BYTETOOLS

Reference List Sorter

Alphabetise a bibliography by author surname, remove duplicate references, renumber the list and re-wrap every entry with a proper hanging indent.

Paste your bibliography above, or load the sample, to sort it.

Entries that begin “Surname, Initial” are filed under the surname; entries that begin with a title are filed on the first significant word, ignoring a leading A, An or The. Accents are folded for sorting only — your text is never changed. Everything happens in your browser.

What is the Reference List Sorter?

Every style guide wants the bibliography in alphabetical order by first-author surname, and doing that by hand in a word processor is slow and easy to get wrong.

  • Sorts on first-author surname, ignoring a leading A, An or The on titles
  • Locale-aware sorting with accents folded, so Ötzi files under O
  • Removes exact duplicates and reports how many it dropped
  • Renumbers as [1] or 1. after sorting, or strips existing markers
  • Optional hanging indent at any wrap width and indent depth
  • A to Z, Z to A, shortest first, or deduplicate without reordering

How to use the Reference List Sorter

  1. 1

    Paste your bibliography, one reference per line or with a blank line between entries.

  2. 2

    Choose the sort order and whether to renumber the list as [1] or as 1.

  3. 3

    Tick the boxes to remove duplicates, add a hanging indent or space entries out.

  4. 4

    Set the wrap width and indent depth if you turned the hanging indent on.

  5. 5

    Copy the sorted list or download it as a plain text file.

About the Reference List Sorter

Every style guide wants the bibliography in alphabetical order by first-author surname, and doing that by hand in a word processor is slow and easy to get wrong. Paste your list here and it is sorted in one pass, with duplicates removed, existing numbering handled, and the option to re-wrap every entry with a proper hanging indent.

Entries that open with a surname and a comma sort on the surname. Entries that begin with a title sort on the first significant word, ignoring a leading A, An or The, exactly as the major styles require. Accents are folded for sorting only — so Ötzi files under O — which means your actual text is never altered.

The whole thing runs locally in your browser and nothing is uploaded, which matters when the bibliography belongs to an unpublished thesis or a paper under review. Give it one reference per line, or separate multi-line entries with a blank line, and it works out which of the two layouts you used.

Frequently asked questions

How do I alphabetise a reference list?

Sort on the first author's surname, treating the entry as it appears rather than on the first character of the line. This tool detects the surname-comma pattern automatically, so numbered lists and bullet markers do not push entries into the wrong place.

Does it ignore A, An and The at the start of a title?

Yes. When an entry begins with a title rather than an author, a leading A, An or The is skipped for sorting purposes, which is what APA, MLA and Chicago all ask for. The entry itself is left exactly as you wrote it.

Will it remove duplicate references?

It removes exact duplicates by default, comparing entries with case, accents, punctuation and any list marker ignored. The counters above the output show how many references went in, how many came out and how many duplicates were dropped.

Does it work with APA, MLA and Chicago references?

Yes, because it sorts the text you already have rather than reformatting it into a style. Any style whose entries start with the author surname or the title will sort correctly, and nothing inside the reference is rewritten.

What is a hanging indent?

It is the layout where the first line of a reference sits flush left and every following line is indented, which most citation styles require. Tick the re-wrap option and set the indent in spaces to produce it as plain text.

Related tools