Chicago format in LaTeX?
June 3, 2010 7:02 PM
I've started using LaTeX, and I can't figure out how to get Chicago citations. Actually, I can't figure out really anything (such as I've been warned).
With BibTeX, it looks like every format available is in a parenthetical citation format—and I want superscripts. I've downloaded BibLatex and Chicago-notes-df for it using the Tex Live installer, but now I don't really know what I'm doing. I could use some examples of how to set up a document using biblatex.
Should I still be using BibDesk? When I type \cite{citekey}, all that happens is that the text within the {}'s is bold in my paper. In the preamble, I am using \usepackage[style=chicago-notes-df]{biblatex} and \bibliography{name of .bib file}. Should I add \begin{thebibliography} at the end?
Is there a better way to get Chicago citations? I've seen this, but I want something that uses short form for multiple entries of the same source.
What I've found so far doesn't really explain the basics of biblatex, but it does give detailed instructions for people who already know what they're doing.
Maybe I should just stick with \footnote{}.
Actually, any useful things regarding LaTeX would be helpful. I don't mind learning the program because I have all summer, actually—but I do mind not having good manuals for what I want to know (what all the packages do, BibDesk, fonts, etc.)
I am using TeXShop on a Mac 10.5.8, and I will be using it mainly in philosophy with probably approximately 100 or so citations per paper.
With BibTeX, it looks like every format available is in a parenthetical citation format—and I want superscripts. I've downloaded BibLatex and Chicago-notes-df for it using the Tex Live installer, but now I don't really know what I'm doing. I could use some examples of how to set up a document using biblatex.
Should I still be using BibDesk? When I type \cite{citekey}, all that happens is that the text within the {}'s is bold in my paper. In the preamble, I am using \usepackage[style=chicago-notes-df]{biblatex} and \bibliography{name of .bib file}. Should I add \begin{thebibliography} at the end?
Is there a better way to get Chicago citations? I've seen this, but I want something that uses short form for multiple entries of the same source.
What I've found so far doesn't really explain the basics of biblatex, but it does give detailed instructions for people who already know what they're doing.
Maybe I should just stick with \footnote{}.
Actually, any useful things regarding LaTeX would be helpful. I don't mind learning the program because I have all summer, actually—but I do mind not having good manuals for what I want to know (what all the packages do, BibDesk, fonts, etc.)
I am using TeXShop on a Mac 10.5.8, and I will be using it mainly in philosophy with probably approximately 100 or so citations per paper.
I don't know what chicago citations are, but to get superscripts using the standard unsrt, I include
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
in my header. This doesn't affect the formatting of the citation itself, just it's appearance in the text.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 7:28 PM on June 3, 2010
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
in my header. This doesn't affect the formatting of the citation itself, just it's appearance in the text.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 7:28 PM on June 3, 2010
I last used LaTeX two-odd years ago, but IIRC you have to compile it twice to get BibTeX citations to display correctly. Something to do with how it only compiles BibTeX data after it finishes with the main LaTeX compile - and doesn't go back to update the resulting .pdf (or whatever) with BibTeX citations unless you tell it to.
(TeXShop might do this automatically; I don't know. But if it doesn't, you could try that.)
Wikibooks also has an excellent comprehensive guide to LaTeX.
posted by Xany at 7:36 PM on June 3, 2010
(TeXShop might do this automatically; I don't know. But if it doesn't, you could try that.)
Wikibooks also has an excellent comprehensive guide to LaTeX.
posted by Xany at 7:36 PM on June 3, 2010
A friend of mine has marshaled a good list of LaTeX guides and cheat sheets, along with a Makefile (which may or may not be helpful for you).
posted by ann_disaster at 7:52 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by ann_disaster at 7:52 PM on June 3, 2010
bessel: OK, do I add this in the preamble and then use \cite again? And what do I put inside cite (I'm guessing the cite key), and I think I want the "References" section changed too—I don't like the [1], [2] numbering that TeX uses.
Xany: I know about that, which is weird but kind of interesting. Usually, I know that's the problem when it shows a [?], but this is bold which doesn't make sense.
Thanks for the link[s], but I suspect that biblatex has its own agenda, which won't work with standard bibtex functions.
And what is this:
@article{greenwade93,
author = "George D. Greenwade",
title = "The {C}omprehensive {T}ex {A}rchive {N}etwork ({CTAN})",
year = "1993",
journal = "TUGBoat",
volume = "14",
number = "3",
pages = "342--351"
}
Is this something I should have in my paper, or is it just the text version of a .bib file?
