We stand with Ukraine to help keep people safe. Join us

Citation and reference management — collect, organize, search bibliographic information.

5.0
Based on 2 user ratesRead reviews & comments
Free
Absolutely Free

JabRef overview

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.

JabRef features are:

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

What’s new in version 5.10

Updated on Sep 04 2023

Added
  • We added a field showing the BibTeX/biblatex source for added and deleted entries in the "External Changes Resolver" dialog. #9509
  • We added user-specific comment field so that multiple users can make separate comments. #543
  • We added a search history list in the search field's right click menu. #7906
  • We added a full text fetcher for IACR eprints. #9651
  • We added "Attach file from URL" to right-click context menu to download and store a file with the reference library. #9646
  • We enabled updating an existing entry with data from InspireHEP. #9351
  • We added a fetcher for the Bibliotheksverbund Bayern (experimental). #9641
  • We added support for more biblatex date formats for parsing dates. #2753
  • We added support for multiple languages for exporting to and importing references from MS Office. #9699
  • We enabled scrolling in the groups list when dragging a group on another group. #2869
  • We added the option to automatically download online files when a new entry is created from an existing ID (e.g., DOI). The option can be disabled in the preferences under "Import and Export". #9756
  • We added a new Integrity check for unescaped ampersands. koppor#585
  • We added support for parsing $\backslash$ in file paths (as exported by Mendeley). forum#3470
  • We added the possibility to automatically fetch entries when an ISBN is pasted on the main table. #9864
  • We added the option to disable the automatic linking of files in the entry editor #5105
  • We added the link icon for ISBNs in linked identifiers column. #9819
  • We added key binding to focus on groups alt + s #9863
  • We added the option to unprotect a text selection, which strips all pairs of curly braces away. #9950
  • We added drag and drop events for field 'Groups' in entry editor panel. #569
  • We added support for parsing MathML in the Medline importer. #4273
  • We added the ability to search for an identifier (DOI, ISBN, ArXiv ID) directly from 'Web Search'. #7575 #9674
  • We added a cleanup activity that identifies a URL or a last-visited-date in the note field and moves it to the url and urldate field respectively. koppor#216
  • We enabled the user to change the name of a field in a custom entry type by double-clicking on it. #9840
  • We added some preferences options to disable online activity. #10064
  • We integrated two mail actions ("As Email" and "To Kindle") under a new "Send" option in the right-click & Tools menus. The Kindle option creates an email targeted to the user's Kindle email, which can be set in preferences under "External programs" #6186
  • We added an option to clear recent libraries' history. #10003
  • We added an option to encrypt and remember the proxy password. #8055#10044
  • We added support for showing journal information, via info buttons next to the Journal and ISSN fields in the entry editor. #6189
  • We added support for pushing citations to Sublime Text 3 #10098
  • We added support for the Finnish language. #10183
  • We added the option to automatically replaces illegal characters in the filename when adding a file to JabRef. #10182
  • We added a privacy policy. #10064
  • We added a tooltip to show the number of entries in a group #10208
Changed
  • We replaced "Close" by "Close library" and placed it after "Save all" in the File menu. #10043
  • We upgraded to Lucene 9.7 for the fulltext search. The search index will be rebuild. #9584
  • 'Get full text' now also checks the file url. #568
  • JabRef writes a new backup file only if there is a change. Before, JabRef created a backup upon start. #9679
  • We modified the Add Group dialog to use the most recently selected group hierarchical context. #9141
  • We refined the 'main directory not found' error message. #9625
  • JabRef writes a new backup file only if there is a change. Before, JabRef created a backup upon start. #9679
  • Backups of libraries are not stored per JabRef version, but collected together. #9676
  • We streamlined the paths for logs and backups: The parent path fragment is always logs or backups.
  • log.txt now contains an entry if a BibTeX entry could not be parsed.
  • log.txt now contains debug messages. Debugging needs to be enabled explicitly. #9678
  • log.txt does not contain entries for non-found files during PDF indexing. #9678
  • The hostname is now determined using environment variables (COMPUTERNAME/HOSTNAME) first. #9910
  • We improved the Medline importer to correctly import ISO dates for revised. #9536
  • To avoid cluttering of the directory, We always delete the .sav file upon successful write. #9675
  • We improved the unlinking/deletion of multiple linked files of an entry using the Delete key. #9473
  • The field names of customized entry types are now exchanged preserving the case. #9993
  • We moved the custom entry types dialog into the preferences dialog. #9760
  • We moved the manage content selectors dialog to the library properties. #9768
  • We moved the preferences menu command from the options menu to the file menu. #9768
  • We reworked the cross ref labels in the entry editor and added a right click menu. #10046
  • We reorganized the order of tabs and settings in the library properties. #9836
  • We changed the handling of an "overflow" of authors at [authIniN]: JabRef uses + to indicate an overflow. Example: [authIni2] produces A+ (instead of AB) for Aachen and Berlin and Chemnitz. #9703
  • We moved the preferences option to open the last edited files on startup to the 'General' tab. #9808
  • We improved the recognition of DOIs when pasting a link containing a DOI on the maintable. #9864
  • We reordered the preferences dialog. #9839
  • We split the 'Import and Export' tab into 'Web Search' and 'Export'. #9839
  • We moved the option to run JabRef in memory stick mode into the preferences dialog toolbar. #9866
  • In case the library contains empty entries, they are not written to disk. #8645
  • The formatter remove_unicode_ligatures is now called replace_unicode_ligatures. #9890
  • We improved the error message when no terminal was found. #9607
  • In the context of the "systematic literature functionality", we changed the name "database" to "catalog" to use a separate term for online catalogs in comparison to SQL databases. #9951
