RIS (file format)
RIS is a standardized tag format developed by Research Information Systems, Incorporated (the format name refers to the company) to enable citation programs to exchange data.[1] It is supported by a number of reference managers. Many digital libraries, like IEEE Xplore, Scopus, the ACM Portal, Scopemed, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Rayyan QCRI, Accordance Bible Software[2], and online library catalogs can export citations in this format. Major reference/citation manager applications, like Zotero, Citavi, Mendeley, and EndNote can export and import citations in this format.
| Filename extension |
.ris |
|---|---|
| Internet media type |
application/x-research-info-systems |
| Type of format | Bibliography |
Format
The RIS file format—two letters, two spaces and a hyphen—is a tagged format for expressing bibliographic citations. According to the specifications,[3][4][5] the lines must end with the ASCII carriage return and line feed characters. Note that this is the convention on Microsoft Windows, while in other contemporary operating systems, particularly Unix, the end of line is typically marked by line feed only.
Multiple citation records can be present in a single RIS file. A record ends with an "end record" tag ER - with no additional blank lines between records.
Example record
This is an example of how the article "Claude E. Shannon. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27:379–423, July 1948" would be expressed in the RIS file format:
TY - JOUR AU - Shannon, Claude E. PY - 1948/07// TI - A Mathematical Theory of Communication T2 - Bell System Technical Journal SP - 379 EP - 423 VL - 27 ER -
Example multi-record format
This is an example of how two citation records would be expressed in a single RIS file. Note the first record ends with ER - and the second record begins with TY - JOUR:
TY - JOUR AU - Shannon, Claude E. PY - 1948/07// TI - A Mathematical Theory of Communication T2 - Bell System Technical Journal SP - 379 EP - 423 VL - 27 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem A1 - Turing, Alan Mathison JO - Proc. of London Mathematical Society VL - 47 IS - 1 SP - 230 EP - 265 Y1 - 1937 ER -
Tags
There are two major versions of the RIS specification.[4][5] The second version, introduced near the end of 2011 has different lists of tags for each type of record, sometimes with different meanings.[5] Below is an excerpt of the main RIS tags, from both versions. Except for TY - and ER -, order of tags is free and their inclusion is optional.
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| TY | Type of reference (must be the first tag) |
| A1 | Primary Authors (each author on its own line preceded by the A1 tag) |
| A2 | Secondary Authors (each author on its own line preceded by the A2 tag) |
| A3 | Tertiary Authors (each author on its own line preceded by the A3 tag) |
| A4 | Subsidiary Authors (each author on its own line preceded by the A4 tag) |
| AB | Abstract |
| AD | Author Address |
| AN | Accession Number |
| AU | Author (each author on its own line preceded by the AU tag) |
| AV | Location in Archives |
| BT | This field maps to T2 for all reference types except for Whole Book and Unpublished Work references. It can contain alphanumeric characters. There is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| C1 | Custom 1 |
| C2 | Custom 2 |
| C3 | Custom 3 |
| C4 | Custom 4 |
| C5 | Custom 5 |
| C6 | Custom 6 |
| C7 | Custom 7 |
| C8 | Custom 8 |
| CA | Caption |
| CN | Call Number |
| CP | This field can contain alphanumeric characters. There is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| CT | Title of unpublished reference |
| CY | Place Published |
| DA | Date |
| DB | Name of Database |
| DO | DOI |
| DP | Database Provider |
| ED | Editor |
| EP | End Page |
| ET | Edition |
| ID | Reference ID |
| IS | Issue number |
| J1 | Periodical name: user abbreviation 1. This is an alphanumeric field of up to 255 characters. |
| J2 | Alternate Title (this field is used for the abbreviated title of a book or journal name, the latter mapped to T2) |
| JA | Periodical name: standard abbreviation. This is the periodical in which the article was (or is to be, in the case of in-press references) published. This is an alphanumeric field of up to 255 characters. |
| JF | Journal/Periodical name: full format. This is an alphanumeric field of up to 255 characters. |
| JO | Journal/Periodical name: full format. This is an alphanumeric field of up to 255 characters. |
