Bibliography Sorter and Duplicate Checker
Paste your references in any order and get them alphabetized, with your wording untouched. The tool understands one entry per line, blank-line separation, hanging indents and numbered lists, flags possible duplicates (by DOI or near-identical text) and entries that look incomplete, and shows where each entry started. Adjust line spacing and font, copy with a hanging indent that pastes into Word, and compare with your original order. It sorts text as written; it does not check whether a reference is correct.
Runs in your browser. Your references are not uploaded or saved.
Your text stays in this browser.
How it works
- Paste your references. Indented lines continue the entry above, and blank lines separate entries.
- If the entries start with list numbers, choose whether to remove them.
- Press Sort A–Z and review the flags.
- Move entries up or down, remove duplicates you agree with, and set spacing and font.
- Copy with a hanging indent, download .txt or .html, or compare with the original order.
Options explained
- Possible duplicate
- Marks an entry with the same DOI, the same text, or very similar text as an earlier one, and says which. Nothing is deleted automatically.
- Warnings
- No year, very short, only a link, or ending in a comma suggests a cut-off entry.
- Hanging indent
- Indents every line after the first, as most styles require for reference lists.
How the result is worked out
- Entries are ordered by their text with capitals, accents and punctuation ignored, and a leading The, A or An skipped. Names with prefixes such as “van Gogh” sort under the prefix, and numbers sort before letters.
- Equal sort keys keep their original order.
Example
Pasting “Zed, Q. (2018)…”, “Adams, B. (2019)…” and a repeat of the Adams entry returns Adams, Adams (flagged as a possible duplicate), Zed.
Tips for better results
- Separate references with a blank line, or put one per line, before sorting.
- Entries are sorted by the text as written, so references should begin with the author surname.
- Review flagged possible duplicates yourself. Nothing is removed automatically.
Limitations
- Sorting follows the text as written. Different styles alphabetize some names differently, so check yours.
- It cannot tell whether a citation is correct or complete, only flag common signs.
- Duplicate detection can miss entries written very differently or flag different works with similar titles.
Guides that go with this tool
Frequently asked questions
Does it change my references?
No. Only spacing is normalized. Your wording stays as written.
How does it find duplicates?
By the same DOI, identical text after ignoring case and punctuation, or text that is at least 90% the same.
Can it format my references into APA?
No. Use the citation generator to format sources, then paste them here to sort.