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 7:54 PM on June 3, 2010
Xany: I know about that, which is weird but kind of interesting. Usually, I know that's the problem when it shows a [?], but this is bold which doesn't make sense.
Thanks for the link[s], but I suspect that biblatex has its own agenda, which won't work with standard bibtex functions.
And what is this:
@article{greenwade93,
author = "George D. Greenwade",
title = "The {C}omprehensive {T}ex {A}rchive {N}etwork ({CTAN})",
year = "1993",
journal = "TUGBoat",
volume = "14",
number = "3",
pages = "342--351"
}
Is this something I should have in my paper, or is it just the text version of a .bib file?
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 7:54 PM on June 3, 2010
And what should I use for \{bibliographystyle} so I won't get that weird [1] [2] [3] numbering in the bibliography that BibTeX likes to use?
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 8:01 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 8:01 PM on June 3, 2010
I always put \usepackage{natbib} in my preamble. For some reason TeXshop likes that to be there (I've forgotten why).
To compile there is the handy + b, and this automatically does latex, bibtex, latex, latex which will get your citations from your .bib file. For quicker compilation I use + shift + l.
I highly recommend bibdesk. It has dramatically changed how I use Latex, and if you use firefox there is the super cool zot2bib plugin, which will haul stuff directly from the web into bibdesk.
As I use bibdesk, and essentially store all my references in a big .bib file (managed by bibdesk), to access them I type \bibliography{/folder/myrefs.bib}. Then, + b gets all the relevant refs and makes a smaller .bbl file in the folder where I am working in.
And what should I use for \{bibliographystyle} so I won't get that weird [1] [2] [3] numbering in the bibliography that BibTeX likes to use?
You can put \bibliographystyle{chicago} to use the chicago style. You may have to have the chicago.sty in that folder (you can download it).
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 8:11 PM on June 3, 2010
To compile there is the handy
I highly recommend bibdesk. It has dramatically changed how I use Latex, and if you use firefox there is the super cool zot2bib plugin, which will haul stuff directly from the web into bibdesk.
As I use bibdesk, and essentially store all my references in a big .bib file (managed by bibdesk), to access them I type \bibliography{/folder/myrefs.bib}. Then,
And what should I use for \{bibliographystyle} so I won't get that weird [1] [2] [3] numbering in the bibliography that BibTeX likes to use?
You can put \bibliographystyle{chicago} to use the chicago style. You may have to have the chicago.sty in that folder (you can download it).
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 8:11 PM on June 3, 2010
oops, my key descriptions disappeared. I was trying to say 'apple' + b, is a shortcut for, latex, bibtex, latex, latex ; and 'apple' + shift + l for normal compile.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 8:13 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 8:13 PM on June 3, 2010
And what is this: @article{greenwade93,....
That belongs only in the bib file. When you run bibtex, the citation is parsed from that format into the style that you proscribe (using womble's \bibliographystyle{chicago} is likely what you want).
K, do I add this in the preamble and then use \cite again? And what do I put inside cite (I'm guessing the cite key)
if you have
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
\bibliographystyle{chicago}
in your preamble, a .bib file with the citation @article{reference,...}, and the text "this is text\cite{reference}" in the .tex file, and you run the commands latex bibtex latex latex, the output will be "this is text^1", where the citation is a superscript. At the end of the document, it will include references in chicago format.
(hopefully this works with biblatex, which I've never used. If it complains, try it without biblatex, unless it's for some reason absolutely necessary)
and I think I want the "References" section changed too—I don't like the [1], [2] numbering that TeX uses.
To replace "References" with "Kitty", include
\renewcommand\refname{Kitty}
in your preamble. Feel free to choose a less ridiculous name, though. The numbering [1], [2], etc is I think defined by your choice of bibliography style. If not, I don't know how to change them.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 8:46 PM on June 3, 2010
That belongs only in the bib file. When you run bibtex, the citation is parsed from that format into the style that you proscribe (using womble's \bibliographystyle{chicago} is likely what you want).
K, do I add this in the preamble and then use \cite again? And what do I put inside cite (I'm guessing the cite key)
if you have
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
\bibliographystyle{chicago}
in your preamble, a .bib file with the citation @article{reference,...}, and the text "this is text\cite{reference}" in the .tex file, and you run the commands latex bibtex latex latex, the output will be "this is text^1", where the citation is a superscript. At the end of the document, it will include references in chicago format.
