Import Word 2007 bibliography into JabRef?

Question

I have a bibliography list in Word 2007, but want to import them into JabRef (bibTex). I have searched around, the bibliography in Word is stored in an XML file, but JabRef does not import via such format? I wonder if there is an efficient way to do this so I don't need to add the entries one by one. Many thanks.

Answer 1

JabRef 2.6 can import and export MS 2007 XML format references.

First, you will need to export your references from MS Word.

To do this, you will need to create a new text file containing the following: <?xml version="1.0"?> <b:Sources SelectedStyle="" xmlns:b="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/bibliography" xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/bibliography"> </b:Sources>

Name it something like refs.xml

Now that you have that, open the Word document containing the references you want to export. Then, on the Citations and Bibliography group of the References tab, click the Manage Sources button. Click the "Browse" button to open your refs.xml file.

You will now have a blank pane on the left and a pane with your references on the right. Select the references you want to export and press the "<- Copy" button to put them into the left pane.

Now close the Manage References dialog box. Word 2007 silently added the references to the refs.xml file.

Now in JabRef 2.6, go to the File menu, choose Import into New Database, and browse to refs.xml. Press the Open button and you will have a JabRef database populated with your Word 2007 references.

You can now save that database in BibTex or a variety of other formats.

OPTIONALLY, you can skip making your own refs.xml file by using Word's default references file Sources.xml which is stored in your Application Data folder (and where that is will depend on your operating system).