How do I cite this app?

Please cite as: Eckstein, Gary. 'Researchers Friend'. Making Literature Selection More Accurate, 2026, https://researchersfriend.org. The citation RIS file for EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero etc. is available at https://shared-files-sydney.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ReserachersFriend.ris.

A free tool for researchers & students

Get consistent journal names

Q: How do I export from Web of Science?

In Clarivate Web of Science, select your records, click Export, and choose "Plain text file" (not Tab delimited file). Excel or CSV exports are also accepted as .csv files.

Need consistent journal names for bibliometric analysis? Upload your references and we'll standardise your journal names.

Get started See how it works

1. Upload bibliographic exports
2. We standardize journal names
3. Download the results

Upload your files

Standardize journal names for bibliometric imports, reference lists, and manuscript tables without manual lookup.

RIS, BibTeX, WoS "Plain text file" export, and Scopus CSV
Output keeps the same file format as each upload
JCR/ISO4-style abbreviations with lookup table fallback
Up to 50,000 references / 100MB total filesize.

Email address(es)

Required. We'll let you know once your files are ready. Comma separate multiple addresses.

Bibliographic files

Drag & drop files here

or click to browse

No files selected

RIS (.ris / EndNote .txt), BibTeX (.bib), Web of Science "Plain text file" export (.txt), or Scopus CSV (.csv). Each output file keeps the same format with abbreviated journal names. Up to 50,000 references / 100MB total filesize.

What you get

Abbreviated files in a ZIP download, plus a shareable online report.

ISO4-style abbreviations

Known journal titles map to JCR/ISO4 abbreviations; others use ISO4 word rules.

Same format in and out

RIS stays RIS, BibTeX stays BibTeX, WoS "Plain text file" exports stay WoS, and Scopus CSV stays CSV.

Multiple sources

Works with exports from EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, Scopus, and Web of Science.

Shareable report

Every job has a unique public URL with counts and sample references.

Email when ready

Close the page after upload; we email your ZIP download link.

Smile

Spend less time fixing journal abbreviations by hand.

As used by students at ...

How it works

From export to abbreviated journals in three steps.

1
Export from your database or library
Save RIS, BibTeX, Web of Science "Plain text file" export (.txt), or Scopus CSV.
2
Upload your references
We abbreviate journal/source fields and email you when the ZIP is ready.
3
Download and reuse
Import abbreviated files into Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, or your manuscript workflow.

Normalize journals free

FAQ

Quick answers about journal abbreviation normalization.

What does this tool do?

It reads RIS, BibTeX, Web of Science "Plain text file" exports, or Scopus CSV exports and replaces full journal names with JCR/ISO4-style abbreviations in the same file format.

Which input formats are supported?

RIS (.ris / EndNote .txt), BibTeX (.bib), Web of Science "Plain text file" export (.txt) or Web of Science CSV (.csv), and Scopus CSV (.csv).

How do I export from Web of Science?

Select your records in Clarivate Web of Science, click Export, and choose Plain text file (not Tab delimited file). Upload the resulting .txt file here. Excel or CSV exports from Web of Science are also accepted as .csv files.

Which output files do I get?

One abbreviated file per upload, in the same format as the input, packaged in a ZIP download.

Is this tool free?

Yes. Researcher's Friend is free to use. You can process up to 50,000 references per job (100 MB combined upload limit).

How long are my data available?

Your abbreviated files are available for 7 days, then are automatically deleted. Public reports are available indefinitely.