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WordPress · Citation and reference management
Retyping a reference list is an evening you never get back.
Academic References takes an identifier and gives you a finished reference. Paste a DOI, a PubMed ID, an ISBN, an arXiv ID or a plain URL and the plugin works out which it is, fetches the metadata, and renders it through citeproc-php in the CSL style your journal asks for. The citation goes into the post as a block, and the bibliography builds itself from what you cited.
v1.1.0Academic References changelogUpdated Mar 2026
11 metadata sources · 10,738 CSL styles · WordPress 6.0+ · PHP 8.0+
How it works
One field. Eleven databases behind it.
There is no import step and no source picker. You paste what you have, and the plugin decides where to look.
- 01
It works out what you pasted
You do not pick the source from a dropdown. The plugin reads the string and decides: a 10.1101 prefix is a bioRxiv or medRxiv preprint, an eight-digit run is a PubMed ID, a 13-digit run is an ISBN, and anything left that looks like a link is treated as a URL.
- 02
It fetches the metadata
The matching fetcher calls that database and brings back authors, title, journal, volume, issue, pages, year and DOI as structured data, not as text you have to correct afterwards.
- 03
citeproc-php formats it
The reference is stored as CSL-JSON, then rendered through the style you chose. Change the style later and every citation and bibliography on the site re-renders from the same stored data.
- 04
It lands in the post
Insert it from the block editor sidebar, a citation block, or a shortcode. The bibliography block collects whatever the post actually cited, so the reference list stays in step with the writing.
Editor and front end
The citation goes where you are already writing.
References are a post type of their own, with categories, tags and an archive at /references/. What changes per site is how you reach them.
Block editor
Four blocks ship with the plugin: citation, bibliography, footnote, and a static bibliography for a list you want to fix in place. A sidebar panel sits alongside the post so you can search the library and cite without leaving the draft.
Classic editor
A citations meta box appears on posts and pages, and a filter decides which post types get it, so a custom type can carry citations too.
Anywhere else
Eleven shortcodes cover the surfaces a theme or a page builder needs, including the member-facing library, dashboard and submission screens.
Open front-end submission and contributors can add references for review. A Pending References item appears in the admin menu only while something is waiting, and role maps decide who publishes directly, who submits for review, and who moderates.
Shortcodes
-
[abt_bibliography]The reference list for the current post -
[abt_citation]A single in-text citation -
[abt_footnote]A numbered footnote -
[abt_reference_library]The browsable library -
[abt_single_reference]One reference on its own -
[abt_my_references]A member list with favourites and reading status -
[abt_dashboard]The member dashboard -
[abt_submit_reference]Front-end submission form -
[abt_edit_reference]Front-end editing -
[abt_import_references]Front-end import -
[abt_export_references]Front-end export
Styles and workspace
10,738 styles, and a search that survives them.
Twelve of the common styles ship inside the plugin. The rest are pulled from the public CSL repository the first time you pick one and cached on your server after that. Search by name, then narrow by citation format or subject field.
Around the styles
- Import and export
- BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON, both directions, with duplicate skipping on the way in. Your library is never locked to the site.
- A library each member keeps
- References carry categories and tags, and each member marks their own favourites and reading status from the front-end dashboard.
- Submissions you approve
- Front-end submission is off until you turn it on. Once on, contributor entries queue for review and role maps decide who publishes directly and who moderates.
- Webhooks
- Post to Slack, Discord, Zapier or any endpoint when a reference is created, updated, deleted, published, cited or has its status changed. Each webhook has a test-delivery button.
- Open access and citation counts
- Unpaywall finds a free version of a paywalled paper and OpenCitations returns citation counts. Both are off by default, and Unpaywall wants a contact email before it will run.
- A real developer surface
- A REST API under abt/v1 across thirteen controllers, template overrides your child theme wins, a custom-fields API, and action hooks on every reference and collection event. Analytics and revision history are reachable through that API rather than an admin screen.
Pricing
Two options, and the only real question is how many sites.
Both carry the same plugin. There is no feature held back for the larger licence, because nothing in Academic References checks which licence you hold. Personal covers a single site, Agency covers as many sites as you run, and both are billed once a year. Read the refund policy.
Personal
One site
$199/year
Billed once a year
- Use on one site
- Auto-cite from all eleven metadata sources
- 10,738 CSL styles with search, filters and preview
- Four blocks, the editor sidebar and eleven shortcodes
- BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON import and export
- Webhooks, moderation and the abt/v1 REST API
Agency
Unlimited sites
$499/year
Billed once a year
- Use on every site you run
- Auto-cite from all eleven metadata sources
- 10,738 CSL styles with search, filters and preview
- Four blocks, the editor sidebar and eleven shortcodes
- BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON import and export
- Webhooks, moderation and the abt/v1 REST API
Runs on WordPress 6.0 or later with PHP 8.0 or later. Updates are delivered through your licence key.
Before you buy
What researchers ask first.
Question not listed? Ask the team behind this plugin.
- 01
What does Academic References actually do?
You give it an identifier, it fetches the bibliographic metadata from the matching database, and it renders a formatted citation and bibliography in the CSL style you picked. The reference is stored as structured data, so changing the style later re-renders everything you have already cited.
- 02
Which identifiers can I paste?
A DOI, a PubMed ID or PMCID, an ISBN, an arXiv ID, a bioRxiv or medRxiv DOI or link, an ORCID, or a plain URL. Crossref, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar are also searchable by title or author. You do not choose the source: the plugin reads the string and picks the right one.
- 03
How many citation styles are there, and are they all in the download?
The style index holds 10,738 CSL styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago in both forms, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, Nature and AMA. Twelve of the most common ship inside the plugin. Any other style is downloaded from the public CSL repository the first time you select it and cached on your server, and if that fetch ever fails the plugin falls back to APA rather than breaking the page.
- 04
Can I bring an existing library across?
Yes, as a file. Import and export both handle BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON, from the admin screen or over the REST API, and the importer skips duplicates. Zotero and Mendeley can export all three formats, so a library moves across as a file. There is no screen for connecting a Zotero or Mendeley account directly.
- 05
Does it work with the Classic Editor?
Yes. A citations meta box appears on posts and pages, and a filter lets you add it to custom post types. In the block editor you get four blocks plus a sidebar panel for searching the library while you write, and eleven shortcodes work in either editor.
- 06
Can members add references themselves?
Only if you switch it on. Front-end submission ships disabled, and login is required by default. Once enabled, role maps decide who publishes directly, who submits for review and who moderates, and a Pending References item appears in the admin menu while anything is waiting.
- 07
Is there an API for building on top of it?
There is a REST API under the abt/v1 namespace across thirteen controllers, covering references, collections, auto-cite, citations, styles, import and export, revisions, webhooks and analytics. Templates can be overridden from a child theme, there is a custom-fields API, and action hooks fire on every reference and collection event. Reference analytics and revision history are reachable through that API rather than through an admin screen.
- 08
What does it need to run?
WordPress 6.0 or later and PHP 8.0 or later. The plugin will not activate below either version and tells you why.
- 09
Is it a subscription?
The Personal licence is $199 a year for a single site. The Agency licence is $499 a year for unlimited sites. Those are the only two options, and the same plugin is in both.
Academic References
Paste the DOI. Let the plugin write the reference.
Install it, pick the style your journal wants, and the next citation takes a paste instead of an evening.