The CiteKey (labeled "Access Phrase" in versions of Citation previous to 8.2) is a unique identifier for each record in a datafile. You can insert a CiteKey or Access Phrase as a key in your paper to cite a work in your Citation datafile.

The CiteKey field is in all the Citation data entry forms:

To cite Dickson’s book in a paper, click the Cite Current Record button on the Main Edit screen to display the Cite dialog. Enter the specific page reference for your citation (if this is appropriate, and click OK to insert the Cite Key into your document.

The derivation of the word occupy has attracted the attention of several researchers into the fundaments of the English epistemological and linguistic experience {Dickson 1982}.

When you run Generate, Citations for Document, Citation will make a copy of your document, and replace the Cite Keys with references.