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Journal Abbreviator

Swap the full journal titles in a reference list or .bib file for their standard abbreviations, and see which titles it does not know.

Step 1: Paste your references

Your own abbreviations

One rule per line, as Full Journal Name = Abbrev. Lines starting with # are ignored. Your rules win over the built-in list and are kept in this browser only.

Step 2: Abbreviated references

The abbreviated list will appear here

Paste references in step 1. Each journal title it recognises becomes its abbreviation, such as Journal of the American Chemical Society to J. Am. Chem. Soc., and titles it does not know are marked so you can check them.

How-to guide

How to abbreviate journal names

Paste a reference list or BibTeX and the tool swaps recognised full journal titles for their standard abbreviations, live as you type.

1

Paste your references

Paste a reference list or the contents of a .bib file into step 1, or press Load example.

2

Read the output

Titles in the built-in list are replaced as you type and filled in blue. Titles abbreviated word by word by ISO 4 rules get a dashed underline and an ISO 4 tag: check those against the journal's own site, because a registered abbreviation can differ from the rules. A journal-like title that neither can abbreviate is marked in amber, so nothing slips through unnoticed.

3

Add your own rules

Open Your own abbreviations and add Full Name = Abbrev. lines for niche journals. They are saved in your browser and win over the built-in list.

4

Copy the result

Copy puts the abbreviated list on the clipboard.

How the matching works

Variant-tolerant, longest-match replacement

Titles are matched case-insensitively against a curated list of ~200 journals, longest entries first, so a full title always beats any shorter fragment. Matching also tolerates a leading The, "&" written as "and", missing colons, hyphen vs. en-dash, and titles wrapped across lines in a .bib file. Everything runs in your browser.

Two sources, marked apart

The built-in list is a hand-checked subset of CASSI, not the full database: its abbreviations are the journals' registered ones. A title it does not recognise goes to a second tier: once the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations has loaded in the background, the title is abbreviated word by word by the ISO 4 rules (Journal of Physics A becomes J. Phys. A, Zeitschrift für Naturforschung becomes Z. Naturforsch.) and tagged ISO 4 in the output. The rules are the standard method, but a publisher may register a form that departs from them (CASSI writes Appl. Catal., A where ISO 4 gives Appl. Catal. A: Gen.); on the list's own 184 abbreviated titles the rules give the registered form for 169. Only something that looks like a journal title but that ISO 4 cannot shorten either (or any unknown title, if the word list fails to load) is flagged in amber and left as it is. Check those, and any tagged abbreviation that matters, against the journal's own site or the sources below, or add them yourself in the Your own abbreviations panel (the whole built-in list lives in a single, easy-to-edit data file).

Common single-word titles whose abbreviation equals the full name (Nature, Science, Small, Langmuir…) are recognised but never altered or highlighted, so ordinary English words in your text are safe. Abbreviation style follows CASSI for chemistry and ISO 4 / the LTWA more generally.

Frequently asked questions

Is my bibliography uploaded anywhere?
No. Matching and replacement run entirely in your browser; nothing is sent to a server. Custom rules are stored only in your browser's local storage.
Why wasn't one of my journals abbreviated?
The built-in list is a curated subset of ~200 titles, not the full CASSI database. A title it does not know is abbreviated word by word by ISO 4 rules from the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA), so Journal of Imaginary Results becomes J. Imaginary Results, tagged ISO 4 in the output. A title is left as it is and flagged in amber only when ISO 4 cannot shorten it either, or when the word list has not loaded. Rule-based abbreviations can differ from a journal's registered one, so check those that matter against the journal's own site or CASSI, or add them as a custom rule.
Why are some abbreviations tagged ISO 4?
The built-in list holds each journal's registered abbreviation, checked by hand, so those results can be used as they are. A title that is not on the list is abbreviated by applying the ISO 4 rules to each word with the ISSN word list. That is the standard method, but publishers sometimes register a form that departs from it: CASSI writes Appl. Catal., A where ISO 4 gives Appl. Catal. A: Gen., and keeps Hydrogen in full where ISO 4 gives Hydrog. On the list's own 184 abbreviated titles the rules give the registered form for 169, so check a tagged result against the journal's own site before relying on it.
Can I add my own journal abbreviations?
Yes. Open the Your own abbreviations panel below the input and add one rule per line as Full Journal Name = Abbrev. Custom rules override the built-in list and persist in your browser.
What standard do the abbreviations follow?
The built-in list follows CASSI (the CAS Source Index) for chemistry titles. Other titles are abbreviated by ISO 4 rules using the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA), which CASSI also aligns with.
Does it handle variant spellings of a title?
Yes. A leading The, "&" written as "and" (e.g. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces), missing colons (Journal of Physics Condensed Matter), different dashes, any capitalisation, and line-wrapped BibTeX titles are all matched.
Can I see what changed?
Keep Highlight changes on: a title replaced from the built-in list is filled in blue, a title abbreviated by ISO 4 rules has a dashed underline and an ISO 4 tag, and a journal-like title that could not be abbreviated is marked in amber. Hover over a highlight to see the original and where its abbreviation came from.
CASSI Search Tool ISO 4 standard LTWA (ISSN)

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