`bibtex`¶

Pack: 100xOS shared skills

Category: drafting

Field: economics

License: private (curator-owned)

Updated: 2026-05-20

Stages: paper-drafting

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BibTeX Conventions for Economics¶

Guidelines for maintaining clean, consistent, and complete BibTeX databases for economics research. These conventions follow the norms of top economics journals and the natbib citation system.

Preamble setup¶

TeX

\usepackage[authoryear,round]{natbib}  % Author-year citations with round parens
\usepackage{doi}                        % REQUIRED — renders DOIs as clickable links
style{plainnat}            % Default: shows DOI in references
% Journal-specific alternatives: aer, ecta, chicago, jpe (check DOI support)

% At the end of the document:
{references}               % Points to references.bib

IMPORTANT: Always include \usepackage{doi}. This package renders DOI fields as clickable hyperlinks in the bibliography. The plainnat style displays DOIs by default. If using a journal-specific style (e.g., aer), verify that it renders the doi field — if not, switch to plainnat or add a custom .bst.

Common bibliography styles in economics¶

Style file	Journal	DOI display	Notes
`plainnat`	General natbib	Yes	Default choice — shows DOI in references
`aer`	American Economic Review	No	Most common in applied micro; DOI via `\usepackage{doi}` only
`ecta`	Econometrica	No	Preferred for theory papers
`chicago`	Chicago Manual of Style	Partial	Used by JPE, others
`jpe`	Journal of Political Economy	No	Chicago-adjacent

Rule: Use plainnat as default unless submitting to a specific journal that requires its own .bst. This ensures DOIs are always visible in the bibliography.

Citation commands (natbib)¶

TeX

\citet{autor2013}        % Autor, Dorn, and Hanson (2013)
\citep{autor2013}        % (Autor, Dorn, and Hanson, 2013)
\citealt{autor2013}      % Autor, Dorn, and Hanson 2013   (no parens)
\citealp{autor2013}      % Autor, Dorn, and Hanson, 2013  (no parens, with comma)
\citeauthor{autor2013}   % Autor, Dorn, and Hanson
\citeyear{autor2013}     % 2013
\citeyearpar{autor2013}  % (2013)

% Multiple citations
\citep{autor2013,dix-carneiro2017}  % (Autor et al., 2013; Dix-Carneiro and Kovak, 2017)

% Citation with page/chapter reference
\citep[p.~42]{autor2013}              % (Autor et al., 2013, p. 42)
\citep[see][chapter~3]{autor2013}     % (see Autor et al., 2013, chapter 3)

Use \citet when the authors are the grammatical subject of the sentence. Use \citep for parenthetical references.

TeX

% Correct usage:
\citet{autor2013} document large employment declines.
The employment effects are substantial \citep{autor2013}.

% WRONG:
\citep{autor2013} document large employment declines.  % Don't use \citep as subject

Entry types¶

@article -- Published journal articles¶

The most common entry type in economics. Required fields: author, title, journal, year, volume.

BibTeX

@article{autor2013,
  author    = {Autor, David H. and Dorn, David and Hanson, Gordon H.},
  title     = {The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import
               Competition in the United States},
  journal   = {American Economic Review},
  year      = {2013},
  volume    = {103},
  number    = {6},
  pages     = {2121--2168},
  doi       = {10.1257/aer.103.6.2121},
}

@techreport -- Working papers¶

Use for NBER working papers, CEPR discussion papers, Fed working papers, university working paper series, and any unpublished manuscript with a series number.

