> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://overleaf-pro.ayaka.space/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://overleaf-pro.ayaka.space/latex/references-and-citations/06-natbib-citation-styles.md).

# Natbib citation styles

Natbib uses the citation style associated with the corresponding [bibliography style](/latex/references-and-citations/04-bibtex-bibliography-styles.md#natbib-styles) if no specific citation commands are declared. There are some additional commands to control some punctuation parameters. See the example below:

```latex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

%Import the natbib package and sets a bibliography  and citation styles
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}
\setcitestyle{authoryear,open={((},close={))}} %Citation-related commands

\title{Natbib Example}

\author{Overleaf team}

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\section{First Section}
This document is an example with two cited items: \textit{The \LaTeX\ Companion} book \cite[see][chap 2]{latexcompanion} and Einstein's journal paper \citep{einstein}.

%Imports the bibliography file "sample.bib"
\bibliography{sample}

\end{document}
```

![CitationStylesEx1Overleaf.png](/files/LAv5BYGOfLloPZkKCBUV)

The specific command to format the citation style is:

```latex
\setcitestyle{authoryear, open={((},close={))}
```

The parameters, comma-separated, tell LaTeX to use the *authoryear* citation mode and use double parentheses as opening and closing marks. The various parameters that can be passed to this command are the following:

* Citation mode: `authoryear`, `numbers` or `super`.
* Brackets: `round` or `square`. You can manually set any other opening and closing characters with `open={char}` adn `close={char}`.
* Citation separator: `semicolon`, `comma`.
* Separator between author and year: `aysep{char}`.
* Separator between years with common author: `yysep={char}`.
* Text before post-note: `notesep={text}`.

The are other additional citation commands depending on the citation mode. For instance, in the example above the command `\cite[see][chap 2]{latexcompanion}` takes two extra parameters; the first optional parameter *see* is printed before the citation mark and the second optional parameter *chap 2* is printed after the citation mark. Below a table describing some additional citation commands:

| command         | description                                                                  |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `\citet{}`      | Textual citation                                                             |
| `\citep{}`      | Parenthetical citation                                                       |
| `\citet*{}`     | Same as `\citet` but if there are several authors, all names are printed     |
| `\citep*{}`     | The same as `\citep` but if there are several authors, all names are printed |
| `\citeauthor{}` | Prints only the name of the authors(s)                                       |
| `\citeyear{}`   | Prints only the year of the publication.                                     |

For more information about the rest of the commands in this example see [Bibliography management with natbib](/latex/references-and-citations/02-bibliography-management-with-natbib.md)

[Open an example of the `natbib` package in Overleaf](https://www.overleaf.com/project/new/template/19422?id=65532643\&templateName=Natbib+citation+styles+example\&latexEngine=\&texImage=texlive-full%3A2020.1\&mainFile=)

## Further reading

* [Bibliography management with natbib](/latex/references-and-citations/02-bibliography-management-with-natbib.md)
* [Natbib bibliography styles](/latex/references-and-citations/05-natbib-bibliography-styles.md)
* [Natbib package documentation](http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/CTAN/macros/latex/contrib/natbib/natbib.pdf)
* [International language support](/latex/languages/03-international-language-support.md)
* [Management in a large project](/latex/document-structure/07-management-in-a-large-project.md)
* [Table of contents](/latex/document-structure/02-table-of-contents.md)


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