Bibliography search, DOI import, and health

Open the bibliography workspace#

Choose Tools → LaTeX → LaTeX: Bibliography Health and Search. Refresh the Bibliography tool window after source or library changes. Rows show title, author/year, citation key, source, and findings; toolbar actions include Open Source, Insert Citation, Find Papers, Import DOI, Review DOI Merge, and Duplicates only.

Search deliberately#

Search terms can match bibliographic metadata as well as the key. Try Knuth 1984 in the workshop. Select a row and use Open Source to verify which .bib owns it before editing. Configured external cached libraries can contribute read-only entries in addition to project files.

The tool-window catalogue can be broader than the active document’s citation-completion scope. An entry appearing in search does not automatically make its bibliography file part of the compiled root.

Review health findings#

Duplicate keys and duplicate DOI identities are different problems. Two entries can share a DOI despite spelling/case or URL-prefix differences, while two identical keys can describe different works. Use Duplicates only to narrow the review, then open the source records.

Malformed or dynamically expressed DOI fields should not be merged simply because a search result looks similar. Resolve the intended bibliographic identity first.

Import metadata#

Use Find Papers or Import DOI for network-backed metadata lookup. Inspect the editable preview: title, authors, year, entry type, key, and source destination. Choose a key that does not conflict with an existing entry, and verify the actual work before accepting.

For a DOI merge, review what will be retained or replaced. A library may intentionally preserve capitalization, local fields, attachment paths, or a key cited by many documents. Rebuild affected documents and inspect citations after the change.

Share libraries#

Configure exported .bib libraries or supported cached external sources under LaTeX → Bibliography. Confirm synchronization and credential behavior for the selected source. Keep personal tokens out of committed bibliography files, and distinguish cached entries from editable project-owned entries.