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BibTeX to HTML Converter

Q: How do I style the output?

The wrapping element is (the conventional class name Citeproc-js uses) and each entry is an . Hang the indent with li { padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em; } for APA / Harvard / Chicago author-date. Add list-style: none plus a counter for IEEE / AMA / Vancouver's bracketed numbering if your renderer doesn't include it already.

Free. No signup. Runs in your browser.

Paste a .bib file and get a HTML back, ready to drop into a Hugo / Jekyll / WordPress page or a project README. Semantic <ol> + <li> markup, italic journal and book titles via , URLs as proper <a> tags, special characters HTML-escaped. Default render is APA but the To pill lets you switch to MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, AMA, or Vancouver.

How to convert BibTeX to HTML online

Visit the BibTeX to HTML tool page You’re already here. Bookmark thelatexlab.com/bibtex-to-html/ for next time.

Step 1

Upload or paste your .bib Drop a .bib file using the upload button, or paste the BibTeX text directly. Accent macros (\"a, \'e) decode to UTF-8 in the HTML output.

Step 2

Pick the citation style Default is APA 7. Switch to MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, AMA, or Vancouver via the second pill. The rendered HTML carries the formatting conventions of the chosen style – italic journal titles, surname ordering, numbered vs name-year, etc.

Step 3

Convert, then copy or download The output is a single block of HTML markup – typically <ol class="csl-bib-body"> with one <li> per entry – that you can paste into a Hugo / Jekyll / WordPress page, a project README’s references section, or a course page.

Step 4

Parsing and rendering both happen in your browser – the .bib content never leaves the tab. Entries that fail to render show up inline with the reason so you can fix or drop them without losing the rest of the batch.

Where most BibTeX to HTML converters break

They use   instead of semantic markup Naive converters paste rendered text into a  with   between entries. Screen readers can’t navigate it, browser “Reader View” misses the entries, and CSS-styling the bibliography becomes per-class guesswork. The tool emits a semantic <ol> + <li> structure (the same shape Citeproc-js’ citeproc emits), with consistent class names you can hook CSS into.

<ol><li> semantic markup

URLs come out as plain text Renderers that go through “format to plain text, then wrap in ” output the URL as a literal string, so the reader can’t click it. The tool emits proper <a href="...">...</a> markup for URLs and DOIs – so a reader on the rendered page can follow the reference straight through to the source.

<a href> clickable links

HTML entities aren’t escaped A journal title like Cell & Molecular Biology needs to render as Cell & Molecular Biology in the source HTML, or browsers interpret the bare & as the start of an entity. Less-than (<), greater-than (>), ampersand (&), and quote (") all need escaping inside HTML body content. The tool escapes them on the way out.

HTML-escaped & < >

Italics and small caps lost in transit APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, AMA, and Vancouver all italicise journal and book titles – and a few use small caps for parts of book titles. Converters that strip formatting on the way out lose the visual cues a reader needs to parse the entry. The tool emits ... (and  where the style calls for it) so the rendered page looks like a proper bibliography.

 titles italicised

If you’d rather drop the bibliography into a static-site build pipeline directly, /bibtex-to-json/ gives you CSL-JSON which Pandoc, Quarto, Hugo, and Jekyll-Scholar all consume natively – they’ll handle the HTML render themselves at build time.

Frequently asked questions

Which citation style does the HTML use?

Default is APA 7. Switch to MLA, Chicago author-date, Harvard, IEEE, AMA, or Vancouver via the To pill in the widget. Each style page (e.g. /bibtex-to-apa/, /bibtex-to-mla/) describes the style-specific conventions in detail – this page is the “I want HTML output” entry point.

How do I style the output?

The wrapping element is

<li>

li { padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em; }

ol.csl-bib-body { list-style: none; counter-reset: bib; }

li::before { content: "[" counter(bib) "]"; counter-increment: bib; }

Can I get plain HTML (no classes, no wrapping <ol>)?

Not directly – the wrapping markup is part of the standard CSL HTML output. If you only need the inner entries (no <ol>), strip them in your CMS or build script. The inner markup uses standard tags only: , <a>, and the occasional  for small-caps.

My .bib file won’t parse. What do I check first?

Three common culprits: (1) the file is actually RIS, EndNote, or NBIB; (2) a missing closing brace – one bad entry blocks the parser at that point; (3) @string macros without definitions. Each failing entry shows up inline with the reason.

Is the tool free? Do you store the .bib content anywhere?

Free, no signup. Parsing and rendering both run entirely in your browser – the .bib file or pasted text never touches our server, no network call is made. The output exists in your browser session and disappears when you close the tab.

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