Required fields: author , title , note
Optional fields: month , year , key