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BibTeX to RIS Converter

Q: My .bib file won't parse. What do I check first?

Three common culprits: (1) the file is actually RIS already, or EndNote / NBIB; (2) a missing closing brace; (3) @string macros without definitions. Each failing entry shows up inline with the reason.

Free. No signup. Runs in your browser.

Paste bib and convert it to RIS, ready to import into EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, Web of Science, Scopus, or any other citation manager. Type codes map correctly (@inproceedings → CPAPER, @phdthesis → THES), authors stay one per AU line, page ranges write to separate SP / EP fields, and DOIs / ISBNs / ISSNs round-trip.

How to convert BibTeX to RIS online

Visit the BibTeX to RIS tool page You’re already here. Bookmark thelatexlab.com/bibtex-to-ris/ 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) are decoded back to UTF-8 since RIS is plain text. Brace-protected acronyms ({DNA}) lose the braces since RIS has no case-protection mechanism.

Step 2

Confirm RIS is what you want RIS is the universal citation-manager interchange format – if you’re moving entries into EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, or a similar tool, this is the right output. If you want CSV for a spreadsheet, use /bibtex-to-csv/. For a rendered bibliography in APA / MLA / Chicago / Harvard / IEEE / AMA, switch the To pill in the widget.

Step 3

Convert, then copy or download Each entry renders as a complete RIS record with the per-row entry-type override. Use the per-row Copy button, or Copy all / Download .ris at the bottom for the full batch.

Step 4

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

Where most BibTeX to RIS converters break

Line endings are LF, not CRLF RIS files use CRLF line endings – many reference managers (EndNote in particular) silently refuse to import an LF-only file or merge all entries into one. Converters that emit plain LF leave you debugging an import that “just doesn’t work”. The tool emits CRLF.

CRLF EndNote-compatible

Type codes default to GEN or JOUR RIS has distinct codes for each reference type (CPAPER for conference paper, BOOK, CHAP for book chapter, THES for thesis, RPRT for report, ELEC for electronic source, COMP for software, DATA for dataset, UNPB for unpublished). Simpler converters only emit JOUR and BOOK and drop everything else into GEN, which downstream reference managers then import as “Generic”. The tool maps the full common set so chapter, thesis, conference, report, web, software, dataset, and unpublished entries land in the right slot.

12 type codes JOUR, CPAPER, BOOK, CHAP, THES…

Page ranges stay in the BibTeX pages form BibTeX writes pages = {436--444}; RIS splits start and end into separate SP and EP fields. Converters that don’t split leave the whole “436–444” string in SP, which downstream reference managers then store as a single bizarre page number. The tool splits the range into SP - 436 and EP - 444.

SP + EP range split correctly

Accent macros leak into RIS RIS is plain UTF-8 text – it doesn’t understand LaTeX accent macros. A BibTeX entry with author = {Kr{\"a}mer, M.} needs to come out as AU - Krämer, M., not AU - Kr\"amer, M.. Converters that forget to decode the macros emit them verbatim, and downstream reference managers then display “Kr\”amer” in your library. The tool decodes the full accent-macro set before writing.

UTF-8 macros decoded

DOIs land in DO, ISBNs and ISSNs land in SN, URLs in UR, abstracts in AB. Multi-author entries stay one AU line per author, as the format requires.

Frequently asked questions

Which citation managers can import the output?

Any reference manager that supports RIS: EndNote, EndNote Web, EndNote Click, Mendeley, Zotero, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, RefWorks, Papers, BibDesk (Mac), JabRef, and most others. RIS has been a de-facto interchange format for two decades, so coverage is universal. If the tool you’re targeting has a “RIS” or “RefMan” import option, the output will work.

Are accent macros decoded to actual diacritics?

Yes. RIS is plain UTF-8, so diacritics like Krämer and École come through correctly.

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

Three common culprits: (1) the file is actually RIS already (check the first line for TY - ), or EndNote / NBIB – use /ris-to-bibtex/, /endnote-to-bibtex/, or /nbib-to-bibtex/; (2) a missing closing brace; (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 writing 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.

I’m migrating a thesis bibliography from LaTeX to a Word-based workflow. Can someone help?

Yes – LaTeX-to-Word reference migration is a common service request. See our thesis LaTeX formatting service for the broader workflow, and email [email protected] with the manuscript and the target Word setup for a quote.

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