Citing in Hermes

This guide covers citing in Hermes from start to finish: connecting a bibliography, inserting citations, checking them before you submit, and choosing a style. For the exact syntax rules, see Writing documents for Hermes. For Zotero, see Setting up Zotero.

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1. Connect a bibliography

Hermes resolves citations against a BibTeX file (.bib). Name it in the frontmatter at the top of the document:

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bibliography: refs.bib
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The path is relative to the document, so refs.bib means the file beside it. An absolute path also works. The document has to be saved before a relative path can be found.

There are three ways to get a .bib:

• File → New… can create one beside the new document, or point the document at one you already have.
• Zotero with Better BibTeX can export your library and keep the file up to date as you edit references. This is the most reliable setup if you already use Zotero; Setting up Zotero walks through it.
• Write it by hand or paste entries copied from a publisher's "Cite" or "Export citation" link.

Hermes watches the file. When it changes on disk, the preview, the autocomplete list and the warnings update on their own.

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2. Insert a citation

Type [@

With a bibliography connected, type [@ where the citation belongs. A list of entries from the .bib opens, showing each key with its first author, year and title. Keep typing to narrow it: you can type part of the key, an author's name or a word from the title. Press Return to insert the key, then type ].

The list also opens after ; @ inside brackets (a second source in the same citation), after -@, and after a bare @ that starts a word. It shows up to 100 entries at a time. It does not open inside code, maths, the frontmatter, an email address or a web address.

This needs nothing but the .bib. Zotero does not have to be running.

Use the Zotero picker

Press ⌘⇧C, choose Insert → Citation…, or click Cite in the toolbar. Zotero's own search window opens; pick one or more items and press Return. The keys arrive at the cursor.

This needs Zotero and the Better BibTeX plugin. If the picker cannot open, Hermes tells you whether Zotero is not running or Better BibTeX is not installed, with a link to install it.

Write it yourself

Citations are plain text, so you can always type them:

You write	You get (APA)
[@smith2020]	(Smith, 2020)
[@smith2020; @doe2021]	(Smith, 2020; Doe, 2021)
[see @smith2020, p. 33]	(see Smith, 2020, p. 33)
[-@smith2020]	(2020)
@smith2020 found that…	Smith (2020) found that…

• Separate several sources with ;.
• Text before the @, such as see or cf., becomes a prefix.
• , p. 33, , pp. 33-35, , chapter 3 or , sec. 2 after the key is a page or section locator.
• A - straight before the @ leaves out the author's name, for when the sentence already names them.
• A bare @key without brackets names the author in your own sentence.

Hermes adds the References section at the end of the document. Do not write one yourself, or there will be two.

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3. Check your citations before you submit

Hover over a key

Rest the pointer on a citation key in the editor. A tooltip shows the full reference as it will appear in the References section, in the document's style. It is a quick way to confirm smith2020 is the paper you meant without opening the .bib.

If the key is not in the .bib, the tooltip says Not in refs.bib (with your file's name).

Unknown citations

A key that is not in the .bib gets a red wavy underline in the editor, and shows as a red [@key?] in the preview. The rest of the document still renders.

The status bar at the bottom of the window counts them: "1 unknown citation", "3 unknown citations". Click the count to see every unknown key with its line number, and click an entry to jump to that line. When the count has gone, every citation in the document resolves.

Common causes:

• A typo in the key. Fix it in the text, or use [@ autocomplete so the key comes from the .bib.
• The source was never added to the .bib. Add it, in Zotero or by hand.
• The .bib is not an export of the library you picked from. The Zotero picker supplies keys from your Zotero library; Hermes checks them against the .bib the document names. See Setting up Zotero.

The count and the underlines only appear when the document names a bibliography and Hermes has loaded it.

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4. Choose a citation style

Format → Citation Style lists the five bundled styles: APA, Chicago (author-date), Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver. The current one is ticked. Choosing another writes the csl: line in the frontmatter for you, and the preview reformats straight away. ⌘Z undoes it like any other edit.

A journal's own style

Most journals publish a citation style in CSL format. The Zotero Style Repository has over ten thousand of them, searchable by journal name.

1. Download the journal's .csl file. Saving it in the document's folder, or a folder inside it, keeps the document and its style together.
2. Choose Format → Citation Style → Other Style File… and pick the file.

Hermes writes the path into csl:, relative to the document when the file is in its folder and absolute otherwise. Save a new document first: an unsaved document has no folder to be relative to.

If a style file cannot be read or is not valid CSL, Hermes says so and uses APA until it is fixed. Hermes does not watch the style file for changes; after editing one, choose it again from the menu or reopen the document.

Two limits:

• Styles format in US English. A style written for another language still uses English terms such as "and" and "edited by".
• Styles that put citations in footnotes (such as Chicago notes and bibliography) are not supported. Use the author-date or numeric version of the style.

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5. Citations in footnotes

Footnotes can hold citations, which is common for asides and for sources that support a side point:

The effect held in every run.[^1]

[^1]: Run 4 was discarded after a laser fault [@alqedra2026].

Or inline, with no separate definition:

The effect held in every run.^[See @alqedra2026 for the full data.]

Citations in footnotes are formatted, checked and counted like any other. Footnotes are listed after the References section.

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6. Export

File → Export PDF… (⌘E) includes the formatted citations, the References section and the footnotes. Check the unknown-citation count first: an unknown key prints as a red [@key?].

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Troubleshooting

No autocomplete list, no hover, no underlines. The document has no bibliography: line, it has not been saved, or the .bib could not be found. Hermes shows a message when the file is missing. If the preview shows [@key] as plain text with no References section, the bibliography has not loaded.

The list opens but my source is not in it. It is not in the .bib the document names. If you use Zotero, check that the export has Keep updated ticked.

The Zotero picker does not open. Read the message Hermes shows: it says whether Zotero is closed or Better BibTeX is missing. Typing [@ works without Zotero in the meantime. More in Setting up Zotero.

The style did not change. If you typed csl: by hand, check the spelling against the five bundled names, or use the menu. A misspelled name falls back to APA with a message.