Import BibTeX and RIS files

If your references live in another tool, you can bring them into Papero with a BibTeX (.bib) or RIS (.ris) file. Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote and Google Scholar can all export one. Papero reads the file in your browser and shows you what it found before anything is saved.

To import straight from your Zotero or Mendeley account instead, see Import from Zotero or Import from Mendeley.

Import a file

In the sidebar, press Library.
Press Import, then From a file (.bib, .ris). The Import sources dialog opens.
Press Choose a file and pick your .bib or .ris file. Or paste the text under Or paste BibTeX or RIS text and press Read entries.
Check the preview. It says how many sources are ready to import and lists them, and it lists the entries it will skip, with the reason for each.
To put every new source in one collection, pick it under Add to a collection (optional). When you open the dialog from a collection, that collection is already picked.
Press the import button, such as Import 25 sources.

Papero sends the entries in batches and shows how far it has got, such as Sent 200 of 640. With a large file it may pace the import and say when it carries on. Press Stop to stop after the batch on its way.

When it ends, Import finished says how many new sources were added, how many were already in your library and how many entries were skipped. Press Done.

What Papero keeps from each entry

From each entry, Papero keeps:

the type, the title and the authors (or the editors, when an entry has no authors);
the journal, book title or website;
the volume, issue, pages and publisher;
the DOI and one web link;
the date it was published, and the date you accessed it.

Other fields, such as abstracts, keywords, notes and attached files, are not imported. An entry already in your library, such as one with the same DOI, is matched to the source you have and is not added twice.

The preview notes each change Papero makes to an entry. For example, a title that is too long is cut, only the first authors of a very long list are kept, and a DOI, link or year that cannot be read is left out. A BibTeX author list that ends in "and others" keeps the named authors only.

Entry types

Papero maps each entry type to one of its own: a journal article, article, book, chapter, conference paper, report, thesis, web page or dataset. In BibTeX, for example, @inproceedings becomes a conference paper and @phdthesis a thesis. In RIS, JOUR becomes a journal article and CHAP a chapter.

For @misc, RIS GEN and a type Papero does not know, it decides by the fields:

an arXiv preprint becomes an article;
an entry with a link and no publisher becomes a web page;
an entry with a publisher or institution becomes a report;
anything else becomes an article.

For a type Papero does not know, the preview names the type and says what the entry was imported as.

Entries that are skipped

An entry with no title is skipped. So is a BibTeX entry Papero cannot read, such as one where a brace is never closed or a comma is missing. Papero says what is wrong and carries on with the next entry, so one broken entry does not stop the file. In BibTeX, @string abbreviations work, but crossref fields are not followed.

There is a size limit for one file or one paste. If your file is too large, export fewer sources at a time, or split the file, and import each part.

Free and Plus

Importing works the same on Free and Plus, and the sources you import show in full in your library on both. Exporting is part of Plus, as the next section explains. To compare the plans, see pricing.

Export your library

On Plus you can save your sources as a file to use in another tool.

On the Library page, pick a collection, or All sources for the whole library.
Press Export, then BibTeX (.bib) or RIS (.ris).

Papero reads the sources and downloads the file. On Free, Export opens the upgrade. To export only the sources one document cites, open Document options in that document and choose Export sources (.bib) or Export sources (.ris), also part of Plus.

Next: upload PDFs.