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How to Create Bibliographic References in LaTeX

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Bibliographic references are easier to manage when source data is stored separately from the main text. The modern combination of BibLaTeX and Biber provides flexible citation commands, language support, and style control.

Create the bibliography database

Add a file named references.bib to your project. Each source receives a unique citation key.

@book{lamport1994,
  author    = {Leslie Lamport},
  title     = {LaTeX: A Document Preparation System},
  year      = {1994},
  publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
  edition   = {2}
}

@article{knuth1984,
  author  = {Donald E. Knuth},
  title   = {Literate Programming},
  journal = {The Computer Journal},
  year    = {1984},
  volume  = {27},
  number  = {2},
  pages   = {97--111},
  doi     = {10.1093/comjnl/27.2.97}
}

Configure BibLaTeX

\usepackage[
  backend=biber,
  style=authoryear,
  language=auto
]{biblatex}

\addbibresource{references.bib}

Print the reference list where it should appear:

\printbibliography[title={References}]

Cite sources in the text

  • \textcite{lamport1994}: Lamport (1994).
  • \parencite{lamport1994}: (Lamport, 1994).
  • \parencite[p. 25]{lamport1994}: adds a page number.
  • \autocite{knuth1984}: adapts to the selected style.
  • \nocite{*}: includes every database entry.

Minimal complete example

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=authoryear]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}

\begin{document}

According to \textcite{lamport1994}, LaTeX separates
content from formatting. This approach supports
consistent documents \parencite{knuth1984}.

\printbibliography
\end{document}

Compile the bibliography

On Overleaf, use Biber when the project requires it and try Recompile from scratch if citations remain outdated. A traditional local sequence is:

pdflatex main
biber main
pdflatex main
pdflatex main

latexmk -pdf main.tex can automate the required passes.

Common problems

Citations appear as question marks

Check the citation key, the .bib filename, and whether Biber ran successfully. Read the first error in the log.

Author names display incorrectly

Save source files as UTF-8. Protect corporate authors and important capitalization with braces when required.

Incomplete references

Review the DOI, URL, access date, page range, and publication data. Imported metadata should always be checked.

BibLaTeX or BibTeX?

BibTeX remains necessary for some older templates and publisher workflows. BibLaTeX with Biber is more flexible for new projects. Always follow the requirements of your institution, journal, or conference.

Good practices

  • Use predictable keys such as surnameYearKeyword.
  • Keep only one record for each work.
  • Protect important capitalization in titles.
  • Validate DOIs and publication data.
  • Make sure every source is relevant to the text.

TexDrop templates can provide a ready-to-adapt bibliography structure for your document.