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jabref-reference-guide
Guide to JabRef open-source BibTeX and BibLaTeX reference manager
skills/writing/citation/jabref-reference-guide/SKILL.md
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# JabRef Reference Manager Guide
## Overview
JabRef is an open-source, cross-platform reference manager with over 4,000 GitHub stars, specifically designed for researchers who work with BibTeX and BibLaTeX bibliographies. Written in Java, it runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a graphical interface for managing bibliographic databases that integrates seamlessly with LaTeX-based writing workflows.
Unlike general-purpose reference managers that treat BibTeX export as an afterthought, JabRef is built from the ground up around the BibTeX format. Every feature, from the entry editor to the search system, understands BibTeX entry types and field semantics natively. This means researchers who write primarily in LaTeX get a tool that speaks their language without the impedance mismatch of converting between proprietary formats.
JabRef supports both BibTeX and BibLaTeX formats, handles cross-references, string constants, and preambles, and provides powerful tools for maintaining bibliography quality. It can fetch metadata from online databases, check entries for completeness, detect duplicates, and generate citation keys following customizable patterns. For researchers who prefer to keep their bibliographic data in plain-text BibTeX files under version control, JabRef is the reference manager of choice.
## Installation and Setup
JabRef can be installed through multiple methods:
