LaTeX natbib
\citep for parenthetical, \citet for narrative, \citeauthor / \citeyear for partial. Author-year citations with flexibility.
Setup
\usepackage[round]{natbib} % round parens (default)
% Use one of natbib's bibliography styles
\bibliographystyle{plainnat} % standard natbib, sorted
\begin{document}
% Citations:
According to \citet{smith2024}, the result is... % "Smith (2024)"
The findings \citep{smith2024} show... % "(Smith, 2024)"
Multiple: \citep{a, b, c} % "(Smith 2024; Jones 2023; Brown 2022)"
\bibliography{references}
\end{document}Citation commands
| Command | Output (for Smith 2024) |
|---|---|
| \citep{smith2024} | (Smith, 2024) |
| \citet{smith2024} | Smith (2024) |
| \citep[][]{smith2024} | (Smith, 2024) |
| \citep[p.~42]{smith2024} | (Smith, 2024, p. 42) |
| \citep[See][]{smith2024} | (See Smith, 2024) |
| \citeauthor{smith2024} | Smith |
| \citeyear{smith2024} | 2024 |
| \citeyearpar{smith2024} | (2024) |
| \citealp{smith2024} | Smith, 2024 (no parens) |
Package options
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| round | (Smith, 2024) — default |
| square | [Smith, 2024] |
| curly | {Smith, 2024} |
| authoryear | Author-year mode (default) |
| numbers | Numbered citations [1], [2] |
| super | Superscript numbers (with numbers) |
| comma | Comma between author and year (default) |
Bibliography styles for natbib
- plainnat — alphabetical, full author names
- abbrvnat — alphabetical, abbreviated author names (initials only)
- unsrtnat — citation order (not alphabetical)
- apalike — APA-like format
- plainnat-fr / plainnat-de — language variants
- Many journal-specific .bst files build on natbib (e.g., neurips_2024.bst)
Common mistakes
- Using
\bibliographystyle{plain}with natbib. Plain doesn't support \citep/\citet. Useplainnat. - Mixing natbib and biblatex. Pick one. They have different commands and bibliography systems.
- Forgetting the bibtex compile step. Run pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex. Show ?? or [?, ?] = bibtex didn't run.
- Using
\citeinstead of\citep.\citeworks in natbib but produces inconsistent output. Always use\citepor\citet.
According to @smith2024, ...
Multiple: @smith2024 @jones2023 @brown2022.
#bibliography("refs.bib", style: "apa")No natbib vs biblatex choice. Same .bib file works directly. Try TypeTeX free.
Try TypeTeX freeFrequently Asked Questions
natbib is a LaTeX package that extends BibTeX with flexible citation commands. It introduces \citep (parenthetical) and \citet (narrative/textual) for author-year style, plus variants like \citeauthor and \citeyear. The most common bibliography package for author-year citations in LaTeX.
\usepackage[options]{natbib} in preamble. Then \bibliographystyle{plainnat} (or another natbib-compatible .bst). Cite with \citep{key} or \citet{key}. Compile with: pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex.
\citep{smith2024} produces parenthetical: (Smith, 2024). \citet{smith2024} produces narrative: Smith (2024). Use \citet when the author's name is part of your sentence ('Smith (2024) showed...'), \citep at the end of a sentence ('...as shown (Smith, 2024).').
Comma-separated keys: \citep{a, b, c} produces (Smith 2024; Jones 2023; Brown 2022). \citet{a, b} produces Smith (2024); Jones (2023). natbib handles ordering automatically — typically chronological or alphabetical depending on style.
\citeauthor{smith2024} produces just 'Smith'. \citeyear{smith2024} produces just '2024'. Useful when you've already cited the source recently and want to avoid repetition: 'Smith (2024) showed... \citeauthor{smith2024} also notes that \citeyear{smith2025}...'
Common: plainnat (default natbib, sorted), abbrvnat (abbreviated), unsrtnat (in citation order), apalike (APA-style). For specific journals, the journal often provides its own .bst (achemso for ACS, neurips_2024 for NeurIPS, IEEE doesn't use natbib). Pass to \bibliographystyle{}.
[round] — (Smith, 2024) round parens (default). [square] — [Smith, 2024]. [authoryear] — author-year mode (default). [numbers] — switch to numbered [1] mode. [super] — superscript numbers. [comma] — comma between author and year (default). [colon] — colon. Combine: \usepackage[round, authoryear]{natbib}.
natbib is older (1993), works with bibtex (the original tool), and is widely supported by old templates. biblatex is newer (2006+), works with biber (a modern replacement), supports more entry types and advanced features (multilingual bibliographies, citation styles via .bbx files). For new documents, biblatex is more flexible. For compatibility with templates from 2010-era conferences, natbib is required.
No — they're competing systems. Pick one. natbib is required for some templates (NeurIPS, ICML, certain journals). biblatex is more flexible. If a template uses \citep/\citet, it expects natbib. If a template uses \autocite or \parencite, it expects biblatex.