BibTeX

@techreport{smith2024wp,
  author      = {Smith, Jane A. and Johnson, Robert},
  title       = {The Long-Run Effects of Universal Pre-K},
  institution = {National Bureau of Economic Research},
  type        = {Working Paper},
  number      = {31245},
  year        = {2024},
  doi         = {10.3386/w31245},
}

For NBER specifically, the convention is:

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2023nber,
  author      = {Jones, Charles I.},
  title       = {Recipes and Economic Growth: A Combinatorial March Down
                 an Exponential},
  institution = {National Bureau of Economic Research},
  type        = {Working Paper},
  number      = {31441},
  year        = {2023},
  series      = {NBER Working Paper Series},
  doi         = {10.3386/w31441},
}

SSRN working papers¶

BibTeX

@techreport{chen2024ssrn,
  author      = {Chen, Wei and Liu, Xiaodong},
  title       = {Network Effects in Peer-to-Peer Markets},
  institution = {Social Science Research Network},
  type        = {SSRN Working Paper},
  number      = {4567890},
  year        = {2024},
  note        = {Available at \url{https://ssrn.com/abstract=4567890}},
}

CEPR discussion papers¶

BibTeX

@techreport{mueller2023cepr,
  author      = {Mueller, Hannes and Rauh, Christopher},
  title       = {The Hard Problem of Prediction for Conflict Prevention},
  institution = {Centre for Economic Policy Research},
  type        = {Discussion Paper},
  number      = {17820},
  year        = {2023},
}

Federal Reserve working papers¶

BibTeX

@techreport{garcia2024fed,
  author      = {Garcia, Maria and Williams, John C.},
  title       = {Monetary Policy Transmission in a Low-Rate Environment},
  institution = {Federal Reserve Bank of New York},
  type        = {Staff Report},
  number      = {1089},
  year        = {2024},
}

@unpublished -- Manuscripts without a series¶

Use for papers without an official working paper number (e.g., job market papers, manuscripts in preparation, papers "under review").

BibTeX

@unpublished{doe2024jmp,
  author = {Doe, Jane},
  title  = {Information Frictions and Housing Markets},
  note   = {Job Market Paper, MIT},
  year   = {2024},
}

@unpublished{lee2024manuscript,
  author = {Lee, David S. and Park, Jimin},
  title  = {New Evidence on Tax Salience},
  note   = {Manuscript, Princeton University},
  year   = {2024},
}

@incollection -- Chapters in edited volumes¶

Common for Handbook chapters (Handbook of Labor Economics, Handbook of Public Economics, etc.).

BibTeX

@incollection{card1999handbook,
  author    = {Card, David},
  title     = {The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings},
  booktitle = {Handbook of Labor Economics},
  editor    = {Ashenfelter, Orley C. and Card, David},
  volume    = {3},
  chapter   = {30},
  pages     = {1801--1863},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  year      = {1999},
  doi       = {10.1016/S1573-4463(99)03011-4},
}

@inproceedings -- Conference proceedings¶

Rarely used in economics (unlike computer science). Use only for AEA Papers and Proceedings or similar.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{chetty2014pp,
  author    = {Chetty, Raj and Hendren, Nathaniel and Kline, Patrick
               and Saez, Emmanuel},
  title     = {Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of
               Intergenerational Mobility in the United States},
  booktitle = {American Economic Review: Papers \& Proceedings},
  year      = {2014},
  volume    = {104},
  number    = {5},
  pages     = {141--147},
  doi       = {10.1257/aer.104.5.141},
}

@book -- Monographs and textbooks¶

BibTeX

@book{mascolell1995,
  author    = {Mas-Colell, Andreu and Whinston, Michael D. and Green, Jerry R.},
  title     = {Microeconomic Theory},
  publisher = {Oxford University Press},
  year      = {1995},
  address   = {New York},
}

@book{angrist2009,
  author    = {Angrist, Joshua D. and Pischke, J{\"o}rn-Steffen},
  title     = {Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion},
  publisher = {Princeton University Press},
  year      = {2009},
  address   = {Princeton, NJ},
}

Citation key conventions¶

Use a consistent naming scheme throughout the .bib file. The most common convention in economics:

Text Only

lastnameYYYY          % Single author: card1999
lastname1lastname2YYYY % Two authors: angristpischke2009
lastnameetal2013      % Three+ authors: autoretal2013

For disambiguation when an author has multiple papers in one year:

Text Only

card1999a             % First paper
card1999b             % Second paper

Alternative conventions (less common but also acceptable):

Text Only

ADH2013               % Initials + year (used in some working paper databases)
autor-dorn-hanson-2013 % Hyphenated (readable but long)

Pick one convention and stick with it across your entire .bib file and all your papers. Consistency matters more than the specific scheme.

