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Adding citations and references

This page explains Overleaf’s features for searching references within your project’s .bib files and reference managers linked to premium accounts. To learn how to link reference managers to your Overleaf account, visit our articles on Mendeley, Zotero, and Papers.

How can Overleaf help to find and cite references?

Overleaf provides two styles of search to streamline finding and citing references:

  • Simple search: available to all users, simple search lets you browse and filter a list of the citation keys contained in your project’s .bib file(s).

  • Advanced reference search: available to premium accounts via the project settings. It generates a list of references by searching your project’s .bib files and reference managers linked to your account.

Both search methods rely on Overleaf’s auto-completion to recognize citation commands as you type. Ensure auto-complete is enabled, or reference searching won’t work.

How to enable Overleaf’s auto-complete

1

Select Settings.

Image of the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner of the editor
Option 1: Gear icon
Settings option in File menu in the Overleaf editor
Option 2: File menu

2

Browse to Editor > Auto-complete, and ensure the toggle is set to enabled.

Image showing how to configure Overleaf's autocomplete feature
Overleaf's auto-complete setting

How to select a reference search style (premium feature)

Premium accounts can configure their projects to use simple search or advanced reference search via the Reference search option in the project settings.

1

Select Settings.

Image of the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner of the editor
Option 1: Gear icon
Settings option in File menu in the Overleaf editor
Option 2: File menu

2

Browse to Editor > Reference search.

Image of Overleaf's reference search settings
Overleaf's reference search settings
3

Select the Settings button to display the Reference search settings modal.

Image of Overleaf's Reference search settings modal
Overleaf's Reference search settings modal used to configure your search preferences
4

Use the drop-down menu to select your preferred Reference search style.

Further reading

If you’d like to further explore topics related to using bibliographies in LaTeX, the following Overleaf articles may be of interest:

PreviousWorking with .bib filesNextConfiguring advanced reference search

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