\bibitem

LaTeX2e help 1.6

#### 2.6.20.1: \bibitem

`\bibitem[label]{cite_key}`

The `\bibitem` command generates an entry labelled by `label`. If the `label` argument is missing, a number is generated as the `label`, using the `enumi` counter. The `cite_key` is any sequence of letters, numbers, and punctuation symbols not containing a comma. This command writes an entry on the ``.aux`' file containing `cite_key` and the item's `label`. When this ``.aux`' file is read by the `\begin{document}` command, the item's `label` is associated with `cite_key`, causing the reference to `cite_key` by a `\cite` command to produce the associated `label`.