# Copy reference to be pasted in e.g. Email

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560>\
**Category:** Features\
**Created:** [February 18, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560 "2021-02-18T12:21:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Krzmbrzl](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/krzmbrzl/32/883_2.png) [@Krzmbrzl](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Krzmbrzl)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/1 "2021-02-18T12:21:19Z")

</div>

I often end up wanting to send someone a reference that I have in JabRef. We usually do this in a form similar to what you find on the publisher’s site under “cite this” (e.g. J. Phys. Chem. A 2018, 122, 2598−2603). So it would be nice if I was able to copy such a summary from JabRef instead of having to open the PDF or the publisher’s website to find the String I can copy&paste.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mlep](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/mlep/32/387_2.png) [@mlep](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/mlep)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/2 "2021-02-18T13:05:38Z")

</div>

Hello Robert,

In recent versions of JabRef, you can copy the preview (right-click “Copy preview” or Ctrl+Shift+C).  
Does it help?

Cheers.

_JabRef is helping you on a regular basis? Please, [find a way of giving back](https://docs.jabref.org/faqcontributing)._

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Krzmbrzl](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/krzmbrzl/32/883_2.png) [@Krzmbrzl](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Krzmbrzl)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/3 "2021-02-18T13:58:59Z")

</div>

Thanks for the hint. Unfortunately the preview is way too verbose for my purposes as it contains the full title and also the abstract. I am really looking for a short and concise one-liner somewhat similar to the example I gave.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mlep](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/mlep/32/387_2.png) [@mlep](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/mlep)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/4 "2021-02-18T14:15:20Z")

</div>

I do not think this is possible in JabRef right away.  
But you can:

- select and copy part of the preview.
- redefine the preview (you can even have different preview formats and switch between them). See [Entry preview setup - JabRef](https://docs.jabref.org/setup/preview)

Cheers.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Krzmbrzl](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/krzmbrzl/32/883_2.png) [@Krzmbrzl](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Krzmbrzl)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/5 "2021-02-18T14:39:08Z")

</div>

> [@mlep](#):
>
> I do not think this is possible in JabRef right away.

Yeah I thought so. Thus the feature request 🙂

Copying from the preview is actually a good workaround. I usually like keeping the preview closed while browsing but opening it and copying from it is certainly possible.  
It’d be nice to achieve this via the copy context menu entry though 🙂

Changing the preview just for that is not a good option for me though, since I do like the preview as it is inside JabRef.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![teertinker](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/teertinker/32/816_2.png) [@teertinker](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/teertinker)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 12:22pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/6 "2021-02-19T12:22:56Z")

</div>

I think your wish is not implemented straight forward, but your aim can be achieved quiet easily:

Either:

- Customize your preview
  - you can leave the existing preview unchanged and add a separate line with your citation pattern. That is also my workflow.

or

- you create a new preview with your custom citation pattern. You can quickly switch between both with [F9]. So you need just to hit F9, (Ctrl+Shift+C) and F9 for the whole process.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Krzmbrzl](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/krzmbrzl/32/883_2.png) [@Krzmbrzl](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Krzmbrzl)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/copy-reference-to-be-pasted-in-e-g-email/2560/7 "2021-02-19T13:21:27Z")

</div>

These are actually very neat ideas. Thanks you! 🙂