1

I have 350 references in my thesis which was written in Word 2016. However, I rewrite it in to LaTeX because of hard fitting tables in word. My only problem is how to convert 350 references to BibTeX? (if there is any way) It will take time and effort to do it manually.

Mico
  • 506,678
John
  • 45
  • Do you mean that you typeset them manually in Word? You didn't use any kind of bibliography management software? – cfr Sep 16 '17 at 22:24
  • I have used Mendely for Word referencing – John Sep 16 '17 at 22:33
  • 2
    How exactly did you use Mendeley? If you still have the Mendeley database, can you direct it to save its contents in BibTeX's .bib format? – Mico Sep 16 '17 at 22:35
  • The 350 refrences are within more than 1000 other refrences in the same folder – John Sep 16 '17 at 22:38
  • 2
    Mendeley lets you export your entire database to bibtex. If you rewrite the document in LaTeX, you will need to insert each reference using the \cite macro. You should probably familiarize yourself thoroughly with how references are managed in LaTeX before you spend much time on the entire project of converting your thesis. – Michael Palmer Sep 16 '17 at 23:02
  • 1
    @John You can export the lot. Only those you cite in the document will appear in the bibliography (by default). Generally, a .bib database isn't document-specific. You use the same database(s) for all the documents you write. – cfr Sep 17 '17 at 01:06
  • This is good idea, its work fine. Thank you. – John Sep 17 '17 at 12:19

1 Answers1

2

Using Mendeley:

  1. Select the papers you are interested in. I hope these are organized into a folder, if not, make a folder with the papers you intend on exporting.
  2. Select all papers from the folder, Right Click, then select Export.
  3. Make the export format, .bib or BibTeX. Name the file appropriately and save to a location of your choosing.

If you follow this procedure, you will have a .bib file with all the references you selected.

Assuming this was successful, simply reference your .bib file in your LaTeX file. For all references in your document, you will need to use the \cite command before compiling the document.

You have a bit of work ahead of you given 350 references.

You may want to consider using the find and replace function in word to find every instance of the reference and replace it with the appropriate \cite command. Do note that to cite a reference in LaTex the proper command syntax will look like this: \cite{test1}, where test1 is the Cite_Key in the .bib file. So, simply find every instance of a reference in word and replace it with \cite{Cite-Key} as indicated in the .bib file.

Another way to accomplish citing 350 references without going line by line is to programmatically script the replacement of a MS Word reference to a Cite-Key.

Erik
  • 121
  • 1
    If he exports any surplus papers, that is not a problem at all. Only the ones matched by a \cite macro in the document will actually be included in the typeset bibliography. – Michael Palmer Sep 16 '17 at 23:31
  • 1
    Yes, there's no need for the sorting into a folder step and I can't see much point in this. Might as soon export the lot, as @MichaelPalmer says. – cfr Sep 17 '17 at 01:05