BibTeX

如何使用BibLaTeX引用预印本、数据集和非传统来源

CiteDrive Team
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.

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.

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Recommended entry type: @online or @unpublished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.

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.

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.

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.

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!