BIBUTILS(1)

📦

version 7.2 · 2 versions

7.2 · epel 9, fedora 43, fedora 44 (latest)
7.2 · arch rolling

🌈 BIBUTILS(1) — User Commands 🌈

okay bestie, welcome to the bibutils manual page 💖 (that's the manual name, in case the header wasn't giving it away). Buckle up, we're doing bibliography conversions and honestly? it's giving main character energy.

✨ NAME ✨

bibutils — bibliography conversion utilities 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

format2xml [OPTIONS] [file.format]

xml2format [OPTIONS] [file.xml]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

The bibutils program set inter-converts between various bibliography formats using Library of Congress [1]'s Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) [2] version 3.1. 🌸

So like, for example? You can convert RIS-format files to Bibtex by doing two transformations: RIS->MODS->Bibtex. Two-step glow-up, no cap. 💅

💖 CONVERTING TO MODS 💖

🌟 Overview 🌟

Every one of these little icons takes your format and turns it into MODS:

bib2xml — convert bibtex to MODS
biblatex2xml — convert biblatex to MODS
copac2xml — convert COPAC [3] format references to MODS
ebi2xml — convert EBI XML to MODS
end2xml — convert EndNote (Refer format) to MODS
endx2xml — convert EndNote XML to MODS
isi2xml — convert ISI web of science to MODS
med2xml — convert Pubmed XML references to MODS
nbib2xml — convert Pubmed nbib format references to MODS
modsclean — a MODS to MODS converter
ris2xml — convert RIS format to MODS
wordbib2xml — convert Word2007 bibliography XML to MODS

🎀 Common Options Converting to MODS 🎀

Several flags available for the end2xml, endx2xml, bib2xml, ris2xml, med2xml, and copac2xml programs. Most options have both a short and a long version, because we love options around here. 😌

-h, --help — display help
-v, --version — display version
-a, --add-refcount — add "_#", where # is reference count to reference id
-s, --single-refperfile — put one reference per file name by the reference number
-i, --input-encoding — interpret the input file as using the requested character set (use w/o argument for current list derived from character sets at www.kostis.net [4]) unicode is now a character set option
-u, --unicode-characters — encode unicode characters directly in the file rather than as XML entities
-un, --unicode-no-bom — as -u, but don't include a byte order mark
-x, --xml-entities — encode unicode characters as XML entities (opposite of -u)
-nl, --no-latex — do not convert latex-style character combinations
-s, --single-refperfile — one reference per output file
-d, --drop-key — don't put citation key in the mods id field
-c, --corporation-file — with argument specifying a file containing a list of corporation names to be placed in <name type="corporate"></name> instead of type="personal" and eliminate name mangling
-a, --asis — with argument specifying a file containing a list of names to be treated verbatim
-nt, --nosplit-title — don't split titles into TITLE/SUBTITLE pairs
--verbose — verbose output
--debug — very verbose output (mostly for debugging)

yes, -s and -a each show up twice up there. that's not me being messy, that's literally what the page says. 💀

🌸 `bib2xml` 🌸

bib2xml converts a bibtex-formatted reference file to an XML-intermediate bibliography file. Specify file(s) to be converted on the command line. Files containing bibtex substitutions strings should be specified before the files where substitutions are specified (or in the same file before their use). If no files are specified, then bibtex information will be read from standard input. 🫶

bib2xml bibtex_file.bib > output_file.xml

🌸 `biblatex2xml` 🌸

biblatex2xml converts a biblatex (not to be confused with bibtex 👀) formatted reference file to an MODS XML-intermediate bibliography file.

biblatex2xml biblatex_file.bib > outputfile.xml

🌸 `copac2xml` 🌸

copac2xml converts a COPAC formatted reference file to a MODS XML-intermediate bibliography file.

🌸 `end2xml` 🌸

end2xml converts a text endnote-formatted reference file to an XML-intermediate bibliography file. This program will not work on the binary library; the file needs to be exported first. 😭 Endnote tagged formats ("Refer" format export) look like Example 1, "Example refer format file". There are very nice instructions for making sure that you are properly exporting this at http://www.sonnysoftware.com/endnoteimport.html [5]

Usage for end2xml is the same as bib2xml.

end2xml endnote_file.end > output_file.xml

🌸 `ebi2xml` 🌸

ebi2xml converts a EBI XML file to a MODS XML-intermediate bibliography file.

🌸 `endx2xml` 🌸

endx2xml converts a EndNote-XML exported reference file to a MODS XML-intermediate bibliography file. This program will not work on the binary library; the file needs to be exported first.

🌸 `isi2xml` 🌸

isi2xml converts an ISI-web-of-science-formatted reference file to an XML-intermediate bibliography file.

