RIS to BibTeX
Paste an RIS export from EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, PubMed or a publisher site and get BibTeX entries you can drop into your .bib file. This RIS to BibTeX converter runs entirely in your browser, handles hundreds of records at once and needs no account.
What Is RIS to BibTeX?
From an RIS File to a BibTeX File
RIS is the tagged plain-text format that most databases and reference managers export, with one tag per line such as TY for the type, AU for an author and TI for the title. Converting it rewrites each record as an entry LaTeX can cite.
RIS to BibTeX Conversion, Field by Field
Authors and editors, title, journal or book title, year, volume, issue, pages, publisher, DOI, ISBN, URL, keywords and abstract each land in their own BibTeX field. Start and end pages are joined with a double dash, the way bibliography styles expect.
RIS to BibTeX Citation Keys You Can Read
Every entry gets a key made from the first author's surname, the year and the first real word of the title, such as smith2021deep, so you can type \cite with it straight away instead of hunting for a numeric ID.
Why Use Our RIS to BibTeX Converter?
A Free RIS to BibTeX Converter Online
Nothing to install and no account to create: open the page, paste or upload, and copy the result. It sits alongside our other free tools for people who write in LaTeX.
Browse all free LaTeX toolsAn RIS to Bib Converter That Keeps Files Local
This RIS to BibTeX parser runs in your browser, so unpublished reading lists and whole library exports never reach our server. You can even use it offline once the page has loaded.
EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley Exports to BibTeX
Any program that exports RIS works, which covers EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, Mendeley, Scopus, Web of Science and most journal sites. Only have a DOI? Look it up directly instead.
Open DOI to BibTeXHow to Use It in 3 Steps
Step 1: Export or Paste Your RIS Records
In your reference manager or database, choose Export and pick the RIS format. Paste the text into the box above or upload the .ris file it saved.
Step 2: Check the BibTeX Entries
Each record appears as its own entry with a type, a key and its fields. Record types without a BibTeX match become @misc, so no reference is dropped.
Step 3: Save the .bib File and Cite
Copy the entries or download references.bib, point \bibliography at it in your document and cite each source by its key.
Convert the rest of your paper to LaTeXOfficial references: BibTeX · biblatex (CTAN)
RIS to BibTeX FAQ
- What is RIS file?
- An RIS file (.ris) is a plain-text citation format first used by Research Information Systems. Each line holds a two-letter tag, two spaces, a dash and a value, and every record ends with an ER line.
- How to open RIS file?
- Any text editor can open it, because it is plain text. To use the references, import the file into EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley or RefWorks, or paste it into this RIS to BibTeX tool if you cite with LaTeX.
- How to get BibTeX from Zotero?
- Select the items, right-click, choose Export Items and pick BibTeX as the format. If someone sent you an RIS export instead of a Zotero library, paste it here and you get the same result.
- How to import RIS file to EndNote?
- In EndNote open File, Import, File, choose the .ris file and set the import option to Reference Manager (RIS). To go the other way, export your EndNote library as RIS and convert that here.
- How to use RIS citation?
- Import it into a reference manager to store and format it, or, if you write in LaTeX, convert it to BibTeX, save it in a .bib file and cite the entry by its key.
- How to export PubMed RIS file?
- PubMed's "Send to, Citation manager" option saves a .nbib file in MEDLINE format rather than RIS. Import that file into Zotero, EndNote or Mendeley, then export RIS or BibTeX from there.
- Will Mendeley make a BibTeX?
- Yes. Mendeley Reference Manager can export the selected references as a .bib file. For RIS files that come from somewhere else, such as a journal site, this page does the same job without importing anything.
- Can I convert RIS to BibTeX online?
- Yes. Paste the text or upload the file on this page and the entries appear at once. Nothing is installed, and the work happens in your browser rather than on a server.
- How do I turn an RIS file into a .bib file?
- Upload the .ris file above, then click Download to save references.bib. A .bib file is just BibTeX entries in a plain-text file, so you can also paste the output into one you already have.
- What’s the difference between BibTeX and RIS?
- Both store references as plain text. RIS puts one field on each tagged line and is read by almost every reference manager. BibTeX groups the fields of an entry under a type and a citation key, which is the form LaTeX bibliographies read.
- Can EndNote export to BibTeX?
- Yes, through its BibTeX Export output style, although the keys and special characters often need fixing by hand. Exporting RIS from EndNote and running RIS to BibTeX here gives readable keys and escaped characters.
- Can I convert a PDF to RIS or BibTeX?
- Not on this page, because a PDF carries no structured citation data. If the paper has a DOI, our DOI to BibTeX tool fetches its entry. To turn the PDF itself into editable LaTeX, use the file converter.
- Is this RIS to BibTeX converter free?
- Yes. There is no sign-up and no charge, and you can convert as many files as you like. Each conversion takes up to 2 MB of text or 2,000 records.
- Can I convert several RIS records at once?
- Yes. RIS to BibTeX works on a whole library export as well as a single reference. Every record between a TY line and its ER line becomes its own entry, up to 2,000 per conversion.
- Which RIS reference types become which BibTeX entry types?
- Journal articles (JOUR) become @article, books @book, book chapters @incollection, conference papers @inproceedings, theses @phdthesis and reports @techreport. Anything else becomes @misc.
- How are the citation keys made?
- From the first author's surname, the year and the first meaningful word of the title, for example smith2021deep. When two records would share a key, the second gets an a, the third a b, and so on.
- What happens to special characters like & and % in titles?
- Characters that break LaTeX, namely &, %, #, _ and $, get a backslash in front of them, and unmatched braces are removed so the .bib file compiles. URLs and DOIs are left as they are.
- Is my RIS file uploaded anywhere?
- No. Your browser reads and converts the file, and the text never leaves your device. That makes it safe for reading lists or manuscripts you have not shared yet.
- Does it read PubMed .nbib files?
- No. A .nbib file uses PubMed's MEDLINE tags, which differ from RIS tags. Import it into a reference manager first, then export RIS or BibTeX from there.
- Which RIS fields are kept in the BibTeX entry?
- Authors, editors, title, journal or book title, publisher, place, year, volume, issue, pages, edition, DOI, ISBN or ISSN, URL, keywords, abstract and notes. Fields that are empty in the RIS record are left out.
- How to convert RIS to BibTeX?
- Export your references as an .ris file from EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley or a database, upload or paste it above, and the RIS to BibTeX converter shows one BibTeX entry per record. Copy the result or download it as a .bib file for LaTeX.
- How to merge RIS files?
- RIS files are plain text, so you can join them by pasting one after another, as long as each record still ends with its ER line. Paste the combined text above and RIS to BibTeX converts every record in one go; repeated records keep separate, unique citation keys.
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