BibTeX field type: year

The year field is used in a BibTeX entry to indicate the year when the work was published or created, if it is unpublished. This is a vital field as it gives the reader an understanding of the timeframe in which the work was produced, and it can influence the way the information in the work is perceived or utilized.

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This field is typically mandatory in most BibTeX entry types because it helps in accurately citing and referencing a piece of work. Including the publication year is a standard practice in scholarly writing, as it provides essential context regarding the timeliness and relevancy of the cited material.

The year field should be filled with a four-digit year format to maintain consistency and clarity in your references. This detail facilitates a chronological understanding and easy sorting of the references in a bibliography.

Here is how you can use the year field in a BibTeX entry:

Example

@article{key,
    author = {Author Name},
    title = {Title of the Article},
    journal = {Journal Name},
    volume = {3},
    number = {2},
    pages = {123-456},
    year = {2007},
}

In this example, the year field indicates that the article was published in the year 2007. It is a critical piece of information that helps readers to ascertain the temporal context of the cited work, which might be vital for historical or chronological analyses in research.