jabref
Graphical Java application for managing BibTeX and biblatex (.bib) databases
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Official repository for Citation Style Language (CSL) citation styles.
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Quick Overview
JabRef is an open-source, cross-platform citation and reference management software. It helps researchers organize their bibliographic data, generate citations, and manage references for academic papers. JabRef uses BibTeX as its native file format and supports various other formats for import and export.
Pros
- Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
- Extensive import/export capabilities for various reference formats
- Customizable and extensible through plugins and scripting
- Active development and community support
Cons
- Learning curve for new users, especially those unfamiliar with BibTeX
- Interface can be overwhelming with numerous features and options
- Occasional stability issues reported by some users
- Limited cloud synchronization options compared to some commercial alternatives
Getting Started
To get started with JabRef:
- Download the latest version from the official website.
- Install JabRef on your system.
- Launch the application.
- Create a new library or open an existing one:
- To create a new library: File > New Library
- To open an existing library: File > Open Library
- Add references manually or import from various sources:
- To add manually: References > New entry
- To import: File > Import > [Choose format]
- Organize your references using groups, tags, and search functions.
- Generate citations and bibliographies for your documents:
- Tools > New subdatabase based on AUX file
- File > Export > [Choose format]
For more detailed instructions, consult the JabRef User Guide.
Competitor Comparisons
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your research sources.
Pros of Zotero
- More user-friendly interface, especially for non-technical users
- Broader file format support, including web page snapshots
- Stronger collaborative features and online syncing capabilities
Cons of Zotero
- Less customizable than JabRef
- Heavier resource usage, especially with large libraries
- Limited BibTeX support compared to JabRef's native format
Code Comparison
Zotero (JavaScript)
var item = new Zotero.Item('book');
item.setField('title', 'Example Book');
item.setCreators([{firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Doe', creatorType: 'author'}]);
await item.saveTx();
JabRef (Java)
BibEntry entry = new BibEntry(StandardEntryType.Book);
entry.setField(StandardField.TITLE, "Example Book");
entry.setField(StandardField.AUTHOR, "Doe, John");
BibDatabase database = new BibDatabase();
database.insertEntry(entry);
Both repositories offer robust reference management solutions, but cater to different user needs. Zotero provides a more accessible platform for general users, while JabRef offers greater customization for those familiar with BibTeX and LaTeX workflows. The code examples demonstrate the different approaches: Zotero uses JavaScript for a web-centric approach, while JabRef employs Java for a desktop-oriented application.
Official repository for Citation Style Language (CSL) citation styles.
Pros of styles
- Focused solely on citation styles, providing a vast collection of CSL files
- Lightweight and easy to integrate into various reference management systems
- Community-driven with frequent updates to citation styles
Cons of styles
- Limited functionality, only provides citation styles without reference management features
- Requires additional software or tools to utilize the styles effectively
- Less user-friendly for non-technical users compared to JabRef's GUI
Code comparison
styles (CSL XML):
<style xmlns="http://purl.org/net/xbiblio/csl" class="in-text" version="1.0">
<info>
<title>Example Style</title>
<id>http://www.zotero.org/styles/example</id>
<link href="http://www.zotero.org/styles/example" rel="self"/>
</info>
<!-- Style definition -->
</style>
JabRef (Java):
@Override
public void cite(BibEntry entry) {
String author = entry.getField(StandardField.AUTHOR).orElse("");
String year = entry.getField(StandardField.YEAR).orElse("");
System.out.printf("(%s, %s)", author, year);
}
Make Zotero effective for us LaTeX holdouts
Pros of zotero-better-bibtex
- Seamless integration with Zotero, a popular reference management software
- Advanced BibTeX key generation and customization options
- Automatic citation key generation and synchronization
Cons of zotero-better-bibtex
- Limited standalone functionality, as it's an add-on for Zotero
- May have a steeper learning curve for users unfamiliar with Zotero
- Less extensive file format support compared to JabRef
Code Comparison
zotero-better-bibtex:
Zotero.BetterBibTeX.keyFormat = {
patent: '[auth:lower][year]-[title:lower:alphanum]',
default: '[auth:lower][year][title:lower:alphanum:select1,1]'
};
JabRef:
public class BibtexKeyGenerator {
private static final String DEFAULT_PATTERN = "[auth][year]";
public String generateKey(BibEntry entry, String pattern) {
// Key generation logic
}
}
The code snippets show different approaches to citation key generation. zotero-better-bibtex uses a JavaScript object to define key formats, while JabRef implements a Java class with a method for key generation. Both allow customization, but zotero-better-bibtex's approach is more declarative, while JabRef's is more programmatic.
