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How to Cite a Website in BibTeX and BibLaTeX (2025 Update)

May 17, 2025

BibTeX is both a tool and file format widely used for managing citations and bibliographies in LaTeX documents. While citing journal articles and books is fairly straightforward, citing websites has always been more complicated—especially in classic BibTeX. That’s where BibLaTeX and tools like CiteDrive come in.

In this 2025 update, we’ll walk you through the correct format for citing websites using BibTeX and BibLaTeX, and show you how the CiteDrive Chrome Extension simplifies the entire process—from your browser to Overleaf, RStudio, and beyond.

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Why Website Citations in BibTeX Can Be Tricky

BibTeX wasn’t originally built to handle dynamic or online sources. Citing a website usually requires using the generic @misc entry type, manually entering the title, URL, access date, and sometimes author data. This can lead to inconsistencies—especially across large projects.

To address these limitations, BibLaTeX was introduced. It adds support for dedicated entry types like @online, making web references more structured and standardized.

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Introducing the CiteDrive Chrome Extension

NEW for 2025: The CiteDrive Chrome Extension makes website citation effortless.

Whether you’re citing academic papers, news articles, or blog posts, the CiteDrive extension allows you to:

• Save citations from your browser in proper BibTeX or BibLaTeX format
• Automatically capture metadata, including title, author, URL, and access date
• Sync your references instantly with Overleaf, RStudio, or any linked project
• Switch between BibTeX and BibLaTeX citation styles as needed
• Organize citations in folders and export to .bib files in one click

This means no more manual formatting or broken citations. Just click and cite.

➡️ Install the CiteDrive Chrome Extension ➡️ Try CiteDrive Free

Demo:

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How to Cite a Website in BibTeX

Here’s the traditional BibTeX format using @misc:

@misc{example2025,
  title = {Website Title},
  author = {Author Name},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://example.com},
  note = {Accessed on May 17, 2025}
}

• title: Page or article title
• author: Author or organization (optional)
• year: Year of publication (if known)
• url: Full website link
• note: Date you accessed the content

---

Using BibLaTeX for Website References

BibLaTeX is more web-friendly and supports the @online entry type:

@online{citedrive2025,
  title     = {Website Title},
  author    = {Author Name},
  year      = {2025},
  url       = {https://example.com},
  urldate   = {2025-05-17}
}

Use BibLaTeX if your document supports it—it requires less workaround and is more semantically accurate.

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Adding In-Text Citations in LaTeX

To cite within your LaTeX document:

\cite{citedrive2025}

This will generate an in-text reference like: [CiteDrive2025], depending on your bibliography style.

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Generating the Bibliography

At the end of your document, include:

\bibliography{references}

This pulls in all references from your references.bib file (no file extension needed).

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Conclusion

Citing websites in LaTeX doesn’t have to be frustrating. Whether you’re using BibTeX or BibLaTeX, you can now automate the process with tools like CiteDrive and its Chrome Extension.

Start capturing accurate website citations, organize them by project, and sync them directly to Overleaf or your LaTeX workflow—with zero copy-paste hassle.

👉 Install the CiteDrive Chrome Extension 👉 Visit citedrive.com to learn more

How to Handle Linebreak in URL with BibTeX and Hyperref Package (LaTeX Guide)

May 4, 2025

If you’ve ever written a LaTeX document with long URLs in your bibliography, you might have encountered formatting issues, especially when using the BibTeX bibliography manager along with the hyperref package. Long URLs can cause lines to overflow the margins or disrupt your document’s layout. In this post, we’ll show you how to properly insert a linebreak in URL with BibTeX and hyperref package—the right way.

Why URLs Cause Problems in LaTeX

LaTeX is a typesetting system that prioritizes aesthetic layout. By default, it doesn’t know how to break long URLs across lines unless told explicitly. When using the hyperref package, this can lead to overfull lines in your bibliography section, especially if your BibTeX entries contain lengthy links.

The Role of the hyperref Package

The hyperref package turns references, citations, and URLs into clickable links. It also provides tools to manage URL formatting and line-breaking. But to make it behave well with BibTeX, we need to adjust a few things.

Solution: Linebreak in URL with BibTeX and Hyperref Package

Here’s a step-by-step approach:

---

✅ Step 1: Load Required Packages

In the preamble of your .tex document, load the following packages:

\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{url}  % Often loaded automatically by hyperref, but good to be explicit

The url package allows for intelligent line-breaking in URLs. hyperref builds upon it to make links clickable.

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✅ Step 2: Configure hyperref for Better Line Breaking

Add this configuration to your preamble:

\hypersetup{
  breaklinks=true,
  colorlinks=true,
  urlcolor=blue
}

This tells LaTeX to allow links (including URLs) to break across lines when necessary.

