BibTeX field: year

How to use the year field in BibTeX?

The year field is used to store the year the work was published or in the case of an unpublished article the year it was written. Additionally, there is the standard BibTeX field month and the non-standard field day to store a date in more detail. When the year is an all numerical value, it is not necessary to put it into quotes or braces.

year = 2018
year = {2018}
year = "2018"
% a year range needs to be enclosed in "" or {}
year = {2011--2013}

How the year field is used in BibTeX entry types

BibTeX entryDescriptionyear field
articleJournal articlerequired
bookBookrequired
bookletPrinted work without a publisheroptional
inbookAny section in a bookrequired
incollectionA titled section of a bookrequired
inproceedingsConference paperrequired
manualManual
mastersthesisMaster's thesisrequired
miscMiscellaneous: if nothing else fitsoptional
phdthesisPhD thesisrequired
techreportTechnical report or white paperrequired
unpublishedA work that has not yet been officially publishedoptional