BibTeX Fixer

This repository provides a small command-line script that checks BibTeX entries against online bibliographic sources and rewrites a cleaned, normalized BibTeX file.

What the script does

• Parses BibTeX entries from an input file.
• Uses DOI-first lookup when a DOI is present, then falls back to title search.
• Looks up entries by title using Crossref, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and OpenReview.
• For arXiv preprints, it prefers a published venue when one is found (including OpenReview for ICLR-style venues).
• Merges fetched metadata into the existing fields.
• Writes a normalized BibTeX file with a consistent field order.

Usage

Basic usage:

python check_and_fix_biblio.py  --input biblio.bib  --output biblio_fixed.bib

Main options:

• --mailto: Email address to include in the Crossref User-Agent header.
• --min-similarity: Minimum title similarity (0-1) required to accept a match.
• --crossref-rows: Number of Crossref results to consider per entry.
• --openalex-rows: Number of OpenAlex results to consider per entry.
• --semantic-scholar-rows: Number of Semantic Scholar results to consider per entry.
• --delay: Delay in seconds between requests to external services.
• --limit: Process only the first N entries (leave the rest unchanged).

Example with custom settings:

python check_and_fix_biblio.py \
  --input my_refs.bib \
  --output my_refs_checked.bib \
  --mailto you@example.com \
  --min-similarity 0.9 \
  --delay 1.0

Notes

• Matching is title-based; author/year are not used for disambiguation.
• Entries are reformatted; original comments and non-entry content are not preserved.
• Output is ASCII-only; non-ASCII characters are stripped.
• When a published venue is found for an arXiv preprint, arXiv-specific fields (eprint/archiveprefix/primaryclass and arXiv URLs) are removed.