LaTeXs \thebibliography is easy to use and requires no extra compiler / more than two compile runs.
Bibtex and other bibliography management tools allow for the usage of bibliography files (*.bib),
in which fields can be specified to be assembled to a coherent style later on:
@article{einstein,
author = "Albert Einstein",
title = "{Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter K{\"o}rper}. ({German})
[{On} the electrodynamics of moving bodies]",
journal = "Annalen der Physik",
volume = "322",
number = "10",
pages = "891--921",
year = "1905",
DOI = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/andp.19053221004"
}
(https://de.sharelatex.com/learn/Bibliography_management_with_bibtex)
This requires external compilers and multiple runs, not to mention the complicated solutions for the integration of multiple bibliographies.
With this package I tried to combine the best of both worlds.
You can specify \lit items with fields like in *.bib files,
but \bibitems are generated directly with their structure defined in the definition of the \lit command.
The style is based on APA but diverges somewhat.
Only the default compiler is required, and no more than the usual two complile runs are needed.
The integration of mutliple bibliographies is as easy as using the \begin{litbib}[<optional name of bibliography>] ... \end{litbib} environment at more than one place.
If you want continuous numbering just import the package with the option crosscite.
If you want to label the references yourself import the package with the customlabel option. Note that you will then need to define a label for each entry however. Automatic label creation is planned.
Simply move the litbib.sty file in to the directory of your main latex file, or add it to your tex home directory (e.g. ~/texmf on unix; run texhash to update the database).
You can then use it as any other package with \usepackage or \RequirePackage.
Instead of using \thebibliography, you use \litib.
Instead of using \bibitem , you use \lit, which takes a list of parameters and the reference label as arguments.
To specify the main text you cited use the following:
authors = n.a., % Authors
year = n.d., % Year published
title = n.t., % Title
volume =, % Volume
issue =, % Issue
isbn =, % Isbn
doi =, % doi
To specify the book / journal / ... the text is included in use:
inEditors =, % Editors of the larger work
inTitle =, % Title of the book / journal / collection / ...
inYear =, % Year of publication
inPages =, % Pages on which the cited text can be found
inVolume =, % Volume of the larger work
inIssue =, % Issue
inIsbn =, % Isbn
inDoi =, % doi
To specify the publisher use:
pubLocation =, % City / Country / ...
pubPublisher =, % Company / Institution / ...
To specify e.g. an internet source use:
addInetSrc =, % use with \protect\url{}
addInetDate =,
addNote =,
The only values that will always be used are authors,date,title (If not set: n.a,n.d,n.t).
For the book / journal / ... at least the title has to be set for any of its values to be included.
If ISBN is set, doi is ignored.
Titles are italic.
\usepackage{litbib}
%\usepackage[crosscite]{litbib}
%\usepackage[customlabel]{litbib}
\begin{litbib}[Bibliography of Chapter 1]
\lit{
authors = {Turing, A.M.}, % If a value contains a comma, it needs to be surrounded with braces.
year = 1936,
title = {On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem},
inTitle = Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society,
inVolume = 42,
inIssue = 1,
inYear = 1937,
inPages = 230-265,
inDoi = 10.1112/plms/s2-42.1.230,
label = {Turing, 1936} % this will be ignored if the option "customlabel" is not set on import
}{turing1936}
\end{litbib}
For the effects see the provided example files.
As of now only one fixed style is provided, it is planned to provide more styles based on commonly used ones.
You can obviously also redefine the default one in the litbib.sty.
The APA based style can roughly be discribed the following way:
% <AUTHORS> (<year>). <TITLE> [(edition)].[ <IN>.][ <PUBLISHER>.][ <ADDITIONS>.]
%
% <AUTHORS> := <AUTHOR>[, <AUTHORS>]
% <AUTHOR> := <Last Name>, <First Name Initial>.
%
% <TITLE> := <title>[ (inEdition)][, (published <year>)][, <NUMBER>][ {(ISBN: <isbn>)|(DOI: <doi>)}]
%
% <IN> := In: [<AUTHORS>. ]<TITLE>
% <NUMBER> := [Vol. <volume_number>] [(<issue_number>)][, p.<first_page>-<last_page>]
%
% <PUBLISHER> := [<city>, [<state>,] <country>. ]<publisher>
%
% <ADDITIONS> := {<INTERNET>|<NOTE>}[, <ADDITIONS>]
% <INTERNET> := Retreived from: <url> "["<YYYY-MM-DD>"]"
% <NOTE> := Note: <remark>
Not everything is enforced and there might be some differences to the actual implementation (I will have to check again).
The package reads the provided values (via xkeyval) and generates a \bibitem with the values arranged and formated according to the style (using ifthen).
If all values are set the style generates:
[LABEL] AUTHORS (YEAR). TITLE, Vol.VOLUME(ISSUE). ISBN: ISBN. In: INEDITORS (Ed.), INTITLE, (published INYEAR), Vol.INVOLUME(INISSUE), p.INPAGES. ISBN: INISBN. PUBLOCATION, PUBPUBLISHER. Retreived from: INETSRC [INETDATE]
(See full_example)
The package also provides a slightly adjusted environment (\litbib instead of \thebibliography) to change the title of the bibliography and handle continuous numbering (crosscite option).
You can also just use the \lit items in a regular \thebibliography environment, as normal \bibitems are generated.
[ ] Develop a little script to generate \lit items from existing *.bib files.
[ ] Provide multiple bibliography styles.
[X] Enable custom labels.
[ ] Generate custom labels based on style (e.g. APA from author and year)
[ ] Add note.
I don't really know what I am doing. Any feedback on how to do things better is greatly appreciated.
Also note that -- as I don't know what I am doing -- this package might not be usefull to you. The existing solutions offer a great amount of customizability and are -- with the .bib file -- the de facto standard. This solution was just something that fit my needs and I thought I might as well share it.