RIS to BibTeX Converter — Free

Convert RIS format (used by EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero export) to BibTeX for LaTeX users. Per-field mapping + worked example.

Why RIS → BibTeX isn’t just a reformat

RIS and BibTeX are both structured citation data formats, used by different reference-manager ecosystems. RIS is Thomson Reuters' format (EndNote, ProQuest). BibTeX is the LaTeX world's format. Every major reference manager can export either, but if you're collaborating with a LaTeX user and your partner only has RIS, you'll need to convert.

The mapping is mostly per-field: RIS `TY -` maps to a BibTeX entry type, RIS `AU -` maps to `author`, and so on. Most fields transfer cleanly; the exceptions are compound fields like abstracts and keywords, which RIS and BibTeX represent slightly differently.

If you're round-tripping (BibTeX → RIS → BibTeX), you may lose some BibTeX-specific fields like `crossref` or custom note fields. Do the conversion once and keep the result authoritative.

Key differences

• Entry type: RIS `TY - JOUR` → BibTeX `@article`
• Author: RIS `AU -` (one per line) → BibTeX `author = {X and Y and Z}`
• Abstract: both support it but BibTeX expects single-line with escaped newlines
• Keywords: RIS `KW -` (one per line) → BibTeX `keywords = {a, b, c}` (comma-separated)
• URL: RIS `UR -` → BibTeX `url = {...}` or `howpublished = {...}`
• Pages: RIS `SP -` and `EP -` (start/end separate) → BibTeX `pages = {234--251}` (combined)

Worked example

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Smith, John
AU  - Jones, Alex
TI  - The Role of Spaced Repetition in Long-Term Retention
JO  - Journal of Educational Psychology
VL  - 116
IS  - 3
SP  - 234
EP  - 251
PY  - 2024
DO  - 10.1037/edu0000999
ER  -

@article{smith2024spaced,
  author = {Smith, John and Jones, Alex},
  title = {The Role of Spaced Repetition in Long-Term Retention},
  journal = {Journal of Educational Psychology},
  volume = {116},
  number = {3},
  pages = {234--251},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1037/edu0000999}
}

Note that RIS uses `IS` for issue and `SP`/`EP` for start/end pages separately, while BibTeX uses `number` and combines pages as `start--end` with double-hyphen.

Related converters

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• APA to Chicago converter — Convert APA 7 citations to Chicago 17 Notes-Bibliography.
• Harvard to APA converter — Convert Harvard citations to APA 7.

Frequently asked questions

What's the biggest difference between RIS and BibTeX?

Entry type: RIS `TY - JOUR` → BibTeX `@article`

Is there a free RIS to BibTeX tool?

Yes — the full CiteDash citation converter at /tools/citation-converter handles this pair and 14+ other style conversions. It's free and requires no signup for single-citation use.

Will this converter handle bulk bibliographies?

The full converter at /tools/citation-converter supports bulk input (paste multiple citations, one per line) on the free tier. For very large bibliographies (500+ entries), the Pro plan removes rate limits.

Why does my converted BibTeX citation look slightly different from my advisor's?

Citation styles have variants — journal-specific house rules, institutional style guides, and edition differences. The canonical format produced here follows the official style manual; if your advisor uses a custom house style, spot-check a sample entry against their guidance.