Build a personal library

The Reference library is one BibTeX collection tied to your account, reachable from every project.

How to do it

1. Create .bib files and folders in the library, or import BibTeX, RIS, EndNote XML or Zotero RDF files — other formats are converted to BibTeX, and importing into a selected file skips works it already holds (same DOI, or same title, year and first author) while an unrelated entry with a taken key gets a suffix.
2. Switch a file between Entries, which lists what it holds, and Raw, where you edit the BibTeX text directly.
3. Use Find online to search Crossref by DOI or title and add a record straight into the selected file.
4. Delete an entry from the Entries view when it is no longer needed; the file is rewritten immediately.
5. Connect Zotero in Settings → External connections (/user/settings?tab=storage). Browse your personal or group libraries and collections, then save a reference to your library or insert it into a linked .bib file. Disconnecting keeps references already copied.

Connect Zotero

Connecting Zotero lets you search your Zotero libraries from JointTex and copy references out of them. JointTex only reads Zotero; it never changes your Zotero library. This feature requires JointTex Education, Plus, or Pro.

How to do it

1. On zotero.org, create an API key at Settings → Security → Create new private key (zotero.org/settings/keys/new). Allow library read access, and read access to any group whose library you want to use.
2. In JointTex, open Settings → External connections, paste the key into Zotero API key on the Zotero card, and choose Connect. JointTex finds your Zotero account from the key and shows Connected as your Zotero name.
3. Your personal library, group libraries and their collections are then searchable from the citation browser and the reference library.
4. Choose Disconnect on the same card to remove the key. References you already copied stay in your library and projects.

Cite while you write

The citation browser searches everything you can cite and writes the entry into the right .bib for you.

How to do it

1. Put the cursor in a .tex file and open the citation browser to search your project's bibliography.
2. The same search also covers your reference library, and on Education, Plus, and Pro the .bib files of your other projects.
3. Use Find online for records that are nowhere in your projects yet; the preview shows exactly what will be inserted.
4. Inserting adds the entry to the bibliography you choose and cites it; a conflicting key gets a suffix, and a matching DOI reuses the entry already there.
5. Press Space to select several entries and Enter to insert them together, and use the source filter to list only This project, My library or Past projects.

Ctrl+Alt+C opens the citation browser in a .tex file.

Keep the bibliography tidy

Keys, formatting and copies of an entry can be changed without editing every file that cites it.

How to do it

1. Select an entry in the citation browser and use Rename citation key to change its key; every citation of it in the project is updated with it.
2. Select entries in the citation browser and choose Save to library to copy them into one of your library's .bib files.
3. In a .bib file, Format on the toolbar rewrites the BibTeX consistently; tick Sort by citation key or Align values first to have it do that as well.
4. Copy BibTeX on a Find online result copies the entry to the clipboard without inserting anything.

Verify what you cite

Reference verification compares the bibliography you actually cite against Crossref and arXiv.

How to do it

1. Open Project checks, choose the References tab and press Verify references; only titles, authors and identifiers are sent — never manuscript text, paths or notes.
2. Review the groups: metadata consistent, metadata differences, identifier conflicts, and entries with no reliable match.
3. For a difference, pick the candidate and the fields to update, preview the correction, then confirm it — you can undo it in the editor.
4. Verification covers at most 500 references or 2 MB, and a missing result never means a reference is fabricated.

Ctrl+Alt+R opens Project checks on the References tab.