(hopefully this works with biblatex, which I've never used. If it complains, try it without biblatex, unless it's for some reason absolutely necessary)
and I think I want the "References" section changed too—I don't like the [1], [2] numbering that TeX uses.
To replace "References" with "Kitty", include
\renewcommand\refname{Kitty}
in your preamble. Feel free to choose a less ridiculous name, though. The numbering [1], [2], etc is I think defined by your choice of bibliography style. If not, I don't know how to change them.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 8:46 PM on June 3, 2010
Aha!
I'm using this:
\usepackage[style=verbose-trad2,natbib=true]{biblatex}
\defbibheading{bibliography}{\section*{Bibliography}}
\bibliography{.bib file},
and
\pagebreak
\printbibliography
at the end,
which I found here.
I don't know what all this means, but it works.
And the shift-command-B was just what I needed; thanks Womble.
I still would like to find articles explaining how to change the bibliography header, what \bibitem does, and the different versions of \cite (I'm using \autocite and \nocite, and \cite just adds the entire source into the text, which is something I don't know why anyone would want to use).
I tried using \renewcommand\refname{Kitty} but it's an error: undefined., and I tried
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
\bibliographystyle{chicago}
but it says Error: missing biblatex package (the one I installed was called chicago-notes-df, so maybe it's different).
That happens a lot with things that are supposed to work.
But this is working right now, until I have to center a header or something, which is when I'll have to plow through some more documentation (though, honestly, this is more fun than just throwing out $200 for Word and being done with it).
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 9:07 PM on June 3, 2010
I'm using this:
\usepackage[style=verbose-trad2,natbib=true]{biblatex}
\defbibheading{bibliography}{\section*{Bibliography}}
\bibliography{.bib file},
and
\pagebreak
\printbibliography
at the end,
which I found here.
I don't know what all this means, but it works.
And the shift-command-B was just what I needed; thanks Womble.
I still would like to find articles explaining how to change the bibliography header, what \bibitem does, and the different versions of \cite (I'm using \autocite and \nocite, and \cite just adds the entire source into the text, which is something I don't know why anyone would want to use).
I tried using \renewcommand\refname{Kitty} but it's an error: undefined., and I tried
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibpunct{}{}{,}{s}{,}{,}
\bibliographystyle{chicago}
but it says Error: missing biblatex package (the one I installed was called chicago-notes-df, so maybe it's different).
That happens a lot with things that are supposed to work.
But this is working right now, until I have to center a header or something, which is when I'll have to plow through some more documentation (though, honestly, this is more fun than just throwing out $200 for Word and being done with it).
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 9:07 PM on June 3, 2010
Yeah, the errors are because of the biblatex package. I don't know what it is, but I guess it's not playing nice with my suggestions. Oh well, I'm glad something else worked :)
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:24 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:24 PM on June 3, 2010
If it says it's missing a package it's either the wrong name or you placed it in the wrong path. According to the package documentation it should be:
\usepackage{biblatex-chicago}
\bibitem is only used in the embedded bibliography support in latex. It is useful if you are only doing a short bibliography and don't want to bother with biblatex.
I am not sure what you wants to do with the header. Automatically it should be styled the same way as other headers in the document. Why do you want to change it specifically? I guess the intention with latex is that you should not change things separately as that damage the overall look. But I use \bibliography{file.bib} so it might work differently. For example it pagebreaks automatically.
My go to places fo latex is the wiki and ctan were you can find the package documentations.
posted by furisto at 3:02 AM on June 4, 2010
\usepackage{biblatex-chicago}
\bibitem is only used in the embedded bibliography support in latex. It is useful if you are only doing a short bibliography and don't want to bother with biblatex.
I am not sure what you wants to do with the header. Automatically it should be styled the same way as other headers in the document. Why do you want to change it specifically? I guess the intention with latex is that you should not change things separately as that damage the overall look. But I use \bibliography{file.bib} so it might work differently. For example it pagebreaks automatically.
My go to places fo latex is the wiki and ctan were you can find the package documentations.
posted by furisto at 3:02 AM on June 4, 2010
The natbib reference sheet, here is very useful. You can do \citep{}, \citet{}, \cite[e.g.][]{} etc
I usually ask stackoverflow for specific questions on Latex. I think it is one of the best organized sites around, with a nice community.
