Best Practices

Search strategy, metadata extraction, BibTeX quality, and validation practices.

Best Practices

Search Strategy

1. Start broad, then narrow:
2. Begin with general terms to understand the field
3. Refine with specific keywords and filters
4. Use synonyms and related terms

1. Use multiple sources:
2. Google Scholar for comprehensive coverage
3. PubMed for biomedical focus
4. arXiv for preprints
5. Combine results for completeness

1. Leverage citations:
2. Check "Cited by" for seminal papers
3. Review references from key papers
4. Use citation networks to discover related work

1. Document your searches:
2. Save search queries and dates
3. Record number of results
4. Note any filters or restrictions applied

Metadata Extraction

1. Always use DOIs when available:
2. Most reliable identifier
3. Permanent link to the publication
4. Best metadata source via CrossRef

1. Verify extracted metadata:
2. Check author names are correct
3. Verify journal/conference names
4. Confirm publication year
5. Validate page numbers and volume

1. Handle edge cases:
2. Preprints: Include repository and ID
3. Preprints later published: Use published version
4. Conference papers: Include conference name and location
5. Book chapters: Include book title and editors

1. Maintain consistency:
2. Use consistent author name format
3. Standardize journal abbreviations
4. Use a bare identifier in the BibTeX doi field; use the resolver URL in prose

BibTeX Quality

1. Follow conventions:
2. Use meaningful citation keys (FirstAuthor2024keyword)
3. Protect capitalization in titles with {}
4. Use -- for page ranges (not single dash)
5. Include the DOI field when a DOI has been assigned

1. Keep it clean:
2. Remove unnecessary fields
3. No redundant information
4. Consistent formatting
5. Validate syntax regularly

1. Organize systematically:
2. Sort by year or topic
3. Group related papers
4. Use separate files for different projects
5. Merge carefully to avoid duplicates

Validation

1. Validate early and often:
2. Check citations when adding them
3. Validate complete bibliography before submission
4. Re-validate after any manual edits

1. Fix issues promptly:
2. Broken DOIs: Find correct identifier
3. Missing fields: Extract from original source
4. Duplicates: Choose best version, remove others
5. Format errors: Use auto-fix when safe

1. Manual review for critical citations:
2. Verify key papers cited correctly
3. Check author names match publication
4. Confirm page numbers and volume
5. Ensure URLs are current