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Add citations and a bibliography

Connect citation keys to a BibTeX database and run the bibliography workflow required by your venue.

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Store literature as keyed records and cite the keys from the manuscript. LaTeX then keeps markers and the reference list synchronized when citations are added, removed, or reordered.

After sign-in, the Library citation picker can add saved papers to an ordinary project .bib file. Using Library is optional: the file-based workflow below works without it, and coauthors do not need access to your personal Library.

Understand citation keys#

All references on this page are fictional teaching examples, including the journal and DOI in the .bib record. Replace them with verified literature metadata before using the pattern in a manuscript.

This small self-contained example shows the connection between \cite{example} and \bibitem{example} without a separate database.

LaTeX source
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Reproducible research depends on clear records~\cite{example}.
\begin{thebibliography}{9}
\bibitem{example}
A. Researcher, \emph{A Reproducible Study}, 2026.
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}
Compiled result
Open in CorTeX

The key is internal and does not appear in the PDF. Choose stable keys such as smith2025calibration; changing a key later requires changing every citation.

Follow the venue's bibliography system#

Do not choose a bibliography package only by personal preference. A journal or conference template may require a style, package, and backend. Keep that workflow intact unless the venue explicitly permits a change. A starter from the Template library may already select that system; inspect it before adding another. The Template library supplies document formats, while your .bib file holds literature records.

For a traditional BibTeX workflow, create references.bib:

@article{smith2025calibration,
  author  = {Smith, Ada and Chen, Bo},
  title   = {Calibration under distribution shift},
  journal = {Journal of Reproducible Models},
  year    = {2025},
  volume  = {12},
  pages   = {41--58},
  doi     = {10.1234/example.2025.17}
}

For BibTeX, use this complete main.tex and replace plain only when the template names another style:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}

Earlier work studied this shift~\cite{smith2025calibration}.

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{references}
\end{document}

Compile the main document. A successful run completes LaTeX, BibTeX, and the necessary later LaTeX passes automatically; the PDF contains a resolved marker such as “[1]” and one bibliography entry rather than ?.

For biblatex with Biber, keep the same references.bib and use this separate complete main.tex:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=numeric]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}
\begin{document}

Earlier work studied this shift~\cite{smith2025calibration}.
\printbibliography
\end{document}

A successful run here completes LaTeX, the bounded Biber helper stage, and the later LaTeX passes. The visible success condition is the same: a resolved citation and a current bibliography containing the record from references.bib.

These are separate systems. Do not combine \bibliography with \addbibresource, or BibTeX style commands with a biblatex setup. CorTeX runs supported BibTeX or Biber stages when the main document requests them; you do not run the helper manually.

Keep records usable#

Use the entry type that matches the source and preserve the metadata required by the venue. Author, title, year, and publication fields are usually essential; DOI, URL, issue, pages, editor, or publisher depend on the source. Keep DOI data as an identifier rather than writing a prose URL into the citation.

Protect capitalization that a bibliography style must retain with braces, for example {DNA} or {Bayes}. Preserve names in Family, Given or a consistent BibTeX-compatible form. Do not paste a formatted reference list into a .bib file: it needs structured records.

Citation commands vary by package and style. Numeric templates often use \cite; author–year packages may provide commands for textual and parenthetical citations. Follow the template documentation so “Smith et al. (2025)” and its parenthetical form are semantically correct.

Diagnose missing citations#

After changing a .bib file, compile the main document and inspect the first bibliography warning. If a marker remains undefined:

  1. confirm the citation key exactly matches one record;
  2. confirm the .bib path is relative to the main document and the file is in the shared project scope;
  3. verify that the document uses one coherent BibTeX or Biber workflow;
  4. check that the requested style and packages exist in the selected TeX Live snapshot;
  5. fix an earlier LaTeX error that may have prevented the helper stage.

A Biber helper failure may leave the document compilable with an empty or stale bibliography and a Problem warning. Do not treat the visible PDF as complete until every cited key is resolved and the reference list matches the latest database. For a clean project layout, continue with multi-file LaTeX projects.

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