(just to clarify, apple + b is one command. shift + apple + L is another)
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 3:57 AM on June 4, 2010
I usually ask stackoverflow for specific questions on Latex. I think it is one of the best organized sites around, with a nice community.
(just to clarify, apple + b is one command. shift + apple + L is another)
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 3:57 AM on June 4, 2010
If this is going to get submitted to a journal or something, you might find it easier in the long run to just cite things like this.\footnote{Whoever 1987 \nocite{whoever1987}}
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 AM on June 4, 2010
\usepackage{biblatex-chicago}
Hey, that works too! I wanted to change the heading of the bibliography just to center it and un-bold it (the basic undergraduate standard).
Now the only way I can get the bibliography to be included is to include \printbibliography at the end, and \bibliography{name of .bib} has to be in the preamble.
I'm still finding that \autocite is the only thing that works (as opposed to \citet{}), so I think biblatex has its own standards regarding citation too.
Probably no one is going to read this since it's on the second page, but if anyone does, how would I direct LaTeX to a .bib file if it's in a different folder, say in "My Documents" or something?
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 8:58 AM on June 4, 2010
Hey, that works too! I wanted to change the heading of the bibliography just to center it and un-bold it (the basic undergraduate standard).
Now the only way I can get the bibliography to be included is to include \printbibliography at the end, and \bibliography{name of .bib} has to be in the preamble.
I'm still finding that \autocite is the only thing that works (as opposed to \citet{}), so I think biblatex has its own standards regarding citation too.
Probably no one is going to read this since it's on the second page, but if anyone does, how would I direct LaTeX to a .bib file if it's in a different folder, say in "My Documents" or something?
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 8:58 AM on June 4, 2010
how would I direct LaTeX to a .bib file if it's in a different folder, say in "My Documents" or something?
\bibliography{/folder/myrefs.bib}
you can just drag the .bib file onto your latex page and it will give you the address.
I'm not familiar with 'biblatex-chicago', but normally you should be able to use all the \cite functions. Maybe try a different style to confirm (e.g. 'plain')
Why are you not using bibtex? apple+b compiles using bibtex on my version of texshop.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 9:44 AM on June 4, 2010
\bibliography{/folder/myrefs.bib}
you can just drag the .bib file onto your latex page and it will give you the address.
I'm not familiar with 'biblatex-chicago', but normally you should be able to use all the \cite functions. Maybe try a different style to confirm (e.g. 'plain')
Why are you not using bibtex? apple+b compiles using bibtex on my version of texshop.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 9:44 AM on June 4, 2010
you can just drag the .bib file onto your latex page and it will give you the address.
Interesting! That will be useful.
I'm not using bibtex because it seems like it does references only in MLA or in an in-text parenthetical format. I haven't found an example that I could use for Chicago format within the text and for organizing the bibliography and footnotes. I posted this link, which I was going to use (but got lost installing it, naturally), but it also says that "there is no support for the first citation of a work to have a full entry while every subsequent citation uses the short form"...which isn't going to work out.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 11:02 AM on June 4, 2010
Interesting! That will be useful.
I'm not using bibtex because it seems like it does references only in MLA or in an in-text parenthetical format. I haven't found an example that I could use for Chicago format within the text and for organizing the bibliography and footnotes. I posted this link, which I was going to use (but got lost installing it, naturally), but it also says that "there is no support for the first citation of a work to have a full entry while every subsequent citation uses the short form"...which isn't going to work out.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 11:02 AM on June 4, 2010
I just got home so I got a little more time. Here you can find a list of different bibtex bibliography styles.
I have never needed to change individual headings but I can give you some general ideas that might help you in your search. This is if you can not find a style that do this automatically.
The heading are part of a global style and are not meant to be changed one by one, but of course there are packages for that anyway. You might want to look into the sektsy or the titlesec package. You will have to change the style for the "class" bibliography headings rather than the individual heading.
posted by furisto at 12:40 PM on June 4, 2010
I have never needed to change individual headings but I can give you some general ideas that might help you in your search. This is if you can not find a style that do this automatically.
The heading are part of a global style and are not meant to be changed one by one, but of course there are packages for that anyway. You might want to look into the sektsy or the titlesec package. You will have to change the style for the "class" bibliography headings rather than the individual heading.
posted by furisto at 12:40 PM on June 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by null terminated at 7:10 PM on June 3, 2010