Referencing style (alphabetical order) no numbering

Question

I am finishing my project and I just need to tidy up my references. At the moment my references are numbered (i.e [1], [2],...) and in alphabetical order (surname) but the first name appears first. I have two problems that I wish to fix.

How do I get rid of the numbering (I don't use it so it is just confusing).
I want the surname to appear first not the first name.

Clearly I want to retain the alphabetical order (surname).

Edit:

I am using Biktex (nothing extra). Essentially I am copy pasting from google scholar the references that are provided under bibtex. My referencing style is Harvard, i.e, blah blah blah (Feynman 1999).

Thanks.

Please tell us which bibliography style you employ and whether you use a citation management package such as natbib or cite. — Mico, Sep 10 '19 at 07:17
I have a folder References.tex and inside it I have \bibliographystyle{plain} and \bibliography{Bibliography.bib} — Andy, Sep 10 '19 at 09:05

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 10 '19 at 11:39

2

The plain bibliography style can only generate numeric-style citation call-outs.

To solve the first problem you raise, I suggest you (a) change \bibliographystyle{plain} to \bibliographystyle{plainnat}, (b) add the instruction \usepackage[authoryear,round]{natbib} in the preamble, and (c) perform a full recompile cycle -- LaTeX, BibTeX, and LaTeX twice more -- to fully propagate all changes.

answered Sep 10 '19 at 11:39

Mico

506,678

Thank you so much I really appreciate your time and help. The above has worked (no longer numeric). Ideally I want the surname to appear first and then the initials. eg: Lighthill, M.J. – Andy Sep 10 '19 at 12:47
@Andy - For step-by-step instructions on how to modify plainnat so that the surname appears first, followed by the truncated given name (or names), please see this answer [shameless self-citation alert!] to the query Displaying author's name in a bibliographic entry in the form: Surname, First Initial of Firstname. – Mico Sep 10 '19 at 13:47

Referencing style (alphabetical order) no numbering

1 Answers1