Author name formatting¶

BibTeX expects Lastname, Firstname format with and between authors:

BibTeX

% Correct:
author = {Autor, David H. and Dorn, David and Hanson, Gordon H.},

% Also correct (reversed order):
author = {David H. Autor and David Dorn and Gordon H. Hanson},

% WRONG: do not use commas between authors
author = {Autor, David H., Dorn, David, Hanson, Gordon H.},

% WRONG: do not use & or other separators
author = {Autor, David H. & Dorn, David & Hanson, Gordon H.},

Special characters in names¶

Use LaTeX escapes for accented characters:

BibTeX

author = {Pischke, J{\"o}rn-Steffen},           % umlaut
author = {Pi{\~n}eiro, Carlos},                  % tilde
author = {S{\'a}nchez, Mar{\'\i}a},              % acute accents
author = {Bj{\"o}rklund, Anders},                % Swedish umlaut
author = {Mas-Colell, Andreu},                    % hyphenated name
author = {{World Bank}},                          % institutional author
author = {{Congressional Budget Office}},          % institutional author

Wrap institutional/corporate authors in double braces to prevent BibTeX from parsing them as "Firstname Lastname."

Required vs. optional fields by entry type¶

@article¶

Field	Required?	Notes
author	Yes
title	Yes
journal	Yes	Full name, not abbreviation
year	Yes
volume	Yes
number	Recommended	Issue number
pages	Recommended	Use en-dash: `2121--2168`
doi	Required	Must be included — look up via CrossRef if missing
url	Optional	Usually redundant if DOI present
month	Optional	Rarely needed

@techreport¶

Field	Required?	Notes
author	Yes
title	Yes
institution	Yes	E.g., "National Bureau of Economic Research"
year	Yes
type	Recommended	"Working Paper", "Discussion Paper", "Staff Report"
number	Recommended	The WP number
doi	Required	NBER papers have DOIs; look up via CrossRef for others

@incollection¶

Field	Required?	Notes
author	Yes	Chapter author
title	Yes	Chapter title
booktitle	Yes	Book title
editor	Yes	Book editors
publisher	Yes
year	Yes
pages	Recommended
volume	Recommended	For multi-volume handbooks
chapter	Optional
doi	Required	Look up via CrossRef if missing

DOI formatting¶

Every reference MUST include a DOI. This is non-negotiable for published articles, book chapters, and working papers with assigned DOIs. For the rare entry without a DOI (e.g., very old books, unpublished manuscripts), add a note field explaining why. Format consistently:

BibTeX

% Preferred: just the DOI identifier
doi = {10.1257/aer.103.6.2121},

% Also acceptable: full URL
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.6.2121},

% DO NOT mix both doi and url when the URL is just the DOI resolver:
doi = {10.1257/aer.103.6.2121},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.6.2121},  % REDUNDANT -- remove

Journal name conventions¶

Use full journal names, not abbreviations. BibTeX style files handle abbreviation if needed.

BibTeX

% Correct:
journal = {American Economic Review},
journal = {Quarterly Journal of Economics},
journal = {Journal of Political Economy},
journal = {Econometrica},
journal = {Review of Economic Studies},
journal = {Journal of Finance},
journal = {Review of Economics and Statistics},
journal = {Journal of Monetary Economics},
journal = {Journal of Public Economics},
journal = {Journal of Labor Economics},
journal = {Journal of Econometrics},
journal = {American Economic Journal: Applied Economics},
journal = {American Economic Journal: Economic Policy},
journal = {American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics},
journal = {American Economic Journal: Microeconomics},

% WRONG: do not abbreviate
journal = {AER},
journal = {QJE},
journal = {JPE},
journal = {ECTA},
journal = {REStud},

Page ranges¶

Always use en-dash (--) for page ranges. BibTeX converts -- to an en-dash in the output.