Usage for isi2xml is the same as bib2xml.

isi2xml input_file.isi > output_file.xml

🌸 `ris2xml` 🌸

ris2xml converts a RIS-formatted reference file to an XML-intermediate bibliography file. ris2xml usage is as end2xml and bib2xml

ris2xml ris_file.ris >   output_file.xml

🌸 `wordbib2xml` 🌸

wordbib2xml convert a Word2007-formatted reference file to an XML-intermediate bibliogrpahy file. ✨

💜 CONVERTING FROM MODS 💜

🌟 Overview 🌟

Going the other way now, bestie — MODS back out into the wild:

xml2ads — convert MODS into the SAO/NASA ADS format
xml2bib — convert MODS into bibtex
xml2end — convert MODS into format for EndNote
xml2isi — convert MODS to ISI format
xml2ris — convert MODS into RIS format
xml2wordbib — convert MODS into Word 2007 bibliography format

🎀 Common Options Converting from MODS 🎀

Note that --output-encoding refers to the input file. (yes, really. iykyk 🙈)

-h, --help — display help
-v, --version — display version
-o, --output-encoding — interpret the input file as using the requested character set (use w/o argument for current list derived from character sets at www.kostis.net [4]) unicode is now a character set option
-s, --single-refperfile — put one reference per file name by the reference number
-nb, --no-bom — do not write Byte Order Mark if writing UTF8

🌸 `xml2bib` 🌸

xml2bib converts the MODS XML bibliography into a bibtex-formatted reference file. xml2bib usage is as for other tools

xml2bib xml_file.xml > output_file.bib

Since the BibTeX reference format is fairly flexible and seems to have the greatest number of personal preferences, it has also accumulated a number of specific options that are not available for other formats. 💅

Starting with 3.24, xml2bib output uses lowercase tags and mixed case reference types for better interaction with other software. The older behavior with all uppercase tags/reference types can still be generated using the command-line switch -U/--uppercase.

xml2bib-specific Options:

-fc, --finalcomma — add final comma in the bibtex output for those that want it
-sd, --singledash — use one dash instead of two (longer dash in latex) between numbers in page output
-b, --brackets — use brackets instead of quotation marks around field data
-w, --whitespace — add beautifying whitespace to output
-U, --uppercase — use all uppercase for tags (field names) and reference types (pre-3.24 behavior)
-sk, --strictkey — only use alphanumeric characters for bibtex citation keys

🌸 `xml2ads` 🌸

xml2ads converts the MODS XML bibliography to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrophyics Data System or ADS reference format [6] (which is very similar to the tagged Endnote style). xml2ads usage is as for other tools

xml2ads xml_file.xml > output_file.ads

🌸 `xml2ris` 🌸

xml2ris converts the MODS XML bibliography to RIS-formatted bibliography file. xml2ris usage is as for other tools

xml2ris xml_file.xml > output_file.ris

🌸 `xml2end` 🌸

xml2end converts the MODS XML bibliography to tagged Endnote (refer-format) bibliography file. xml2end usage is as for other tools

xml2end xml_file.xml >  output_file.end

🌸 `xml2wordbib` 🌸

xml2wordbib converts the MODS XML bibliography to Word 2007-formatted XML bibliography file. xml2wordbib usage is as for other tools

xml2wordbib xml_file.xml >  output_file.word.xml

xml2wordbib was called xml2word in versions of bibutils prior to 3.40. It was renamed to avoid confusion with other tools. Hopefully this will not break too many scripts already in use. 😬

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

okay bestie, this is the part where it all comes together, the moment we've been building to 💖. These are the receipts, the actual real-life examples of what these conversions look like. Grab a snack, we're going through all of them.

🎀 Example 1. Example refer format file

%0 Journal Article
%A C. D. Putnam
%A C. S. Pikaard
%D 1992
%T Cooperative binding of the Xenopus RNA polymerase I
   transcription factor xUBF to repetitive ribosomal gene enhancers
%J Mol Cell Biol
%V 12
%P 4970-4980
%F Putnam1992

so that's the little refer-format cutie right there, %0 through %F, serving the whole look 💅.

✨ xml2bib Output Variations ✨

now THIS is the glow-up section, where we see how all the different options change the output. Same input, seven different lewks 👑. Obsessed.

🦋 Example 2. Default

@Article{Putnam1992,
author="C. D. Putnam
and C. S. Pikaard",
year="1992",
month="Nov",
title="Cooperative binding of the
Xenopus RNA polymerase I transcription
factor xUBF to repetitive ribosomal
gene enhancers",
journal="Mol Cell Biol",
volume="12",
pages="4970--4980",
number="11"}

the plain default, no notes, no drama, just vibing ✨.

🎀 Example 3. Final Comma

@Article{Putnam1992,
author="C. D. Putnam
and C. S. Pikaard",
year="1992",
month="Nov",
title="Cooperative binding of the
Xenopus RNA polymerase I transcription
factor xUBF to repetitive ribosomal
gene enhancers",
journal="Mol Cell Biol",
volume="12",
pages="4970--4980",
number="11",}

see that lil comma before the closing brace? that's the -c energy, a little extra garnish 🍓.

💜 Example 4. Single Dash

@Article{Putnam1992,
author="C. D. Putnam
and C. S. Pikaard",
year="1992",
month="Nov",
title="Cooperative binding of the
Xenopus RNA polymerase I transcription
factor xUBF to repetitive ribosomal
gene enhancers",
journal="Mol Cell Biol",
volume="12",
pages="4970-4980",
number="11"}

spot the difference bestie: pages="4970-4980" with ONE dash, not the double -- 🔥.

