RIS to BibTeX Converter
Free. No signup. Runs in your browser.
Add a .ris file or paste its text, and get BibTeX entries for your .bib file. Each entry gets a readable citation key such as lecun2015deep, the entry type that matches its RIS type, and LaTeX special characters escaped. Your browser reads the file; it is never sent to a server.
How to convert RIS to BibTeX
Step 1
Add your RIS
Use Upload file, drop the file on the box, or paste the text. One reference or a whole library export both work.
Step 2
Pick the output
BibTeX keeps accents as UTF-8 for biblatex and biber. Legacy BibTeX writes them as LaTeX macros (Kr{\"a}mer) for older bibtex setups.
Step 3
Convert and copy
Check the entry types, then Copy one entry, or Copy all and Download .bib for the whole file.
Pasted the wrong kind of file? If the text is BibTeX, a PubMed .nbib or an EndNote export, the converter says so and offers to switch the input.
How to export a RIS file
| Where your references are | How to get the .ris |
|---|---|
| Zotero | Right-click the collection, Export Collection, format RIS |
| EndNote | File > Export, output style "RefMan (RIS) Export" (it saves a .txt, which works here too) |
| Mendeley | Select the references, Export, then RIS |
| Web of Science | Export, then "RIS (other reference software)" |
| Scopus | Export, then RIS |
| Google Scholar | Cite under the result, then RefMan |
| A journal's article page | Cite or Download citation, then RIS |
PubMed does not export RIS. Its "Send to > Citation manager" gives a .nbib file: use the NBIB to BibTeX converter for that, which can also turn NBIB into RIS.
RIS vs BibTeX
RIS is a plain-text format for moving references between reference managers. Each line is a two-letter tag and a value (TY - JOUR, AU - LeCun, Yann), and ER - closes each reference.
BibTeX is the format LaTeX reads. Each reference is one entry, such as @article{lecun2015deep, ...}, and you cite it in the paper by its key: \cite{lecun2015deep}. RIS has no key, so the converter makes one from the first author's last name, the year and the first word of the title.
How RIS fields map to BibTeX
| RIS | BibTeX |
|---|---|
| AU, A1 | author |
| A2 | editor |
| TI, T1 | title |
| T2, JO, JF, BT | journal, or booktitle for a conference paper or book chapter |
| PY, Y1 | year |
| VL / IS | volume / number |
| SP and EP | pages, as a range (436--444) |
| PB | publisher |
| DO | doi |
| SN | issn, or isbn for a book |
| UR | url, when there is no DOI |
The TY line sets the entry type:
| RIS type | BibTeX entry |
|---|---|
| JOUR | @article |
| BOOK | @book |
| CHAP | @incollection |
| CONF, CPAPER | @inproceedings |
| THES | @phdthesis, or @mastersthesis when the record says master's |
| MTHES | @mastersthesis |
| RPRT | @techreport |
| ELEC, DATA and other types | @misc |
If a type is wrong, change it with the Type menu on that entry before you copy. Abstracts and keywords are left out, because bibliography styles do not print them.
Where most RIS to BibTeX converters break
Keys you have to rename
RIS has no citation key, so a converter has to invent one. Keys like ref_1 mean renaming every entry before you can cite it. Here every key is built from the record, so \cite{lecun2015deep} works straight away. If two references would get the same key, each gets a letter: smith2023methoda, smith2023methodb.
Special characters stop the compile
Journal names in exports often contain &, as in "Cell & Molecular Biology". A bare & in a .bib file stops the compile with "Misplaced alignment tab character &". The converter escapes all ten LaTeX special characters, including %, $, # and _.
Acronyms lose their capitals
Under plain, abbrv, IEEEtran and most other styles, "DNA repair in RNA viruses" prints as "Dna repair in rna viruses". The converter wraps acronyms in braces, {DNA} and {RNA}, so they keep their case.
Frequently asked questions
Upload the .ris file in the converter above, or paste its text, and press Convert. Copy the entries or download them as a .bib file, then add them to your LaTeX project.
No fixed limit for a RIS file: a whole library export converts in one go. Large files take a little longer, because the conversion runs in your browser.
Yes. Pick APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, AMA or Vancouver in the To menu to get formatted references instead of BibTeX. The same menu has CSV and Excel if you need a spreadsheet.
If only some references are broken, the result lists each one with the reason and converts the rest. Each reference should start with a TY - line and end with an ER - line; a reference without its ER - line can lose fields. If the file is really BibTeX, NBIB or an EndNote export, the converter says so and offers to switch the input.
Yes. DO becomes doi, SN becomes issn (or isbn for a book), and UR becomes url when the record has no DOI.
It is free and needs no signup. Your browser reads the file; it is never sent to our server. The result is gone when you close the tab, unless you choose to have it emailed to you.
Yes, with the BibTeX to RIS converter, for importing a .bib file into EndNote, Mendeley or Zotero.
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