BibTeX

pages = {2121--2168},    % Correct: en-dash
pages = {2121-2168},     % Wrong: hyphen (technically works but bad practice)
pages = {2121},          % Single page (for very short items like editorials)

Title capitalization¶

BibTeX style files typically handle capitalization. To preserve capitalization of proper nouns, acronyms, and specific terms, wrap them in braces:

BibTeX

% Words in braces will NOT be downcased by the style file:
title = {The {China} Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import
         Competition in the {United States}},

title = {An {ARCH} Model of the {Fisher} Effect},

title = {{GDP}, Prices, and Growth: Lessons from the {Great Recession}},

% Protect the entire title only if necessary (defeats the purpose of style files):
title = {{The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects}},  % Avoid this

Handling forthcoming papers¶

BibTeX

@article{smith2024forth,
  author  = {Smith, Jane A.},
  title   = {Returns to Education in Developing Countries},
  journal = {American Economic Review},
  year    = {forthcoming},
  note    = {Accepted June 2024},
}

Sorting and organization¶

Keep your .bib file sorted alphabetically by citation key. This makes it easy to find entries and spot duplicates.

Use a consistent structure within each entry: 1. author 2. title 3. journal / booktitle / institution 4. year 5. volume, number, pages 6. editor, publisher, address (for books/chapters) 7. doi 8. note / url (if needed)

Common mistakes to avoid¶

Inconsistent author names. The same person appears as "Autor, David", "Autor, David H.", and "David Autor" in different entries. Pick one and be consistent.
Missing braces around proper nouns. "United States" becomes "united states" in some styles. Always brace proper nouns in titles.
Duplicate entries. The same paper with two different keys. Use a consistent key scheme and search before adding.
Outdated working papers. A paper was cited as a working paper but has since been published. Update the entry to @article with the journal info. Referees notice this.
Missing DOIs. DOIs are required for all references. Use CrossRef (crossref.org/SimpleTextQuery) to look them up. A bibliography without DOIs is incomplete and will be flagged in review.
Journal abbreviations. Use full names. Let the style file handle it.
Wrong entry type. Using @article for a working paper, or @misc for a book chapter. Use the correct type so the style file formats it properly.
Forgetting AEA P&P. "American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings" is a separate publication from the AER. Cite it correctly.
Not escaping special characters. Ampersands (\&), percent signs (\%), and accented characters need LaTeX escapes.
Overly long notes fields. The note field is for brief metadata ("Forthcoming", "Revised version"), not abstracts or summaries.

Useful tools¶

Google Scholar: Export BibTeX directly (but always clean up the output -- Google Scholar entries are often incomplete or poorly formatted).
CrossRef / doi.org: Look up DOIs and get clean BibTeX via https://doi.org/[DOI] with Accept header application/x-bibtex.
JabRef / BibDesk: GUI tools for managing .bib files. JabRef is cross-platform; BibDesk is macOS-only but excellent.
Zotero: Reference manager with BibTeX export via Better BibTeX plugin. Good for collaborative projects.
dblp / EconLit: Look up entries if Google Scholar's version is incomplete.

bibtex¶

BibTeX Conventions for Economics¶

Preamble setup¶

Common bibliography styles in economics¶

Citation commands (natbib)¶

Entry types¶

@article -- Published journal articles¶

@techreport -- Working papers¶

SSRN working papers¶

CEPR discussion papers¶

Federal Reserve working papers¶

@unpublished -- Manuscripts without a series¶

@incollection -- Chapters in edited volumes¶

@inproceedings -- Conference proceedings¶

@book -- Monographs and textbooks¶

Citation key conventions¶

Author name formatting¶

Special characters in names¶

Required vs. optional fields by entry type¶

@article¶

@techreport¶

@incollection¶

DOI formatting¶

Journal name conventions¶

Page ranges¶

Title capitalization¶

Handling forthcoming papers¶

Sorting and organization¶

Common mistakes to avoid¶

Useful tools¶

`bibtex`¶