🌈 Example 5. Whitespace

@Article{Putnam1992,
  author =      "C. D. Putnam
                and C. S. Pikaard",
  year =        "1992",
  month =       "Jan",
  title =       "Cooperative binding of
the Xenopus RNA polymerase I transcription
factor xUBF to repetitive ribosomal gene
enhancers",
  journal =     "Mol Cell Biol",
  volume =      "12",
  pages =       "4970--4980"
}

the pretty-printer mode, all spaced out and aligned, plus note the month = "Jan" — yeah, different month here, just go with it 🙈. Also pages has no trailing comma here, slay.

🧚 Example 6. Brackets

@Article{Putnam1992,
author={Putnam, C. D.
and Pikaard, C. S.},
title={Cooperative binding of the Xenopus
RNA polymerase I transcription factor xUBF
to repetitive ribosomal gene enhancers},
journal={Mol Cell Biol},
year={1992},
month={Nov},
volume={12},
number={11},
pages={4970--4980}
}

brackets instead of quotes, and the names flipped to Putnam, C. D. format, main character energy 👑.

⭐ Example 7. Uppercase

@ARTICLE{Putnam1992,
AUTHOR="Putnam, C. D.
and Pikaard, C. S.",
TITLE="Cooperative binding of the Xenopus
RNA polymerase I transcription factor xUBF
to repetitive ribosomal gene enhancers",
JOURNAL="Mol Cell Biol",
YEAR="1992",
MONTH="Nov",
VOLUME="12",
NUMBER="11",
PAGES="4970--4980"
}

ALL CAPS MODE, and again the flipped name order and the Nov month. It's giving loud and proud 📣.

💖 LICENSE 💖

okay so legal time, but make it cute ✨:

every single version of bibutils is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). tl;dr bestie: feel free to download, run, and modify these programs as required 💅. But if you re-release these, you need to release the modified version of the source. Periodt. (And Chris would appreciate patches as well...if you care enough to make the change, then he'd like to see what you're adding or fixing 🫶.)

Chris Putnam, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research[7]

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

This manual page is distributed under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License.

📚 NOTES 📚

the footnotes, the little linkies, the receipts 🔗:

Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov
Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS) http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/
COPAC http://copac.ac.uk/
www.kostis.net http://www.kostis.net/
http://www.sonnysoftware.com/endnoteimport.html http://www.sonnysoftware.com/endnoteimport.html
ADS reference format http://doc.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs_doc/help_pages/taggedformat.html
Chris Putnam, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research http://www.sourceforge.net/p/bibutils/home/Bibutils

and that's a wrap, bestie 🎀✨ this whole lil guide is bibutils 7.2, dated November 8, 2016, and it's BIBUTILS(1) — go forth and convert your citations, you absolute icon 💖🦋

📦 where this page comes from

epel 9: bibutils 7.2-1.el9 · GPLv2
fedora 43: bibutils 7.2-11.fc43 · GPL-2.0-only
fedora 44: bibutils 7.2-13.fc44 · GPL-2.0-only
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-13: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms

BIBUTILS(1)

🌈 BIBUTILS(1) — User Commands 🌈

✨ NAME ✨

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

💖 CONVERTING TO MODS 💖

🌟 Overview 🌟

🎀 Common Options Converting to MODS 🎀

🌸 bib2xml 🌸

🌸 biblatex2xml 🌸

🌸 copac2xml 🌸

🌸 end2xml 🌸

🌸 ebi2xml 🌸

🌸 endx2xml 🌸

🌸 isi2xml 🌸

🌸 ris2xml 🌸

🌸 wordbib2xml 🌸

💜 CONVERTING FROM MODS 💜

🌟 Overview 🌟

🎀 Common Options Converting from MODS 🎀

🌸 xml2bib 🌸

🌸 xml2ads 🌸

🌸 xml2ris 🌸

🌸 xml2end 🌸

🌸 xml2wordbib 🌸

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

🎀 Example 1. Example refer format file

✨ xml2bib Output Variations ✨

🦋 Example 2. Default

🎀 Example 3. Final Comma

💜 Example 4. Single Dash

🌈 Example 5. Whitespace

🧚 Example 6. Brackets

⭐ Example 7. Uppercase

💖 LICENSE 💖

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

📚 NOTES 📚

🌸 `bib2xml` 🌸

🌸 `biblatex2xml` 🌸

🌸 `copac2xml` 🌸

🌸 `end2xml` 🌸

🌸 `ebi2xml` 🌸

🌸 `endx2xml` 🌸

🌸 `isi2xml` 🌸

🌸 `ris2xml` 🌸

🌸 `wordbib2xml` 🌸

🌸 `xml2bib` 🌸

🌸 `xml2ads` 🌸

🌸 `xml2ris` 🌸

🌸 `xml2end` 🌸

🌸 `xml2wordbib` 🌸