Bib Entry Types

bibdeskparser recognizes the entry types that BibDesk itself defines. These are the types BibDesk templates in its editor, declared in its TypeInfo.plist source file (the FieldsForTypes dictionary), which is the authority for the per-type field lists reproduced below.

Every entry type is validated when an entry is constructed or modified in Python – Entry construction or an entry_type assignment. An unrecognized entry type raises a ValueError. Loading a .bib file never validates, so a file using an unusual entry type still loads and round-trips unchanged.

Assigning a field that is not appropriate for the entry type emits a UserWarning (the value is still stored). A field is appropriate if it is one of the type’s mandatory or optional fields listed below, or one of the fields common to all entry types.

The extended biblatex entry types and fields are also recognized (accepted without error), though only the types below are given field templates.

The recognized types and fields, and the two validation behaviors described above, can be customized or disabled through a configuration file; see Configuration.

Overview

Type	Description
`article`	An article in a journal or other periodical.
`book`	A book with a named publisher.
`booklet`	A printed work without a named publisher.
`commented`	A commented edition of a work.
`conference`	An article in conference proceedings (classic BibTeX).
`electronic`	An electronic or online resource.
`glossdef`	A glossary definition.
`inbook`	A part of a book with its own identity.
`incollection`	A titled contribution to a book.
`inproceedings`	An article in conference proceedings.
`jurthesis`	A juridical thesis.
`manual`	Technical documentation.
`mastersthesis`	A master’s thesis.
`misc`	A fallback type for anything that fits no other type.
`periodical`	A whole issue or run of a periodical.
`phdthesis`	A PhD thesis.
`proceedings`	The proceedings of a conference.
`techreport`	A report issued by an institution.
`unpublished`	A work with an author and title, not formally published.
`url`	A URL resource.
`webpage`	A web page.

article

An article in a journal, magazine, or other periodical.

Mandatory: author, title, journal, year

Optional: volume, number, pages, month

book

A book with a named publisher.

Mandatory: title, publisher, year

Optional: author, editor, volume, number, series, address, edition, month

booklet

A printed work without a named publisher or sponsoring institution.

Mandatory: title

Optional: author, howpublished, address, month, year

commented

A commented edition of a work.

Mandatory: author, title, publisher, year

Optional: volumetitle, editor

conference

An article in conference proceedings (the classic BibTeX type; equivalent to inproceedings).

Mandatory: author, title, booktitle, year

Optional: editor, volume, pages, number, organization, series, publisher, address, month

electronic

An electronic or online resource.

Mandatory: (none)

Optional: urldate, author, title

glossdef

A glossary definition (a term and its meaning).

Mandatory: word, definition

Optional: sort-word, short, group

inbook

A part of a book (a chapter or a range of pages) with its own identity.

Mandatory: title, publisher, year

Optional: editor, author, chapter, number, volume, type, series, month, address, edition, pages

incollection

A titled contribution to a book (a collection with its own editor).

Mandatory: author, title, booktitle, publisher, year

Optional: editor, volume, number, series, type, chapter, pages, address, edition, month

inproceedings

An article in conference proceedings.

Mandatory: author, title, booktitle, year

Optional: editor, volume, pages, number, organization, series, publisher, address, month

jurthesis

A juridical thesis.

Mandatory: author, title, school, year

Optional: address, month, type

manual

Technical or other documentation, not necessarily in book form.

Mandatory: title

Optional: author, organization, address, edition, month, year

mastersthesis

A master’s thesis.

Mandatory: author, title, school, year

Optional: address, month, type

misc

A fallback type for anything that does not fit another type.

Mandatory: (none)

Optional: title, howpublished, author, month, year

periodical

A whole issue or run of a journal, magazine, or newspaper.

Mandatory: author, title, journal

Optional: year, volume, pages

phdthesis

A PhD thesis.

Mandatory: author, title, school, year

Optional: address, month, type

proceedings

The published proceedings of a conference.

Mandatory: title, year

Optional: editor, number, publisher, organization, address, month, volume

techreport

A report published by a school or other institution.

Mandatory: author, title, institution, year

Optional: type, number, address, month

unpublished

A work with an author and title that has not been formally published.

Mandatory: author, note, title

Optional: month, year

url

A URL resource.

Mandatory: (none)

Optional: urldate, author, title, lastchecked

webpage

A web page.

Mandatory: url

Optional: lastchecked, year, month

Fields common to all entry types

Beyond the per-type fields above, bibdeskparser accepts a set of administrative and cross-type fields on any entry type, without a warning. These are the fields BibDesk (and BibTeX in general) may attach to an entry regardless of its type:

keywords – the comma-separated tag list, exposed as the keywords tuple.
abstract, annote, annotation, note – free-form descriptive and note fields.
date, date-added, date-modified – timestamps; the latter two are exposed as the read-only date_added and date_modified properties.
doi, url, isbn, issn – stable identifiers and links.
eprint, eprinttype, eprintclass, archiveprefix, primaryclass – the arXiv/eprint fields.
crossref, ids – cross-referencing and alias keys.
language, rating, read, rss-description, local-url – further BibDesk bookkeeping fields.

Some of these are surfaced through dedicated bibdeskparser API rather than the plain dict interface:

File attachments (bdsk-file-N) are managed through add_file(), replace_file(), unlink_file(), and rename_file().
Linked URLs (bdsk-url-N) are managed through add_url(), replace_url(), and remove_url().
Timestamps are read through date_added and date_modified.
Keywords are read through keywords.

For how these fields are encoded on disk, see the Explanation page BibDesk’s .bib Format.

Field glossary

A brief gloss of the field names used above:

author : The author(s) of the work, an and-separated name list.

editor : The editor(s) of the work, an and-separated name list.

title : The title of the work.

booktitle : The title of the book or proceedings a work appears in.

journal : The name of the journal or periodical.

publisher : The name of the publisher.

school : The university or institution awarding a thesis.

institution : The institution issuing a report.

organization : The organization sponsoring a conference or manual.

volume : The volume of a journal or a multi-volume book.

number : The issue number of a journal, or the number in a series or report.

pages : A page number or range of pages.

series : The name of a series the work appears in.

edition : The edition of a book.

chapter : A chapter or section number.

address : The address of the publisher or institution.

month : The month of publication.

year : The year of publication.

type : An override for the type label of a thesis or report (e.g. PhD diss.).

howpublished : How an unusual work was published.

note : Free-form additional information.

urldate, lastchecked : The date on which a URL was last accessed.

word, definition : For glossdef: the term and its meaning.

sort-word : For glossdef: the string the entry sorts under.

short : For glossdef: an abbreviated form of the term.

group : For glossdef: a grouping label.

volumetitle : For commented: the title of a specific volume.