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.

When RIS is the right format

RIS is the universal interchange format for citation managers. You need it when:

• EndNote is the destination — EndNote’s import dialogue looks for .ris files by default and reads every standard tag.
• Mendeley or RefWorks — both accept RIS drag-and-drop import. Mendeley also supports BibTeX, but RIS preserves the abstract and keywords more reliably.
• Zotero — Zotero imports RIS natively and it is often cleaner than importing BibTeX when the .bib file contains LaTeX commands in titles.
• Moving references between any two tools that do not share a common native format.

Handling edge cases

A few things to be aware of when converting:

• LaTeX commands in titles — phrases like \emph{italic} or {Computer} appear in BibTeX to force casing. This converter strips the surrounding braces and backslash commands from the title before writing the TI tag, which most reference managers then display cleanly. The exception is a {Computer} at the start of a word, which BibTeX uses to prevent downcasing in case-sensitive styles — the braces are removed but the capitalisation is preserved.
• Keywords — BibTeX stores keywords as a comma-separated string; the converter splits each on commas and writes one KW tag per keyword, which reference managers index separately.
• Multiple authors vs. single-name entities — a BibTeX author written as a single name without a comma (for example {National Health Service}) is treated as a family name without a given name. Most reference managers display this correctly as an organisation.
• Empty fields — any BibTeX field with no value is silently omitted from the RIS output rather than written as an empty tag, keeping the file clean.

Checking your import

After importing the .ris file, verify three things: the entry types look correct (a conference paper should appear as a conference paper, not a journal article), author names are not run together, and DOIs resolve. If a reference manager garbles an author, check the original BibTeX for an unusual name format and correct it before re-converting.