Extract text from Bibliographic data files (REFER)
To convert REFER References to another format, you need EndNote or other Text software.
To convert other file formats to the "Citation Data File" file type, you need software like EndNote or a similar tool.
The .refer file format stores bibliographic reference data. Originally designed for the UNIX refer command, this format is now predominantly used by academic citation managers like EndNote to export and import structured academic sources. The file contains lists of authors, publication years, titles, and journal names, organized via specific percent-sign tags (e.g., %A for Author and %T for Title).
While widely recognized in academic circles, the .refer format has significant disadvantages. It is an older, loose standard that suffers from 'dialect' variations depending on which software generated it. You cannot natively open it in a word processor like Microsoft Word, and viewing the raw data in a text editor is visually cluttered and confusing for non-technical users. Sharing these files with colleagues who do not use a dedicated reference manager is highly impractical.
To improve compatibility, users frequently need to convert .refer files. The best target formats are RIS or BIB (BibTeX), which offer far superior cross-platform support in modern open-source tools like Zotero. You can also convert it to CSV to read the data in a standard spreadsheet, though automated citation linking capabilities will be lost.
Because .refer files rely on proprietary software dialects for precise metadata mapping, generic converters often fail, mangling author names or dropping critical journal tags. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible on convert.guru. Even if standard conversion fails due to custom data structures, our tool can extract and display the internal plain text, ensuring you never lose access to your crucial reference data.
Convert.Guru analyzes your REFER file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted EVY, WOL and BRH files.
If you want to convert REFER file to , you can use EndNote or similar software from the "Bibliographic reference data storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to REFER, try EndNote or another comparable tool in the "Bibliographic reference data storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our REFER converter.