  • We now show more fields (including Special Fields) in the dropdown selection for "Save sort order" in the library properties and for "Export sort order" in the preferences. #10010
  • We now encrypt and store the custom API keys in the OS native credential store. #10044
  • We changed the behavior of group addition/edit, so that sorting by alphabetical order is not performed by default after the modification. #10017
  • We fixed an issue with spacing in the cleanup dialogue. #10081
  • The GVK fetcher now uses the new K10plus database. #10189
Fixed
  • We fixed an issue where clicking the group expansion pane/arrow caused the node to be selected, when it should just expand/detract the node. #10111
  • We fixed an issue where the browser import would add ' characters before the BibTeX entry on Linux. #9588
  • We fixed an issue where searching for a specific term with the DOAB fetcher lead to an exception. #9571
  • We fixed an issue where the "Import" -> "Library to import to" did not show the correct library name if two opened libraries had the same suffix. #9567
  • We fixed an issue where the rpm-Version of JabRef could not be properly uninstalled and reinstalled. #9558, #9603
  • We fixed an issue where the command line export using --exportMatches flag does not create an output bib file. #9581
  • We fixed an issue where custom field in the custom entry types could not be set to mulitline. #9609
  • We fixed an issue where the Office XML exporter did not resolve BibTeX-Strings when exporting entries. forum#3741
  • We fixed an issue where the Merge Entries Toolbar configuration was not saved after hitting 'Merge Entries' button. #9091
  • We fixed an issue where the password is stored in clear text if the user wants to use a proxy with authentication. #8055
  • JabRef is now more relaxed when parsing field content: In case a field content ended with \, the combination \} was treated as plain }. #9668
  • We resolved an issue that cut off the number of group entries when it exceeded four digits. #8797
  • We fixed the issue where the size of the global search window was not retained after closing. #9362
  • We fixed an issue where the Global Search UI preview is still white in dark theme. #9362
  • We fixed the double paste issue when Cmd + v is pressed on 'New entry from plaintext' dialog. #9367
  • We fixed an issue where the pin button on the Global Search dialog was located at the bottom and not at the top. #9362
  • We fixed the log text color in the event log console when using dark mode. #9732
  • We fixed an issue where searching for unlinked files would include the current library's .bib file. #9735
  • We fixed an issue where it was no longer possible to connect to a shared mysql database due to an exception. #9761
  • We fixed an issue where an exception was thrown for the user after Ctrl+Z command. #9737
  • We fixed the citation key generation for [authors], [authshort], [authorsAlpha], [authIniN], [authEtAl], [auth.etal] to handle and others properly. koppor#626
  • We fixed the Save/save as file type shows BIBTEX_DB instead of "Bibtex library". #9372
  • We fixed the default main file directory for non-English Linux users. #8010
  • We fixed an issue when overwriting the owner was disabled. #9896
  • We fixed an issue regarding recording redundant prefixes in search history. #9685
  • We fixed an issue where passing a URL containing a DOI led to a "No entry found" notification. #9821
  • We fixed some minor visual inconsistencies and issues in the preferences dialog. #9866
  • The order of save actions is now retained. #9890
  • We fixed an issue where the order of save actions was not retained in the bib file. #9890
  • We fixed an issue in the preferences 'External file types' tab ignoring a custom application path in the edit dialog. #9895
  • We fixed an issue in the preferences where custom columns could be added to the entry table with no qualifier. #9913
  • We fixed an issue where the encoding header in a bib file was not respected when the file contained a BOM (Byte Order Mark). #9926
  • We fixed an issue where cli help output for import and export format was inconsistent. koppor#429
  • We fixed an issue where the user could select multiple conflicting options for autocompletion at once. #10181
  • We fixed an issue where no preview could be generated for some entry types and led to an exception. #9947
  • We fixed an issue where the Linux terminal working directory argument was malformed and therefore ignored upon opening a terminal #9953
  • We fixed an issue under Linux where under some systems the file instead of the folder was opened. #9607
  • We fixed an issue where an Automatic Keyword Group could not be deleted in the UI. #9778
  • We fixed an issue where the citation key pattern [edtrN_M] returned the wrong editor. #9946
  • We fixed an issue where empty grey containers would remain in the groups panel, if displaying of group item count is turned off. #9972
  • We fixed an issue where fetching an ISBN could lead to application freezing when the fetcher did not return any results. #9979
  • We fixed an issue where closing a library containing groups and entries caused an exception #9997
  • We fixed a bug where the editor for strings in a bibliography file did not sort the entries by their keys #10083
  • We fixed an issues where clicking on the empty space of specific context menu entries would not trigger the associated action. #8388
  • We fixed an issue where JabRef would not remember whether the window was in fullscreen. #4939
  • We fixed an issue where the ACM Portal search sometimes would not return entries for some search queries when the article author had no given name. #10107
  • We fixed an issue that caused high CPU usage and a zombie process after quitting JabRef because of author names autocompletion. #10159
  • We fixed an issue where files with illegal characters in the filename could be added to JabRef. #10182
  • We fixed that checked-out radio buttons under "specified keywords" were not displayed as checked after closing and reopening the "edit group" window. #10248
  • We fixed that when editing groups, checked-out properties such as case sensitive and regular expression (under "Free search expression") were not displayed checked. #10108
Removed
  • We removed the support of BibTeXML. #9540
  • We removed support for Markdown syntax for strikethrough and task lists in comment fields. #9726
  • We removed the options menu, because the two contents were moved to the File menu or the properties of the library. #9768
  • We removed the 'File' tab in the preferences and moved its contents to the 'Export' tab. #9839
  • We removed the "Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies" fetcher the websits is no longer available. #6638
View older JabRef updates

