What is the difference between BibTeX and RIS?

BibTeX is a LaTeX-oriented reference format using @type{key, field = {value}} blocks. RIS is a tagged format where each line starts with a two-letter code such as TY, AU or TI, used by EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero and RefWorks. This tool maps one to the other.

How are entry types translated?

BibTeX types map to RIS TY codes: @article becomes JOUR, @book becomes BOOK, @inproceedings becomes CPAPER, @phdthesis and @mastersthesis become THES, @techreport becomes RPRT, and unknown or @misc types fall back to GEN.

How are authors and page ranges handled?

BibTeX joins authors with ' and ', so each author is split out onto its own AU line in RIS. A page range like 891--921 is split into SP (start page) and EP (end page) tags, which is what reference managers expect.

Which fields are converted?

Author, editor, title, journal, booktitle, year, volume, number, pages, publisher, address, doi, url, isbn, issn, abstract and keywords are all mapped to their RIS equivalents. Keywords are split into one KW tag each.

Is my citation data uploaded anywhere?

No. Parsing and conversion happen entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, so your reference library stays private on your own device.

BibTeX to RIS Converter

The BibTeX to RIS converter turns LaTeX-style .bib reference files into the RIS format that EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero and RefWorks import. It parses each BibTeX entry, maps its type and fields to the correct RIS tags, and gives you a .ris file to download — all without uploading your library anywhere.

How it works

A small BibTeX parser reads each @type{key, …} block, correctly handling brace-delimited and quote-delimited values as well as nested braces like \{Computer\} inside a title. Each entry’s type is mapped to a RIS TY code — for example @article becomes JOUR, @book becomes BOOK, @inproceedings becomes CPAPER, and an unrecognised type falls back to GEN.

Fields are then translated tag by tag. The author field, which BibTeX joins with and, is split so each author gets its own AU line. A pages value such as 891--921 is split into a start-page SP tag and an end-page EP tag. Other common fields map directly: title to TI, journal to JO, year to PY, volume to VL, number to IS, publisher to PB, address to CY, doi to DO, and so on. Each record is terminated with the required ER - line.

Example and notes

A BibTeX article entry produces RIS like:

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Einstein, Albert
AU  - Podolsky, Boris
TI  - On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies
JO  - Annalen der Physik
PY  - 1905
VL  - 17
IS  - 10
SP  - 891
EP  - 921
DO  - 10.1002/andp.19053221004
ER  -

Note: the two-space-and-dash layout (TY - ) is part of the RIS specification and is required by most reference managers. Multiple entries are separated by a blank line. All conversion happens locally in your browser.