auto-abbreviation

This script converts journal names to abbreviations in .bib files. It leverages excerpts from the bibtexparser package to parse .bib files and applies rules from a journal abbreviations list to perform the conversions.

Usage

Overleaf

On Overleaf, this script can be imported using the following command:

\input{|python abbr.py bibfile-1.bib bibfile-2.bib bibfile-3.bib}

in the preamble of your document. This command will execute the script and generate a consolidated .bib file named abbreviated.bib in the project directory. You can then use this file in the \bibliography{abbreviated.bib} command to include the references in your document.

Local Environment

To use this script locally, simply run

python abbr.py bibfile-1.bib bibfile-2.bib bibfile-3.bib

This will generate a consolidated .bib file named abbreviated.bib, which contains all references with their respective abbreviations. You can then use this file in the \bibliography{abbreviated.bib} command to include the references in your document.

Notes

• Overleaf stores newly generated files in its cache rather than the user's project folder. These cached files are used during compilation and do not interfere with the original project files. Thus, the consolidated .bib file will not be visible in the project folder but will be available for use in the document.

To Do

• Add a command-line argument to allow users to specify the name of the output .bib file.
• Refactor the script to remove unused portions of the bibtexparser code, ensuring only relevant functionality is retained.

Acknowledgements

• This script shamelessly borrows code from the bibtexparser package, which is licensed under the MIT License. The original code can be found here.
• The journal.txt file, which contains rules for journal abbreviations, is primarily based on this resource by Filip Dominec, with a few additional entries contributed by me.