Multiple citation records can be present in a single RIS file. A record ends with an "end record" tag ER - with no additional blank lines between records.
Example record
This is an example of how the article "Claude E. Shannon. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27:379–423, July 1948" would be expressed in the RIS file format:
TY - JOUR
AU - Shannon, Claude E.
PY - 1948
DA - July
TI - A Mathematical Theory of Communication
T2 - Bell System Technical Journal
SP - 379
EP - 423
VL - 27
ER -
Example multi-record format
This is an example of how two citation records would be expressed in a single RIS file. Note the first record ends with ER - and the second record begins with TY - JOUR:
TY - JOUR
AU - Shannon, Claude E.
PY - 1948
DA - July
TI - A Mathematical Theory of Communication
T2 - Bell System Technical Journal
SP - 379
EP - 423
VL - 27
ER -
TY - JOUR
T1 - On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem
A1 - Turing, Alan Mathison
JO - Proc. of London Mathematical Society
VL - 47
IS - 1
SP - 230
EP - 265
Y1 - 1937
ER -
Tags
The TY - tag must appear first and the ER - tag must appear last.[6][7][8] Most tags must appear at most once, but the author, keyword, and URL tags can be repeated.[6]
Each name must be formatted as a comma-separated list of last name, first name (including middle names, can be initials), and suffix, in that order, and must not be longer than 255 characters.[6][9][10][8] Unless otherwise specified, each date must be formatted as a slash-separated list of 4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, and other info (e.g. season); unused fields may be omitted if they are at the end.[6][11][8]
Many strings have limits on what characters they can contain (e.g. any ASCII character, just alphanumerics, or just digits) or their length (often limited to 255 characters). These are only sometimes noted in the table below; see the linked sources to double-check, particularly [9] and the pages in RIS Format Specifications.
There are two major versions of the RIS specification, one from 2001, and one from the end of 2011 with different lists of tags for each type of record, sometimes with different meanings.[4][5][12][13] Below is an excerpt of the main RIS tags, from both versions. Except for TY - and ER -, order of tags is free and their inclusion is optional.[better source needed]
Tag
Meaning (see linked references for more details, such as which types have which interpretations)
Secondary author/editor/translator, e.g. editor, performers, sponsor, series editor, reporter, institution, name of file, producer, series director, department, interviewer, issuing organization, recipient, or narrator. The tag must be repeated for each person. Synonym of ED.[6][9][10][14][8][15][16][18][19][20]
A3
Tertiary author/editor/translator, e.g. series editor/author, illustrator, editor, higher court, producer, director, international author, publisher, or advisor. The tag must be repeated for each person.[6][9][10][14][8][15][18][19][20] Collaborators.[16][17]
A4
Subsidiary/quaternary author/editor/translator, e.g. translator, counsel, sponsor, funding agency, performers, producer, department/division, or volume editor. The tag must be repeated for each person.[6][14][15][18][20]
(Primary) author/editor/translator, e.g. author, artist, created by, attribution, programmer, investigators, editor, director, interviewee, cartographer, composer, reporter, inventor, or institution. The tag must be repeated for each person. Synonym of A1.[6][10][14][8][16][17][18][19][20]
Primary/secondary title.[8][23][16][18][19] For Whole Book (BOOK) and Unpublished Work (UNPB) references, this maps to T1 or TI; for all other types, this maps to T2.[8][23] Subtitle.[16] Book title.[17]
C1
Custom 1, e.g. legal note, cast, author affiliation, section, place published, time period, term, year cited, government body, contact name, scale, format of music, column, or sender's e-mail.[6][14][18][20]
C2
Custom 2, e.g. PMCID, credits, year published, unit of observation, date cited, congress number, contact address, area, form of composition, issue, issue date, recipients e-mail, or report number.[6][14][18][20]
C3
Custom 3, e.g. size/length, title prefix, proceedings title, data type, PMCID, congress session, contact phone, size, music parts, or designated states.[6][14][18][20]
C4
Custom 4, e.g. reviewer, dataset(s), genre, contact fax, target audience, or attorney/agent.[6][14][18][20]
C5
Custom 5, e.g. format, packaging method, issue title, last update date, funding number, accompanying matter, format/length, references, or publisher.[6][14][18][20]
C6
Custom 6, e.g. NIHMSID, CFDA number, legal status, issue, or volume.[6][14][18][20]
Date, e.g. date accessed, last update date, date decided, date of collection, date released, deadline, date of code edition, or date enacted.[6][14][18][20]
