RIS Converter
FileFlip converts RIS files into 62 other formats entirely inside your browser, using Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly. The RIS file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. There is no file-size limit and no account to create.
How do I convert a RIS file?#
- Drop your RIS file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer.
- Choose the format you want out of it. FileFlip downloads the engine that conversion needs, once, and your browser caches it.
- Conversion starts the moment you pick the format, and the result is yours to download. The work happens in this tab, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is queued.
Is it safe to convert RIS files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts RIS files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What happens to a RIS file#
FileFlip converts RIS into 62 formats with Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick, all of it inside the browser tab. Each conversion below names the engine it uses, what it downloads, and exactly what that conversion keeps or drops.
| Category | Documents |
|---|---|
| File extension | .ris |
| FileFlip support | Read only, so it is a source rather than a target |
| Conversions available | 62 |
| Engines | Pandoc, MuPDF and ImageMagick |
| Downloaded to your browser | 65.8 MB on the first conversion, then cached |
What is a RIS file?#
A RIS file is a plain-text citation record in the tagged format Research Information Systems designed for its Reference Manager software, using two-letter codes such as AU and TI to mark author, title and other bibliographic fields.
Use RIS when moving a citation list between two different reference managers, since it's the format nearly all of them agree on.
Convert RIS to BibTeX when the citations need to be cited from a LaTeX document instead of a reference manager.
The RIS file format reference covers the specification, the programs that open one, and what each conversion keeps or drops.
RIS questions people ask#
What is a RIS file used for?
A RIS file carries a citation or a list of citations between reference managers and academic databases, with two-letter tags marking each bibliographic field. It's the export format library catalogues and databases like PubMed reach for when a user wants to save a reference into their own citation library.
Does Zotero support RIS files?
Yes, Zotero both imports and exports RIS files, and it's one of the two or three formats Zotero recommends for moving a library into or out of a different reference manager.
What's the difference between RIS and BibTeX?
RIS is a general tagged format built for reference manager interoperability, while BibTeX is the citation format LaTeX documents cite against directly. A citation library usually passes through RIS when moving between reference managers and through BibTeX when it needs to reach a LaTeX document.
Why did my RIS import lose some fields?
RIS has no single current maintaining body, so different tools export slightly different tag conventions for the same field, and a reference manager importing a RIS file written by another tool can misread or drop a field it doesn't recognize.