PubMed (PMID) to BibTeX Converter
Paste a PubMed PMID and get a clean BibTeX entry, ready to drop into your Overleaf .bib file. NLM-abbreviated journal titles, full metadata. Free, no signup.
Free to use — no account required
What to do next
How it works
Step 1
Find a PMID
On the PubMed article page, copy the PMID number (8 digits, like 12345678) shown under the title. Or paste a list of PMIDs from your search results.
Step 2
Convert to BibTeX
CiteMe queries PubMed for the article metadata and builds a clean BibTeX @article entry — author, title, journal, year, volume, issue, pages, DOI.
Step 3
Copy to your .bib file
Paste the resulting BibTeX into your Overleaf .bib file or local LaTeX project. Ready to compile.
Why use CiteMe for PubMed to BibTeX?
Direct from PubMed
Live lookup against the PubMed database — no manual transcription. Author names, NLM-abbreviated journal title, year, volume, issue, page range, and DOI all populated correctly.
Bulk PMID Conversion
Paste multiple PMIDs in one go. Useful when handing off a literature review or systematic review reference list to a co-author who manages references in BibTeX.
Overleaf-Ready Output
Clean BibTeX entries that drop straight into your .bib file. No post-processing, no character-encoding fixes, no missing fields.
Free, No Signup
Free tier covers up to 3 PMIDs per submission. No account required. Pro unlocks bulk conversion of full PubMed search exports.
PMID to BibTeX — example
PMID input
12345678
Just the digits — no “PMID:” prefix needed. Paste several at once, one per line.
BibTeX output
@article{smith2024ml,
author = {Smith, J. D. and Johnson, M. R.},
title = {Machine Learning in Healthcare Diagnostics},
journal = {N Engl J Med},
year = {2024},
volume = {390},
number = {12},
pages = {1123--1135},
doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa2400001},
pmid = {12345678}
}Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert a PubMed PMID to BibTeX?
Paste a PubMed ID (PMID, an 8-digit number like 12345678) into CiteMe. The tool fetches the full article metadata from PubMed and outputs a BibTeX @article entry with author, title, journal, year, volume, issue, pages, and DOI.
Can I paste multiple PMIDs at once?
Yes. Paste a comma- or newline-separated list of PMIDs. On the free plan you can convert up to 3 at a time; Pro lets you bulk-convert your entire PubMed search result list to a complete .bib file.
Where do I find a PMID?
On any PubMed article page, the PMID appears under the title (e.g., "PMID: 12345678"). It's also visible in PubMed search results, in citation widgets on most life sciences journal websites, and in any RIS/MEDLINE export.
Why convert PMID to BibTeX instead of using PubMed's own BibTeX export?
PubMed doesn't have a native BibTeX export — only RIS, NBIB, and CSV. CiteMe is the bridge: paste a PMID, get clean, Overleaf-ready BibTeX without going through Zotero or another reference manager.
What about journal title abbreviations?
CiteMe uses the NLM/Index Medicus abbreviated journal title (the "ISO Abbreviation" field returned by PubMed) — e.g., "N Engl J Med", "JAMA", "Lancet". This is the format expected for most BibTeX styles in medicine and life sciences. If you need full journal titles, you can edit the resulting .bib field manually.
Does it handle PMC IDs and DOI lookups?
PMID is the primary input. If your PubMed record has a linked PMC ID or DOI, those values are included as `pmcid =` and `doi =` BibTeX fields automatically. To start from a DOI directly, use our DOI to BibTeX tool.
Can I use this for systematic review screening?
Yes. Paste your PubMed search result PMIDs (up to your daily quota) and get a single .bib file with every article — useful when handing references off to a co-author who works in LaTeX/Overleaf.
Keep the medical reference workflow moving
After getting BibTeX from a PMID, the next step is usually formatting that BibTeX as Vancouver for your manuscript, exporting an entire PubMed search, or checking citations against your draft.
Paste a PMID. Get clean BibTeX. Drop into Overleaf.
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