We present an analysis of crystallographic symmetry and the origin of the pseudo-cubic character of doped BiFeO3. Specifically, barium-doped bismuth ferrite, Bi1-xBaxFeO3 (x = 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, 0.125), perovskite-type nanoparticles have been synthesized by implementing five modifications to the sol-gel technique (citric acid-assisted sol-gel method, ethylene glycol method, tartaric acid-assisted sol-gel method, polyvinyl alcohol-ethylene glycol method, and EDTA complexing sol-gel method) and their final pseudo-cubic character is discussed. The effect of the carboxylic groups and hydroxyl groups during synthesis is critical to obtain single phase BBFO. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis is used to study the decomposition and thermal behavior of the precursors and their relation to the final nanoparticle characteristics. X-ray diffraction analysis shows a single phase with symmetry changes for four of the five synthesis methodologies employed. Only the EDTA complexing sol-gel method, where EDTA is used as dissolver and chelating agent, is not satisfactory in all concentration ranges. Rietveld results suggest that the degree of distortion of the rhombohedral symmetry in the crystallized BiFeO3 powders decreases 12% as a result of progressive substitution of Bi3+ by Ba2+ and that there is no shift from rhombohedral to tetragonal symmetry. Magnetization properties of samples with a low-distortion rhombohedral structure show higher magnetic saturation and remanent magnetization than samples with high-distortion rhombohedral structure. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.