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JabRef Bibliography Management
JabRef is an open-source, cross-platform citation and reference management tool.
Stay on top of your literature: JabRef helps you to collect and organize sources, find the paper you need and discover the latest research.
Features
JabRef is available free of charge and is actively developed. It supports you in every step of your research work.
Collect
- Search across many online scientific catalogues like CiteSeer, CrossRef, Google Scholar, IEEEXplore, INSPIRE-HEP, Medline PubMed, MathSciNet, Springer, arXiv, and zbMATH
- Import options for over 15 reference formats
- Easily retrieve and link full-text articles
- Fetch complete bibliographic information based on ISBN, DOI, PubMed-ID and arXiv-ID
- Extract metadata from PDFs
- Import new references directly from the browser with one click using the official browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Vivaldi
Organize
- Group your research into hierarchical collections and organize research items based on keywords/tags, search terms, or your manual assignments
- Advanced search and filter features
- Complete and fix bibliographic data by comparing with curated online catalogs such as Google Scholar, Springer, or MathSciNet
- Customizable citation key generator
- Customize and add new metadata fields or reference types
- Find and merge duplicates
- Attach related documents: 20 different kinds of documents supported out of the box, completely customizable and extendable
- Automatically rename and move associated documents according to customizable rules
- Keep track of what you read: ranking, priority, printed, quality-assured
Cite
- Native BibTeX and Biblatex support
- Cite-as-you-write functionality for external applications such as Emacs, Kile, LyX, Texmaker, TeXstudio, Vim and WinEdt.
- Format references using one of thousands of built-in citation styles or create your own style
- Support for Word and LibreOffice/OpenOffice for inserting and formatting citations
Share
- Many built-in export options or create your export format
- Library is saved as a simple text file, and thus it is easy to share with others via Dropbox and is version-control friendly
- Work in a team: sync the contents of your library via a SQL database
Installation
Fresh development builds are available at builds.jabref.org. The latest stable release is available at FossHub.
Please see our Installation Guide.
Bug Reports, Suggestions, Other Feedback
We are thankful for any bug reports or other feedback. If you have ideas for new features you want to be included in JabRef, tell us in the feature section of our forum! If you need support in using JabRef, please read the documentation first, the frequently asked questions (FAQ) and also have a look at our community forum. You can use our GitHub issue tracker to file bug reports.
An explanation of donation possibilities and usage of donations is available at our donations page.
Contributing
Want to be part of a free and open-source project that tens of thousands of scientists use every day? Check out the ways you can contribute, below:
- Not a programmer? Help translating JabRef at Crowdin or learn how to help at contribute.jabref.org
- Quick overview on the architecture needed? Look at our high-level documentation
- For details on how to contribute, have a look at our guidelines for contributing.
- You are welcome to contribute new features. To get your code included into JabRef, just fork the JabRef repository, make your changes, and create a pull request.
- To work on existing JabRef issues, check out our issue tracker. New to open source contributing? Look for issues with the "good first issue" label to get started.
Please follow our step-by-step guide on how to set-up your workspace.
We use GitHub Actions for executing the tests after each commit. For developing, it is sufficient to locally only run the associated test for the classes you changed. GitHub will report any other failure.
We view pull requests as a collaborative process. Submit a pull request early to get feedback from the team on work in progress. We will discuss improvements with you and agree to merge them once the developers approve. Please also remember to discuss bigger changes early with the core developers to ensure properly spend time and work. Some fundamental design decisions can be found within our list of Architectural Decision Records.
Sponsoring
JabRef development is powered by YourKit Java Profiler
Top Related Projects
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your research sources.
Official repository for Citation Style Language (CSL) citation styles.
Make Zotero effective for us LaTeX holdouts
Convert designs to code with AI
Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.
Try Visual Copilot