Edition, e.g. epub (electronic publication?) date, date published, session, action of higher court, version, requirement, description of material, international patent classification, or description.[6][14][16][18][19][20]
Alternate title, e.g. alternate journal, abbreviated publication, abbreviation, or alternate magazine. If possible, it should be a standard abbreviation, preferably using the Index Medicus style including periods. This field is used for the abbreviated title of a book or journal name, the latter mapped to T2.[6][14][13][18][20]
User abbreviation 2 of journal/periodical name.[9][25][8][13]
Abbreviation (for journal/periodical name).[14][8][13][15][16][17][18][19] "Periodical name: full format. This is an alphanumeric field of up to 255 characters."[9][25]
Keyword/phrase. Must be at most 255 characters long. May be repeated any number of times to add multiple keywords.[6][14][9][26][8][16][17][18][19][20]
L1
File attachments, e.g. figure.[6][14][18][19][20] "Link to PDF. There is no practical length limit to this field. URL addresses can be entered individually, one per tag or multiple addresses can be entered on one line using a semi-colon as a separator. These links should end with a file name, and not simply a landing page. Use the UR tag for URL links."[9][22] Internet link.[16] Local file.[18]
L2
URL.[14] "Link to Full-text. There is no practical length limit to this field. URL addresses can be entered individually, one per tag or multiple addresses can be entered on one line using a semi-colon as a separator."[9][22] Internet link.[16]
Number, publication number, text number, size, bill number, series volume, computer, issue, chapter, status, document number, start page, issue number, folio number, number of screens, application number, number of pages, public law number, or access date.[14][18][20] Miscellaneous 1.[9][22][8][17][18] A good place for type or genre information.[8]
Type of work, e.g. type (of work/article/medium/image); citation of reversal; medium; funding, patent, or thesis type; format; or form of item.[6][14][18][20] Miscellaneous 3.[9][22][8][17][18] Suitable to hold the medium.[8]
Number of volumes, e.g. extent of work, reporter abbreviation, catalog number, study number, document number, version, amount received, session number, frequency, manuscript number, US patent classification, communication number, series volume, or statute number. Ignored for Press Release (PRESS).[6][14][18][19][20]
OL
Output language (using one of the documented numeric codes).[15]
OP
Original publication, e.g. contents, history, content, version history, original grant number, or priority numbers.[6][14][18] Other pages.[15][20] Original foreign title.[15]
Publisher, e.g. court, distributor, sponsoring agency, library/archive, assignee, institution, source, or university / degree grantor.[6][14][9][21][8][15][16][17][18][19][20]
(Primary) (publication) year/date, e.g. year decided, year of conference, or year released.[6][14][11][8][16][17][18][20] Must always use 4 digits, with leading zeros if before 1000.[6] Synonym of Y1.[8]
Reprint status, e.g. reprint edition, review date, or notes. Has three possible values: "IN FILE", "NOT IN FILE", or "ON REQUEST". "ON REQUEST" must be followed by an MM/DD/YY date in parentheses.[6][14][9][26][8][17][18][20]
Secondary title, journal, periodical, publication title, code, title of weblog, series title, book title, image source program, conference name, dictionary title, periodical title, encyclopedia title, committee, program, title number, magazine, collection title, album title, newspaper, published source, title of show, section title, academic department, or full journal name.[6][14][9][23][8][13][15][16][18][19][20] Subtitle.[16]
T3
Tertiary title, volume title, series title, legislative body, institution, decision, website title, location of work, supplement no., international title, paper number, international source, or department.[14][9][23][8][15][16][18][19][20]
Web/URL. Can be repeated for multiple tags, or multiple URLs can be entered in the same tag as a semicolon-separated list.[6][9][22][8][15][16][17][18][19][20]
refer—an aging text-based data scheme supported on UNIX-like systems
References
^The origin of the name RIS was obtained via email from Henry Johnson, a Customer Technical Representative at Scientific Thomson Reuters. Research Information Systems was acquired by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 1994, a division of Thomson Business Information (later Thomson Reuters and then Clarivate). Thomson subsequently acquired ProCite from Personal Bibliographic Software Inc, as well as Niles software, the creators of EndNote. The result of the merger was the creation of ISI ResearchSoft, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, which produces Reference Manager, EndNote and ProCite. Email date 7/3/08.