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A free tool for researchers & students

Improve your bibliometric data and literature review

Before analysis of your literature references, know what is missing. Upload your references and get a readiness score, completeness charts, and recommendations tailored to your dataset.

Get started See how it works
  1. 1. Upload reference list
  2. 2. We analyze and provide recommendations
  3. 3. Review report & spreadsheets

Upload your files

Check whether your reference export is ready for descriptive stats, co-word maps, co-citation, collaboration analysis and other bibliometric tools before you analyse your references.

  • Completely free!
  • RIS, BibTeX, WoS plain text/CSV, and Scopus CSV
  • Readiness score with animated dashboard charts
  • Excel issue lists and CSV summary in a ZIP download
  • Up to 5 files / 50,000 references / 100MB total filesize.
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RIS (.ris / EndNote .txt), BibTeX (.bib), Web of Science plain text or CSV (.txt / .csv), or Scopus CSV (.csv). You receive an HTML audit report plus quality spreadsheets in a ZIP download. Up to 5 files / 50,000 references / 100MB total filesize.
Optional. Helps label citations in your report and exports.
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What you get

A shareable online dashboard plus downloadable spreadsheets listing every flagged record.

Readiness score

Overall quality score with sub-scores for identifiers, authors, journals, and metadata.

Field completeness

See which fields (DOI, abstract, keywords, cited references) are populated across your upload.

Actionable recommendations

Prioritised fixes with links to other Researcher's Friend tools where they help.

Analysis fit checklist

Descriptive, co-word, co-citation, and collaboration readiness at a glance.

Issue spreadsheets

Full audit workbook plus an issues-only Excel file for quick cleanup.

Email when ready

We email your report link within minutes.

As used by students at ...

  • Monash University
  • University of London
  • National University of Singapore
  • University of California
  • Queen's University
  • University of Reading
  • University of Southern Queensland
  • University of Vienna
  • Massey University
  • University of Texas at Arlington
  • Université Paris Cité
  • Utrecht University
  • Université de Toulouse
  • Vietnam National University, Hanoi
  • University of South Africa
  • Indira Gandhi National Open University
  • Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • University of Indonesia
  • Tecnológico Nacional de México
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Durham University
  • University of Wales
  • University of the Sunshine Coast
  • The University of Western Australia
  • University of KwaZulu-Natal
  • Victoria University of Wellington

How it works

From export to bibliometric readiness in three steps.

  1. 1
    Export from your database or library
    Export RIS (e.g. EndNote, Zotero), BibTeX, WoS plain text, or Scopus CSV with as many fields as your source allows.
  2. 2
    Upload and run the audit
    We review every record, flag issues, score completeness, and build your dashboard.
  3. 3
    Review and improve
    Use the report recommendations and issue spreadsheets to fix gaps before analysis.
Run audit free

FAQ

Quick answers about reference data auditing.

What does this tool do?

It analyses bibliographic exports and reports how complete and consistent your reference data are for common bibliometric workflows, with prioritised recommendations.

Which input formats are supported?

RIS (.ris / EndNote .txt), BibTeX (.bib), Clarivate Web of Science plain text or CSV, and Scopus CSV (.csv).

Which output files do I get?

A ZIP containing quality_report.xlsx (all records with flags), issues_only.xlsx, and quality_summary.csv, plus a shareable online dashboard.

Does this tool change my references?

No. The audit is read-only. It flags issues and suggests fixes; use our other tools if you want to dedupe, abbreviate journals, or enrich DOIs.

Is this tool free?

Yes. Researcher's Friend is free to use. You can process up to 5 files and 50,000 references per job.

How long are my data available?

Your audit spreadsheets are available for 7 days, then are automatically deleted. Public reports are available indefinitely.