Perform checks on a .bib file to ensure compliance with guidelines for stock assessment documents written using this package. Any contributions are positive when it comes to making a bibliography, but consistency is key.
check_bib(file)A character vector of logged messages from bibtex::read.bib is returned.
Additionally, all messages are printed to the screen.
If no messages/warnings are produced while reading in the file, the function
will return "Success".
General Guidelines: Consistency is great for readability and to change future formating. The following includes a list of general guidelines to help increase the consistency of entries across files:
use double quotes to encase arguments within an entry instead of curly brackets
use title-case letters for the type argument, e.g., Article, Manual
Citation-Key: Citation keys are the first entry for each bibliography entry in a .bib file. These citation-keys must be unique across all .bib files you wish to include in a given build. Therefore, we strongly encourage users to use dois as citation keys when they are available. Not only are dois unique, but they also allow for consistency in formatting compared to some combination of author name, journal, and year.
It is important to not include special LaTeX characters in a citation key because they will lead to compiling errors. Remember that the citation keys are TeX commands without escaping.
Author: Many formatting styles are valid in .bib files for the Author field. The most important thing to remember is that authors are separated by the word 'and', e.g., author = "Doe, J. and Smith, L.". This format, with the last name first followed by a comma and then the first initial of the first, is the preferred way to include authors. Though TeX will also accept first name followed by last name. Here, we highlight the use of the former with a comma separator because special entries with Jr. can only be formatted this way, so why not format all entries similarly to create continuity and less fatigue when on-boarding new users? Here are some example names,
"Doe, J.""
"Ford, Jr., Henry"
"Steele Jr., Guy L."
"von Beethoven, Ludwig"
test <- check_bib(bibtex:::findBibFile("bibtex"))