JabRef
FreeA reference manager that edits BibTeX directly — native ground for LaTeX
A reference manager whose native format is the plain-text BibTeX file, with no import or export step in between. It fetches metadata by DOI, ISBN or arXiv ID, manages full-text PDFs, supports custom citation key rules, and works alongside LaTeX editors and Word.
Why we picked it
MIT-licensed.
Zotero is already in this directory. The dividing line is the data format: Zotero keeps its own
database and exporting BibTeX is an action, while JabRef's library file is the .bib. Edit an
entry in the app and the text file changes immediately, ready for \cite on the LaTeX side.
For anyone already writing in LaTeX that difference is concrete — the .bib goes into the Git
repository alongside the paper and gets versioned with it, and collaborators' choice of software
does not matter because everyone shares one plain-text file.
To be clear about:
- Web capture is less smooth than Zotero's. Zotero's browser connector files a paper from a journal page in one click; JabRef more often wants the DOI to look up.
- The interface is JavaFX and feels engineering-first.
- Without LaTeX in the picture, Zotero is the smoother experience overall.