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✅ Step 3: Format URLs Properly in Your BibTeX File

In your .bib file, make sure you use the \url{} command inside the url field:

@online{example2025,
  author = {John Doe},
  title = {Handling Long URLs in LaTeX},
  year = {2025},
  url = {\url{https://www.example.com/very/long/url/that/needs/to/break}},
  note = {Accessed: 2025-05-04}
}

The \url{} command ensures that LaTeX treats the contents as a URL, applying intelligent line-breaking behavior.

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✅ Step 4: Optional Tweaks for Better Results

If you still see layout issues, try adding:

\sloppy

just before your bibliography. This gives LaTeX more flexibility in adjusting line breaks, especially with long, unbreakable strings like URLs.

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Streamline Your Reference Management with CiteDrive

Managing BibTeX files by hand can be error-prone—especially when dealing with long URLs or collaborative projects. CiteDrive makes it easy to create, organize, and maintain your BibTeX libraries entirely online. You can connect your CiteDrive project directly to Overleaf and have your bibliography update automatically as you work.

CiteDrive handles complex references—including those with long URLs—while keeping your .bib file clean, synced, and versioned. It’s designed specifically for LaTeX users who want to spend less time fixing citation issues and more time writing.

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Summary

Adding a linebreak in URL with BibTeX and hyperref package is simple once you know the right tools. To recap:

• Use \url{} in your BibTeX entries.
• Load hyperref and configure it to break links.
• Use \sloppy if needed to avoid overfull boxes.
• Let tools like CiteDrive manage your BibTeX entries with less hassle.

BibTeX Generator Online – Powered by CiteDrive

May 2, 2025

Discover CiteDrive’s powerful BibTeX Generator – an online tool that simplifies citation management for LaTeX, Overleaf, Quarto, and R Markdown. Save references via DOI, ISBN, or browser extension and generate accurate BibTeX/BibLaTeX entries effortlessly.

How to Cite Preprints, Datasets, and Nontraditional Sources with BibLaTeX

Apr 26, 2025

Citing Preprints, Datasets, and Nontraditional Sources with BibLaTeX

A practical guide to modern citation needs in LaTeX—made easier with CiteDrive.

Introduction

Academic research is evolving fast, and so are the types of sources we rely on. While journal articles and books remain staples, preprints, datasets, software repositories, and even blog posts are becoming just as important for sharing knowledge and supporting your work.

The good news? You can properly cite all these nontraditional sources using BibLaTeX, and with a little help from CiteDrive, managing these references is a breeze. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to cite preprints, datasets, software, and more—so your bibliography stays as polished and organized as the rest of your paper.

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Why BibLaTeX Is the Best Choice for Nontraditional Sources

If you’ve ever struggled to fit a dataset or software repository into a BibTeX entry, you’re not alone. Traditional BibTeX was built with books and journal articles in mind, so handling newer source types can feel clunky.

That’s where BibLaTeX shines:

• Flexible entry types (@online, @dataset, @software, etc.)
• Additional fields like eprint, doi, and urldate for modern sources.
• Easier customization for citation styles.

Pair that with CiteDrive, which automatically captures metadata and keeps your .bib file synced across Overleaf, RStudio, or your local LaTeX environment, and you’ve got a modern solution for modern references.

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Citing Preprints

Preprints have become an essential part of early-stage research, especially on platforms like arXiv or bioRxiv. Here’s how to handle them:

Recommended entry type: @online or @unpublished
Key fields:

author, title, year, eprint, eprinttype, eprintclass, url, urldate

Example:

@online{smith2024deep,
  author    = {Smith, Jane and Doe, John},
  title     = {Deep Learning for Better Science},
  year      = {2024},
  eprint    = {2401.12345},
  eprinttype= {arxiv},
  eprintclass= {cs.LG},
  url       = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12345},
  urldate   = {2025-04-25}
}

Why BibLaTeX? It allows you to include preprint identifiers while preserving important metadata.

CiteDrive tip: Use the browser extension to grab metadata directly from arXiv or other preprint servers—no manual copying needed.

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Citing Datasets

Datasets are increasingly cited as standalone research outputs. Properly attributing them ensures transparency and reproducibility.

Recommended entry type: @dataset
Key fields:

author, title, year, publisher, doi, url, version

Example:

@dataset{doe2023climate,
  author    = {Doe, Emily},
  title     = {Global Climate Data 2000–2020},
  year      = {2023},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.1234567},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1234567},
  version   = {v2.0}
}

CiteDrive tip: Organize datasets using tags to keep them separate from your articles and preprints. This makes large bibliographies easier to navigate.

---

Citing Software and Code

Software deserves just as much credit as research papers, especially when it’s core to your project.

Recommended entry type: @software (or @misc if needed)
Key fields:

author, title, year, version, url, urldate, note

Example:

@software{johnson2023analysis,
  author    = {Johnson, Alex},
  title     = {AnalysisTool: A Data Analysis Framework},
  year      = {2023},
  version   = {v1.4.2},
  url       = {https://github.com/alexjohnson/analysis-tool},
  urldate   = {2025-04-25},
  note      = {GitHub repository}
}

CiteDrive tip: Use the browser extension on GitHub to automatically import repository details—no more digging for version numbers or URLs.

