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Citations

MergDown2TeX converts Obsidian citations to LaTeX with bidirectional navigation.

How it works

graph LR
    A[Text] -->|↑| B[Citation]
    B -->|↓| C[Bibliography]

Syntax

Basic citation

Input: 

As shown by @smith2020...

Output: 

As shown by \citep{smith2020}...

Multiple citations

Input: 

Research shows @smith2020 and @doe2021...

Output: 

Research shows \citep{smith2020,doe2021}...

Citation with page

Input: 

As shown by @smith2020[p. 42]...

Output: 

As shown by \citep[p.~42]{smith2020}...

Citation styles

Style Syntax Output
authoryear @smith2020 \citep{smith2020}
numeric @smith2020 \cite{smith2020}
alphabetic @smith2020 \cite{smith2020}
super @smith2020 \cite{smith2020}

Configuration: 

---
citationStyle: authoryear
---

MergDown2TeX adds bidirectional arrows to citations:

In text

As shown by \citep{smith2020}... ↑

In bibliography

\textbf{Smith, J. (2020).} Important Research. ↓

graph LR
    A[Text] -->|↑| B[Citation]
    B -->|↓| C[Bibliography]

Bibliography file

BibTeX format

File: references.bib

@article{smith2020,
  author  = {Smith, John},
  title   = {Important Research},
  journal = {Journal of Science},
  year    = {2020},
  volume  = {1},
  pages   = {1-10}
}

@book{doe2021,
  author    = {Doe, Jane},
  title     = {Advanced Topics},
  publisher = {Academic Press},
  year      = {2021}
}

Configuration

---
bibliography: references.bib
---

Citation extraction

MergDown2TeX automatically extracts citations from your note:

graph TD
    A[Note Content] --> B[Regex: @citation]
    B --> C[Extract citation keys]
    C --> D[Generate \citep{}]
    D --> E[Generate bibliography]

Supported patterns

Pattern Example Output
@key @smith2020 \citep{smith2020}
@key[p. 1] @smith2020[p. 1] \citep[p.~1]{smith2020}
@key[text] @smith2020[see] \citep[see]{smith2020}

Example

Input

---
title: "Research Paper"
bibliography: references.bib
---

# Introduction

This paper discusses [[Related Work]] and cites @smith2020.

## Methods

Research shows @doe2021 that...

## Results

Our findings confirm @smith2020[p. 42].

Output

\documentclass[12pt]{report}
\usepackage{cite}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\title{Research Paper}

\begin{document}

\section{Introduction}
This paper discusses \hyperref[related-work]{Related Work} and cites \citep{smith2020}.

\section{Methods}
Research shows \citep{doe2021} that...

\section{Results}
Our findings confirm \citep[p.~42]{smith2020}.

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{references}

\end{document}

Troubleshooting

Citation not found

Error: 

Citation not found: smith2020

Solution: - Check references.bib for this key - Verify spelling (case-sensitive) - Add entry to .bib file

Bibliography not rendering

Error: 

Citation undefined

Solution: - Run pdflatex 3 times - Check bibliography setting in YAML frontmatter

Next steps