| KW | Keywords (keywords should be entered each on its own line preceded by the tag) |
| L1 | Link to PDF. There is no practical limit to the length of this field. URL addresses can be entered individually, one per tag or multiple addresses can be entered on one line using a semi-colon as a separator. |
| L2 | Link to Full-text. There is no practical limit to the length of this field. URL addresses can be entered individually, one per tag or multiple addresses can be entered on one line using a semi-colon as a separator. |
| L3 | Related Records. There is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| L4 | Image(s). There is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| LA | Language |
| LB | Label |
| LK | Website Link |
| M1 | Number |
| M2 | Miscellaneous 2. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| M3 | Type of Work |
| N1 | Notes |
| N2 | Abstract. This is a free text field and can contain alphanumeric characters. There is no practical length limit to this field. |
| NV | Number of Volumes |
| OP | Original Publication |
| PB | Publisher |
| PP | Publishing Place |
| PY | Publication year (YYYY) |
| RI | Reviewed Item |
| RN | Research Notes |
| RP | Reprint Edition |
| SE | Section |
| SN | ISBN/ISSN |
| SP | Start Page |
| ST | Short Title |
| T1 | Primary Title |
| T2 | Secondary Title (journal title, if applicable) |
| T3 | Tertiary Title |
| TA | Translated Author |
| TI | Title |
| TT | Translated Title |
| U1 | User definable 1. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| U2 | User definable 2. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| U3 | User definable 3. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| U4 | User definable 4. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| U5 | User definable 5. This is an alphanumeric field and there is no practical limit to the length of this field. |
| UR | URL |
| VL | Volume number |
| VO | Published Standard number |
| Y1 | Primary Date |
| Y2 | Access Date |
| ER | End of Reference (must be empty and the last tag) |
Type of reference
The type of reference preceded by the TY - tag may abbreviated:
| Abbreviation | Type |
|---|---|
| ABST | Abstract |
| ADVS | Audiovisual material |
| AGGR | Aggregated Database |
| ANCIENT | Ancient Text |
| ART | Art Work |
| BILL | Bill |
| BLOG | Blog |
| BOOK | Whole book |
| CASE | Case |
| CHAP | Book chapter |
| CHART | Chart |
| CLSWK | Classical Work |
| COMP | Computer program |
| CONF | Conference proceeding |
| CPAPER | Conference paper |
| CTLG | Catalog |
| DATA | Data file |
| DBASE | Online Database |
| DICT | Dictionary |
| EBOOK | Electronic Book |
| ECHAP | Electronic Book Section |
| EDBOOK | Edited Book |
| EJOUR | Electronic Article |
| ELEC | Web Page |
| ENCYC | Encyclopedia |
| EQUA | Equation |
| FIGURE | Figure |
| GEN | Generic |
| GOVDOC | Government Document |
| GRANT | Grant |
| HEAR | Hearing |
| ICOMM | Internet Communication |
| INPR | In Press |
| JFULL | Journal (full) |
| JOUR | Journal |
| LEGAL | Legal Rule or Regulation |
| MANSCPT | Manuscript |
| MAP | Map |
| MGZN | Magazine article |
| MPCT | Motion picture |
| MULTI | Online Multimedia |
| MUSIC | Music score |
| NEWS | Newspaper |
| PAMP | Pamphlet |
| PAT | Patent |
| PCOMM | Personal communication |
| RPRT | Report |
| SER | Serial publication |
| SLIDE | Slide |
| SOUND | Sound recording |
| STAND | Standard |
| STAT | Statute |
| THES | Thesis/Dissertation |
| UNBILL | Unenacted Bill |
| UNPB | Unpublished work |
| VIDEO | Video recording |
See also
References
- The origin of the name RIS was obtained via email from Henry Johnson, a Customer Technical Representative at Scientific Thomson Reuters. Research Information Systems was owned by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). RIS, the creators of Reference Manager which had also previously bought ProCite from Personal Bibliographic Software Inc, merged with Niles software, the creators of EndNote. The result of the merger was the creation of ISI ResearchSoft, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, which produces Reference Manager, EndNote and ProCite. Email date 7/3/08.
- https://www.accordancebible.com/New-Features-112
- "RIS File Format". ResearcherID.com. Thomson Reuters. 2012. Archived from the original on 2017-07-07.
- "RIS Format Specifications". Reference Manager. The Thomson Corporation. 2001-02-14. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30.
- "RIS Format Specifications". Reference Manager. The Thomson Corporation. 2011-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-05-26.