PDF to BibTeX
Drop one or more paper PDFs and this PDF to BibTeX converter finds each paper’s DOI, arXiv ID or title in your browser, looks up the published record, and gives you clean BibTeX entries ready for LaTeX or Overleaf. The PDF files themselves never leave your computer.
Drop PDFs here or click to choose
Up to 20 files, 50 MB each. Paper PDFs with a DOI or arXiv ID work best.
PDFs are read in your browser. Only the DOI, arXiv ID or title found in them is sent for the lookup.
What Is a PDF to BibTeX Converter?
From File to Bibliography Entry
A PDF to BibTeX converter turns a paper you have saved as a PDF into the BibTeX entry LaTeX needs to cite it, without copying authors, titles and page numbers by hand. It is the quickest way to cite a folder of downloaded papers when you start writing a thesis or review in LaTeX.
Reads the Identifier, Not the Guesswork
Most journal PDFs print a DOI on the first page and most preprints carry an arXiv stamp. The converter reads that identifier and fetches the official record, which is far more reliable than parsing the layout of the page. When a preprint also prints the DOI of its published version, the DOI wins, so you cite the reviewed paper.
A Title Search as Fallback
When a PDF has no identifier, the largest text on the first page is taken as the title and matched against Crossref, so older papers and some book chapters can still be found. Title matches are marked as such, because a similar title can belong to a different paper.
Why Use Our PDF to BibTeX Tool?
Your PDFs Stay on Your Computer
The files are opened by pdf.js inside your browser. Only the identifier or title it finds is sent to look up the record, so unpublished drafts and paywalled papers are never uploaded.
Many Files at Once
Drop a folder’s worth of papers, up to 20 at a time. Each one shows what was found, and all entries are combined into one references.bib file. Files that cannot be matched are listed with the reason, so you can deal with them by hand.
Build a formatted bibliography insteadClean, Consistent Keys
Every entry gets a readable citation key such as LeCun2015Deep, and arXiv entries include the arXiv number, so the file is ready to use.
Open DOI to BibTeXHow to Convert PDF to BibTeX in 3 Steps
Step 1: Drop Your PDFs
Drag paper PDFs onto the box or click to choose them. The PDF to BibTeX converter reads the first two pages of each.
Step 2: Check What Was Found
Each file shows the DOI, arXiv ID or title match and the paper it led to. Title matches are best guesses, so glance at them. If a match is wrong, search the correct title in Find Citations and copy its BibTeX instead.
Step 3: Copy or Download the .bib
Copy the BibTeX or download references.bib, then add it to your LaTeX project and cite each entry by its key.
Convert a PDF to LaTeXOfficial references: BibTeX · Crossref
PDF to BibTeX FAQ
- Can you use APA citation for a PDF document?
- Yes. In APA 7 you cite the work the PDF contains, such as a journal article, report or book, not the file format, and you do not add [PDF]. Include the DOI, or the URL if you found the PDF online and it has no DOI.
- How to create a citation for a PDF?
- Identify what the PDF is, an article, report, chapter or thesis, and cite it as that type. Drop the file here to get BibTeX from its DOI, or paste the DOI or title into our citation generator for APA, MLA or another style.
- How to convert PDF to BibTeX?
- Drop the PDF on this page. The PDF to BibTeX converter reads the DOI, arXiv ID or title from its first pages, looks up the record and gives you a BibTeX entry to copy or download as a .bib file. Every PDF to BibTeX lookup uses the publisher record, so names and page ranges match the published version.
- How to convert BibTeX to PDF?
- A .bib file is not a document on its own. Cite its entries in a LaTeX file, run pdflatex, then bibtex, then pdflatex twice, or press Recompile in Overleaf; the bibliography appears in the PDF.
- Can Zotero make citations from PDF?
- Yes. Drag a PDF into Zotero and choose Retrieve Metadata for PDF; Mendeley and EndNote have similar import features. This PDF to BibTeX page does the same without installing anything. Reference managers are better for a long-term library; this tool is faster for a one-off .bib file.
- What does a PDF citation look like?
- Just like a citation of the same work in print. A journal article from a PDF in APA reads: LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436–444. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14539.
- How to do in text citations from a PDF?
- Use the normal in-text form of your style. For page numbers, use the page numbers printed on the pages of the article, not the page counter in your PDF viewer.
- How to create a MLA citation for a PDF?
- Cite the work as an article, book or report in MLA 9: Author. Title. Container, details, date, DOI or URL. MLA no longer asks you to name the medium, so leave out PDF.
- How to Chicago style citation a PDF?
- Cite the article, book or report the PDF holds, ending with the DOI or the URL where you found it. Add an access date only if the document shows no publication date.
- Is there a free PDF to BibTeX converter online?
- Yes, this one. It is free, needs no account, handles up to 20 PDFs at a time and does not upload your files.
- Can I convert a PDF to RIS instead of BibTeX?
- This tool outputs BibTeX. Import the .bib file into Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote and export RIS from there, or use our RIS to BibTeX converter for the opposite direction.
- Is my PDF uploaded to your server?
- No. The PDF is opened by pdf.js in your browser. Only the DOI, arXiv ID or title it finds is sent to our lookup, which asks Crossref, DataCite or arXiv for the record. That keeps PDF to BibTeX safe for unpublished manuscripts and files you are not allowed to share.
- Can I convert several PDFs to BibTeX at once?
- Yes, up to 20 files per batch. They are read one by one and looked up about every two seconds, and all entries end up in one .bib file. For a larger collection, run several batches and paste the results into the same .bib file.
- Why could no DOI or title be found in my PDF?
- Scanned PDFs are images without a text layer, so there is nothing to read. Slides, theses and drafts often have no DOI either. Search the title in Find Citations, or run the scan through text recognition first. Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened either; remove the protection first.
Have a whole page of notes, a scan or a PDF? Convert it to LaTeX that compiles.
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