The natbib package for LaTeX allows you to use citations of the form
some text here [Author, 05].
instead of
some text here [1]
It comes preinstalled with most distributions, but it can be downloaded from the above link (documentation is also available from that link).
To use the package, include in your documents preamble
\usepackage{natbib}
Then in the beginning of your document (after \begin{document}, use
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
(or \bibliographystyle{abbrevnat} if you prefer the abbreviated style).
To insert a citation of the form (Author, 2005), use the command
\citep{reference_key}
and to insert a citation of the form “Author (2005),” use the command
\citet{reference_key}
where reference_key is the label for the desired author in the BibTeX database.
Finally, to create the bibliography at the end of your document, type
\bibliography{name_of_your_bibtex_database.bib}
A note about citations
By default, LaTeX only includes the elements in your BibTeX database that you reference in the main body of text. If you want to include all elements of the database, use the command
\nocite{*}
in the begging of your document.
If you’re not familiar with BibTeX
… read this introduction, which includes links to free graphical BibTeX database management software.