Information

License

Free

Size

243.4 MB

Developer’s website

https://www.jabref.org/

Downloads

22779

App requirements

Try our new feature and write a detailed review about JabRef. All reviews will be posted soon.

Write your thoughts in our old-fashioned comment

MacUpdate Comment Policy. We strongly recommend leaving comments, however comments with abusive words, bullying, personal attacks of any type will be moderated.
0.0

(0 Reviews of )

There are no reviews yet
  • Comments

  • User Ratings

bws2
bws2
Sep 3 2013
2.9.2
0.0
Sep 3 2013
0.0
Version: 2.9.2
Using OS 10.8.4 on an iMac and a MacbookPro with Safari 6.0.5 I have repeatedly downloaded JabRef 2.9.2, and 2.9, from MacUpdate and from SourceForge, and always when I try to run it gives the message that it is damaged and must be trashed. I am sure that if I could run it I could give a good rating, but I cannot run it.
Ervins Strauhmanis
Ervins Strauhmanis
Sep 4 2023
5.10
5.0
Sep 4 2023
5.0
Version: 5.10
Oleksii
Oleksii
Nov 4 2011
5.0
Nov 4 2011
5.0
Version: null
Free
Absolutely Free
How would you rate JabRef?
Similar apps
Zotero
Maintain content in web browser in a personal library.
Is this app is similar to Zotero? Vote to improve the quality of this list.
Vote results
7
Upvotes
6
Total score
-1
Downvotes
Bookends
Reference management and bibliography software.
Is this app is similar to Bookends? Vote to improve the quality of this list.
Vote results
4
Upvotes
1
Total score
-3
Downvotes
Reference Tracker
Create documents to store citations and references.
Is this app is similar to Reference Tracker? Vote to improve the quality of this list.
Vote results
0
Upvotes
1
Total score
0
Downvotes
EndNote
Bibliographic management app.
Is this app is similar to EndNote? Vote to improve the quality of this list.
Vote results
3
Upvotes
0
Total score
-3
Downvotes
Sente
Academic reference manager and bibliography software.
Is this app is similar to Sente? Vote to improve the quality of this list.
Vote results
0
Upvotes
0
Total score
0
Downvotes