Bibliography Sorter
Paste your references, one to a line or separated by blank lines. They are put in alphabetical order, with duplicates and list numbers removed, ready to paste back into your work.
Entries are sorted by the text before the year. Entries with the same author are put in order of year. Check the result against your style guide, because rules differ between Harvard variants.
Worked examples
Sorting and de-duplicating
Smith (2019), Adams (2021), Smith (2015), Adams (2021) again
Adams (2021), Smith (2015), Smith (2019)
The repeat of Adams is removed and the two Smith entries are in year order.
Leading article
The Open University (2020) ...
Filed under O
Between Adams and Smith, O comes before S.
About Bibliography Sorter
Most referencing styles, including the Harvard styles used at many UK universities, ask for the reference list to be in alphabetical order by the first author's surname. Sorting a long list by hand is slow, and it is easy to miss a reference that has been added twice. Paste your list here and it is sorted and checked for repeats in a moment.
Put the references one to a line, or separate them with blank lines if each one runs over several lines. List numbers and bullets such as 1. and [3] are removed. An entry that matches an earlier one apart from capital letters, spaces, punctuation or accents is counted as a duplicate and dropped, and listed so that you can check it was right. Entries with the same author are put in order of year, oldest first, and a leading A, An or The is ignored when sorting. The tool does not check the references themselves or change their style.
How to use Bibliography Sorter
- Paste your references, one per line or separated by blank lines.
- Choose whether to remove list numbers, remove duplicates and ignore a leading A, An or The.
- Read the sorted list and the list of removed duplicates.
- Copy the sorted list, or save it as a text file.
Common uses
- The reference list at the end of an essay or dissertation
- Merging lists from several sources or authors
- Tidying a list copied from a reference manager
- Spotting references you have cited twice
Frequently asked questions
How are the references sorted?
By the text before the year, which is normally the author. Capital letters and punctuation are ignored. If two entries have the same author, the earlier year comes first.
What counts as a duplicate?
Two entries that are the same once capital letters, accents, spaces and punctuation are ignored. Entries that differ in a word or a number are kept.
Why ignore A, An and The?
For a work with no author, Harvard styles sort by the title and ignore a starting article. So The Open University (2020) is filed under O.
Can it format Harvard references?
No. It only sorts and de-duplicates. For formatting use a citation generator, and check the result against your university guide.
Is my list stored?
No. It stays on the page and is gone when you close it.