@staticmethod
def clean_characters(entry):
    """A helper function to convert special characters to LaTeX characters"""
    char_to_replace = {'&': '\\&', '#': '\\#', '–': '--', '—': '--', '∕':
        '/', 'κ': 'k', '×': 'x', '"': "'"}
    entry_key = ['publisher', 'publication', 'title']
    for k in entry_key:
        for char, repl_char in char_to_replace.items():
            entry[k] = entry[k].replace(char, repl_char)
