I tend to write all my academic papers in LaTeX. I like the idea of it, I like the separation of content and style, I think the output looks good *most* of the times, and, above all, I think managing bibliography with latex is the best option so far.

This post is about managing references. Specifically, about when you want to split your latex references in different categories. Maybe you’d like to list Books and Journals apart from other references, maybe you’re writing a review, a state-of-the-art analysis, and you’d like to separate the analyzed works from others you cite along. I had to do both, and found a few different options.

So, here they are:

1. Using different .bib files for each category

Package: bibtopic
Manual: http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/bibtopic/bibtopic.pdf

Example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{bibtopic}

\begin{document}
 \bibliographystyle{alpha}
\section{Citing things}
\cite{somebook}. \cite{otherbook}, \cite{somepaper}.
 
% File books.bib is use for this listing:
\begin{btSect}{books}
\section{References from books}
\btPrintCited
\end{btSect}

% File articles.bib is used here, and the listing is in 
% plain-format instead of the standard alpha:
\begin{btSect}[plain]{articles}
\section{References from articles}
\btPrintCited
\section{Articles not cited}
\btPrintNotCited
\end{btSect}

% Print alll entries from internet.bib:
\begin{btSect}{Internet}
\section{References from teh Internets}
\btPrintAll
\end{btSect}
\end{document}

2. Using a single .bib, and manually separating references using different citation commands

Package: multibib
Manual: http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/multibib/multibib.pdf

This creates a different citation command (“citesel” in the example) for each category other than the
default one.

Example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multibib}
\newcites{sel}{Selected works}

\begin{document}
\cite{ref1}
\citesel{ref2}

% Selected works (refs.bib)
\bibliographystylesel{spmpsci}
\bibliographysel{refs}

% Other (refs.bib)
\bibliographystyle{spmpsci}
\bibliography{refs}

\end{document}

3. Split based on reference properties

Package: biblatex
Manual: http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/biblatex/doc/biblatex.pdf

You can use other properties than type to filter them. You should read the manual if that’s the case!

Example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[defernumbers=true]{biblatex}

\addbibresource{\refs.bib}
\nocite{*}

\begin{document}

\printbibliography[title={Books},type=book]
\printbibliography[title={Other References},nottype=book]

\end{document}