BibTeX Citation Generator

BibTeX citation generator is a free tool that turns book, journal and website details into ready-to-paste BibTeX entries for LaTeX. It builds the correct entry type, a unique cite key and properly braced fields you drop straight into your .bib file.

How do I use this BibTeX citation generator?

Pick a source type, enter the identifier or details, and the generator returns a complete BibTeX entry you copy into your .bib file. It chooses the right entry type, assembles fields in braces and creates a cite key automatically.

1. Choose the source: journal article, book, chapter, conference paper, thesis or website.
2. Paste a DOI, ISBN or URL to auto-fill, or type author, title, year and publisher by hand.
3. Review the generated entry and edit the cite key if you want a memorable label.
4. Click copy, then paste the block into references.bib alongside your LaTeX project.

Because the output is plain text, it works with Overleaf, TeXstudio, JabRef, Zotero exports and any editor that reads BibTeX.

What is BibTeX?

BibTeX is a reference format and companion program for LaTeX that stores bibliographic data separately from your document. Oren Patashnik and Leslie Lamport released it in 1985. You keep sources in a .bib file, cite them by key, and BibTeX formats the reference list.

The key idea is separation. Your prose contains only cite keys such as cite{knuth1984}, while the .bib file holds the raw data. A bibliography style then decides how each reference is rendered, so you can switch from a numeric to an author-year layout without touching a single source entry.

A BibTeX citation generator automates the first half of that workflow. Rather than typing field names and braces by hand, you enter the source details — or look them up by DOI or ISBN — and the generator returns a syntactically valid entry with the right type, a unique cite key, and correctly escaped fields. That matters because BibTeX fails loudly: one unbalanced brace or a missing comma stops the build, and the error message rarely points at the line that caused it.

What does a BibTeX entry look like?

Every entry starts with an @ entry type, an opening brace, a cite key, then a comma-separated list of field = {value} pairs. The cite key is unique and label-only; fields carry the data. Values sit inside curly braces or double quotes.

Journal article@article{einstein1905,
  author  = {Einstein, Albert},
  title   = {Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter K{"o}rper},
  journal = {Annalen der Physik},
  volume  = {322},
  number  = {10},
  pages   = {891--921},
  year    = {1905},
  doi     = {10.1002/andp.19053221004}
}

Note the double hyphen in 891--921: LaTeX turns -- into an en dash for page ranges. The {"o} encodes the umlaut in Körper, and the braces around K{"o} keep that letter safe.

Which BibTeX entry types should I use?

Choose the entry type that matches the physical form of the source, because each type expects different required fields. Using the wrong type — a book cited as an article, for example — makes BibTeX drop or misplace data. The table lists the common types and their must-have fields.

Book@book{knuth1984,
  author    = {Knuth, Donald E.},
  title     = {The {TeX}book},
  publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
  address   = {Reading, Massachusetts},
  year     = {1984},
  isbn     = {0-201-13448-9}
}

How do I format authors and titles in BibTeX?

Write each author as Last, First and separate multiple authors with the word and, never commas or ampersands. Protect capital letters and acronyms with braces so the bibliography style cannot force them to lowercase. These two habits prevent most formatting errors.

• Authors: author = {Curie, Marie and Joliot, Fr{'e}d{'e}ric}. BibTeX splits on and , so keep it lowercase and spaced.
• Corporate authors: wrap the whole name in extra braces — author = {{World Health Organization}} — so it is not parsed as a person.
• Capitalisation: title = {A study of {DNA} in {Africa}} keeps DNA and Africa capitalised under styles that would otherwise lowercase them.
• Pages: use -- for ranges, and add doi or url fields where available.

Conference paper@inproceedings{lamport1994,
  author    = {Lamport, Leslie},
  title     = {How to Write a Proof},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Global Analysis Conference},
  pages     = {1--12},
  publisher = {Springer},
  year     = {1994}
}

How do I cite BibTeX entries in LaTeX?

Reference an entry in your text with cite{citekey}, then tell LaTeX where the data and style live. The classic BibTeX workflow needs two commands near the end of your document, and the newer biblatex workflow uses a package and the biber backend instead.

Classic BibTeX places these two lines where the bibliography should appear:

Classic BibTeXbibliographystyle{plain}
bibliography{references}

Then compile in the order pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex so the citations and reference list resolve. Common styles include plain, unsrt, alpha and abbrv; the natbib package adds author-year styles such as plainnat.

Biblatex, the modern successor, is more flexible and Unicode-friendly:

biblatexusepackage[backend=biber, style=numeric]{biblatex}
addbibresource{references.bib}
...
printbibliography

Whichever route you choose, the .bib entries this generator produces work in both, because the file format is identical.

How accurate is this generator, and what are its limits?

The generator produces syntactically valid BibTeX and the correct required fields for each entry type, but it cannot verify facts you enter or data pulled from imperfect metadata. Auto-filled DOI and ISBN records sometimes carry wrong capitalisation, missing page ranges or garbled author lists, so a human check is essential.

• Check capitalisation: imported titles are often all-lowercase or ALL CAPS; add brace protection where a style must preserve case.
• Check authors: confirm the Last, First and Last, First pattern and that corporate names are double-braced.
• Check special characters: accents and maths may need TeX encoding such as {'e} unless you compile with biber and UTF-8.
• Final rendering depends on the style: the same entry looks different under plain versus alpha, so preview your compiled PDF before submitting.

Treat the output as a strong first draft. It removes the tedious formatting, but you remain responsible for accuracy against the original source.

BibTeX citation generator FAQ

What is a BibTeX generator?

A BibTeX generator is a tool that converts source details into a formatted .bib entry — the correct entry type, a cite key and braced fields — so you can cite the work in LaTeX without memorising the syntax.

What is a BibTeX cite key?

The cite key is the unique label right after the opening brace, such as knuth1984. You reference it with cite{knuth1984}. It is never printed in the bibliography, so choose anything memorable, usually author plus year.

What is the difference between BibTeX and biblatex?

BibTeX is the original 1985 program with fixed styles. Biblatex is a modern LaTeX package that reads the same .bib files but offers full Unicode, more entry types and easier style customisation via the biber backend.

Why is my BibTeX title losing its capital letters?

Many styles lowercase all but the first title word. Protect any letter or acronym that must stay capitalised by wrapping it in braces, for example {DNA} or {Africa}, and the style will leave it alone.

How do I add a.bib file to my LaTeX document?

Save your entries in references.bib in the project folder, then add bibliographystyle{plain} and bibliography{references} where the list should appear, or use addbibresource{references.bib} with biblatex.

Can I convert a BibTeX entry to APA or MLA?

Yes. The same source data underlies every style, so you can generate the reference in APA or MLA with our other tools, or apply an author-year BibTeX style such as plainnat for APA-like output.

What do the double hyphens in page numbers mean?

Two hyphens, as in 891--921, tell LaTeX to typeset an en dash between page numbers. A single hyphen would print a short hyphen, which is incorrect for a page range.

Related tools & guides

• Citation Checker
• The Best Citation Generators (2026)
• Citation Styles