How to Use natbib for Citations in LaTeX
To use natbib, load \usepackage{natbib}, set an author-year style such as \bibliographystyle{plainnat}, add \bibliography{refs}, then cite with \citet (textual) and \citep (parenthetical). Compile in the order pdflatex, bibtex, pdflatex, pdflatex.
Not sure it worked on your document? Paste it into LetX and compile it, free and in the browser.
Example
\usepackage[round]{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
% ... document ...
Text \citep{einstein1905}.
\bibliography{references}Frequently asked questions
Which bibliography styles work with natbib?
Author-year styles such as plainnat, abbrvnat, and unsrtnat ship with natbib. Many journal .bst files are also natbib-compatible.
natbib or biblatex?
natbib + BibTeX is lightweight and widely required by journals. biblatex is more flexible (Unicode, easy style switching) and uses biber. Follow whatever your template specifies.
How do I get numbered [1] citations with natbib?
Pass the numbers option: \usepackage[numbers]{natbib} with a numeric style like unsrtnat produces [1]-style citations.
Related LaTeX fixes
Browse all LaTeX problems & fixes, or start with the LaTeX guide.
Learn the topic properly
Try the fix in LetX
Open the editor, paste your code, and compile in seconds to see the error clear. Free, in your browser.
Open LetX Free