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Other Nontraditional Sources

Sometimes your research calls for blog posts, white papers, or online documentation.

Common entry types: @online or @misc
Key fields:

author, title, year, url, urldate, note

Example (blog post):

@online{lee2024mlblog,
  author    = {Lee, Sam},
  title     = {How Machine Learning is Changing Research},
  year      = {2024},
  url       = {https://researchblog.com/machine-learning},
  urldate   = {2025-04-25},
  note      = {Research Blog}
}

Pro tip: Always include the access date (urldate) for online sources to maintain transparency.

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Managing Nontraditional Sources with CiteDrive

Bringing everything together, here’s how CiteDrive helps you stay organized:

• Automatically imports metadata from preprints, datasets, and software repositories.
• Keeps your .bib file synced across all LaTeX editors (Overleaf, RStudio, local).
• Allows tagging and project organization for cleaner bibliographies.
• Supports BibLaTeX, BibTeX, and CSL JSON for flexible citation management.
• Easily share and collaborate on .bib files with co-authors—no more conflicting references.

Whether you’re juggling traditional papers alongside datasets and software or working on a collaborative project with a mix of source types, CiteDrive streamlines the process so you can focus on your research.

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Conclusion

Modern research needs modern citation tools. With BibLaTeX, you can confidently cite preprints, datasets, software, and other nontraditional sources without compromising on accuracy. And with CiteDrive, managing these references is effortless—no messy .bib files, no manual updates, just clean and organized bibliographies that grow with your work.

Ready to simplify your citation workflow?
👉 Try CiteDrive and start importing your first nontraditional sources today!

How to Sort Your LaTeX Bibliography in Alphabetical Order (BibTeX & BibLaTeX)

Apr 18, 2025

Whether you’re working on a paper, thesis, or collaborative research project, getting your bibliography right is essential. One common requirement—especially for academic journals—is to sort references alphabetically by author. In LaTeX, this can be handled easily with the right tools and packages.

In this post, we’ll show you how to sort your bibliography in alphabetical order using both BibTeX and BibLaTeX, and how CiteDrive simplifies the entire process for Overleaf users.

Why Bibliography Order Matters

Alphabetical ordering isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s often required by academic style guides like APA, MLA, and Chicago. Proper citation formatting helps reviewers, collaborators, and readers quickly locate sources and improves the overall clarity of your work.

Alphabetical Order with BibTeX

If you’re using traditional BibTeX, your .bib file stores references, and LaTeX uses a .bst (BibTeX style file) to format them. For alphabetical sorting, you’ll want a style that handles this automatically.

✅ Recommended BibTeX Styles for Alphabetical Sorting:

• plain.bst: Alphabetical by author (default)
• apalike.bst: APA-style, author-year citations, sorted alphabetically
• alpha.bst: Uses an abbreviation of author names + year

How to Use:

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{yourbibfile}

This will produce an alphabetically ordered bibliography based on author names.

Alphabetical Order with BibLaTeX

BibLaTeX offers more flexibility and is the modern choice for new LaTeX projects.

Set up BibLaTeX with Alphabetical Sorting:

\usepackage[backend=biber,sorting=nyt]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{yourbibfile.bib}

The sorting=nyt option sorts entries by name, year, and title — perfect for most academic uses.

Other useful sorting options:

• sorting=none: No sorting, in citation order
• sorting=ynt: Year, name, title
• sorting=debug: Helps you understand how BibLaTeX is sorting

Then render your bibliography like this:

\printbibliography

How CiteDrive Makes This Even Easier

Sorting your LaTeX bibliography is one thing—managing your references is another. That’s where CiteDrive comes in.

CiteDrive is a collaborative reference manager built specifically for LaTeX and Overleaf users. Whether you’re working alone or with a research group, you can:

• Collect and organize references from websites, journals, or DOI links
• Automatically generate properly formatted BibTeX and BibLaTeX entries
• Sync directly with Overleaf—no more copy-pasting .bib files
• Always stay sorted: we keep your entries clean, complete, and consistent

🧠 Bonus: CiteDrive lets you preview how your bibliography will look before exporting it. No more surprises!

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Manually reordering entries: Let LaTeX or BibLaTeX do the work. Sorting by hand introduces errors.
• Mixing BibTeX and BibLaTeX: Choose one system per project.
• Missing author fields: Sorting depends on author data—ensure all entries are complete.
• Wrong sorting option in BibLaTeX: If you’re not seeing the order you expect, double-check your \usepackage options.

Final Thoughts

Getting your LaTeX bibliography in alphabetical order doesn’t have to be a hassle. Whether you’re using BibTeX or BibLaTeX, LaTeX gives you the control—you just need to choose the right style or sorting option.

With CiteDrive, you take that one step further: organized references, automatic formatting, and seamless integration with Overleaf and LaTeX.

📚 Ready to streamline your citations?
👉 Try CiteDrive for free and never stress about your bibliography again.

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