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TeX Frequently Asked Questions
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By default, LaTeX makes entries in the bibliography look like:

[1] Doe, Joe et al. Some journal. 2004.
[2] Doe, Jane et al. Some journal. 2003.

while many documents need something like:

1. Doe, Joe et al. Some journal. 2004.
2. Doe, Jane et al. Some journal. 2003.

This sort of change may be achieved by many of the “general” citation packages; for example, in natbib, it’s as simple as:

\renewcommand{\bibnumfmt}[1]{#1.}

but if you’re not using such a package, the following internal LaTeX commands, in the preamble of your document, will do the job:

\makeatletter
\renewcommand*{\@biblabel}[1]{\hfill#1.}
\makeatother