Getting DOI / arXiv links with BibTeX.
2017-11-14
Many bibliography databases supply a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or arXiv eprint number with BibTeX entries. However, the standard BiBTeX style files either ignore this information or print it without hyperlinking it correctly. Here’s how you can get working clickable links to both DOI and arXiv eprints.
Using my style file.
If you use abbrv or alpha as your bibliography style, then the simplest way would be for you to download my version of these style files: habbrv.bst or halpha.bst.
(Alternately if you want abbreviated author names, and alphabetic labels you can use halpha-abbrv.bst.)
Save the appropriate file in the same directory as your tex file and use it by putting the following in your tex file:
\bibliographystyle{habbrv} \bibliography{refs}
Replace habbrv with halpha or halpha-abbrv as appropriate.
To make the links clickable, you need to use the hyperref package.
Also, since some DOIs might contain evil special characters, I strongly recommend you use the doi package by adding the following to your preamble.
\RequirePackage{doi} \usepackage{hyperref}
That’s it.
Your arXiv and DOI should appear as clickable links in your PDF.
Also, if you want to add a custom URL to any of your bibliographic entries, just use the url field.
Here is an example bibliographic entry:
@Article{ foo, author = {Author, A}, title = {Example entry}, journal = {ArXiv e-prints}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, eprint = {1707.03780}, primaryclass = {physics.flu-dyn}, doi = {10.1010/doi-that-will-become-a-hyperlink}, url = {http://your.custom.url}, year = 2017, }
Note: Some databases add a url field with the DOI link, and also a doi field.
To avoid duplication, the url field will only be displayed if the doi field is not present.
Sanitizing bibliographic entries with bibtool (optional)
If you want to sanitize your bibliography and convert url fields with a doi into a doi field, then you can use bibtool to fix it.
Put the following in your ~/.bibtoolrc:
rename.field {url=doiurl if url="doi"}
rename.field {doiurl=delete if doi="10."}
delete.field = {delete}
rename.field {doiurl=doi}
rewrite.rule = {doi# "https?://.*doi\.org/\(10\.[0-9]+/.+\)"# "\1"}
and filter your entry through bibtool.
Hacking your own style file.
If you use a different bibliography style, you will have to edit the style file. I created habbrv.bst and halpha.bst and by taking the arXiv’s version of these files (available here and here) and making the following changes
diff --git a/habbrv.bst b/habbrv.bst index 8d4d324..dacaaff 100644 --- a/habbrv.bst +++ b/habbrv.bst @@ -1,3 +1,5 @@ +% 2017-11-13 Gautam Iyer: Modified to include DOI links. +% % habbrv: adds eprint field (www-admin@xxx.lanl.gov) % an extension of: % BibTeX standard bibliography style `abbrv' @@ -32,6 +34,8 @@ ENTRY series title type + url + doi volume year } @@ -243,10 +247,27 @@ FUNCTION {format.title} FUNCTION {format.eprint} { eprint empty$ { "" } - { eprint } + { "\burlalt{" eprint * "}{http://arxiv.org/abs/" * eprint * "}" * } if$ } +FUNCTION {format.url} +{ doi empty$ not + url empty$ + or + { "" } + { "\urlprefix\url{" url * "}" * } + if$ +} + +FUNCTION {format.doi} +{ doi empty$ + { "" } + { "\doi{" doi * "}" * } + if$ +} + + FUNCTION {n.dashify} { 't := "" @@ -562,6 +583,10 @@ FUNCTION {article} if$ format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -595,6 +620,10 @@ FUNCTION {book} format.date "year" output.check format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -610,6 +639,10 @@ FUNCTION {booklet} format.date output format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -645,6 +678,10 @@ FUNCTION {inbook} format.date "year" output.check format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -672,6 +709,10 @@ FUNCTION {incollection} if$ format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -707,6 +748,10 @@ FUNCTION {inproceedings} if$ format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -744,6 +789,10 @@ FUNCTION {manual} format.date output format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -760,6 +809,10 @@ FUNCTION {mastersthesis} format.date "year" output.check format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -774,6 +827,10 @@ FUNCTION {misc} format.date output format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry empty.misc.check @@ -791,6 +848,10 @@ FUNCTION {phdthesis} format.date "year" output.check format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -827,6 +888,10 @@ FUNCTION {proceedings} if$ format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -843,6 +908,10 @@ FUNCTION {techreport} format.date "year" output.check format.eprint output new.block + format.doi output + new.block + format.url output + new.block note output fin.entry } @@ -856,6 +925,10 @@ FUNCTION {unpublished} note "note" output.check format.date output format.eprint output + new.block + format.url output + new.block + format.doi output fin.entry } @@ -1104,6 +1177,24 @@ FUNCTION {begin.bib} { preamble$ write$ newline$ } if$ "\begin{thebibliography}{" longest.label * "}" * write$ newline$ + "\expandafter\ifx\csname url\endcsname\relax" + write$ newline$ + " \def\url#1{\texttt{#1}}\fi" + write$ newline$ + "\expandafter\ifx\csname doi\endcsname\relax" + write$ newline$ + " \def\doi#1{\burlalt{doi:#1}{http://dx.doi.org/#1}}\fi" + write$ newline$ + "\expandafter\ifx\csname urlprefix\endcsname\relax\def\urlprefix{URL }\fi" + write$ newline$ + "\expandafter\ifx\csname href\endcsname\relax" + write$ newline$ + " \def\href#1#2{#2}\fi" + write$ newline$ + "\expandafter\ifx\csname burlalt\endcsname\relax" + write$ newline$ + " \def\burlalt#1#2{\href{#2}{#1}}\fi" + write$ newline$ } EXECUTE {begin.bib}
You will have to do something similar to your style file.
(If you need a reference for the syntax of style files, bibtex uses some weird stacking syntax.
This is described in btxhak.pdf, and you should be able to view it using texdoc btxhak or on CTAN.
🗫 Comments
-
Thank you...
Annika (2018-04-20 11:42:41 EDT)
…SO much for habbrv!
-
Thank yor
Anonymous (2018-05-03 03:45:50 EDT)
Thanks for sharing!!! So nice!
-
Thank you!
Krzysztof (2018-12-03 08:27:02 EST)
habbrv worked without problem.
-
Thank you for sharing your style files
Anonymous (2020-01-31 09:21:36 EST)
I chose halpha-abbrv and it worked perfectly
-
DOI in reference
Anonymous (2020-04-11 21:40:12 EDT)
I followed your steps to get the doi link in reference, but still i couldn’t get it. Can you please help me?
-
Thanks!
Cecilia (2021-04-25 10:43:34 EDT)
Thank you very much for your style files: habbrv.bst, halpha.bst. They work wonderfully and they helped me a lot!
