Publish or Perish is Anne-Wil Harzing’s free citation analysis tool. Researchers use it to compute h-index, m-index, and total citations from Google Scholar, Scopus, and half a dozen other databases. It is free, it is powerful, and it is showing its age. Windows is the first-class target, macOS is a native port, and Linux users run it through Wine. Here are seven Publish or Perish alternatives for desktop that either match its citation-metric focus or replace it with a modern reference manager.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zotero | Open-source reference management | Yes, 300 MB free | Free (storage tiered) | Web clipper and group libraries |
| Mendeley Reference Manager | Elsevier-integrated workflows | Yes | Free | Auto-populates from PDFs |
| JabRef | BibTeX-first academic writers | Yes | Free | Native BibTeX editing |
| EndNote | Institutional labs with existing licenses | Trial | ~$300 one-time | Deep Word integration |
| Papers | Mac-first researchers | 30-day trial | $5/mo | Beautiful reading and highlighting |
| Citavi | Windows scholars who need note-taking | Trial | ~$180 one-time | Ideas and notes alongside references |
| BibDesk | macOS BibTeX users | Yes | Free | AppleScript automation |
Why researchers leave Publish or Perish
The UI. Publish or Perish is functional but its Windows Forms UI feels a decade behind Zotero and Mendeley. Search results dump into a spreadsheet without visual hierarchy, and exporting is a right-click affair.
The scope. Publish or Perish computes metrics. It does not manage references, hold PDFs, generate bibliographies, or annotate papers. Researchers who need a full workflow either run Publish or Perish alongside a reference manager or move to a tool that does both.
The Linux story. Native Linux is unsupported. Wine works, but the app is less stable and the file dialogs behave oddly. Zotero and JabRef both have first-class Linux builds.
The database limits. Publish or Perish queries Google Scholar and Scopus via their public interfaces, which throttle heavy queries and occasionally block IPs that look automated. Institutional researchers with API keys to Web of Science or Scopus get more mileage from Zotero or EndNote which support authenticated queries.
1. Zotero — Best open-source reference manager
Zotero is the free open-source reference manager built at George Mason University. It captures references from any web page via a browser extension, imports and organizes PDFs, and generates bibliographies in every citation style. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Where it falls short: Citation metrics (h-index, i10-index) are not built in. The Zotero-Publish-or-Perish plugin bridges the gap, but you are running two tools.
Pricing:
- Free: 300 MB of storage
- 2 GB: $20/year
- 6 GB: $60/year
- Unlimited: $120/year
- vs Publish or Perish: same free tier for software, storage is tiered
Migrating from Publish or Perish: Export your Publish or Perish results as RIS or BibTeX and import into Zotero. Citation counts do not transfer.
Download: zotero.org
Bottom line: Pick Zotero as your primary reference manager, with a Publish or Perish sidecar for metrics. Skip it if metrics are the only thing you need.
2. Mendeley Reference Manager — Best for Elsevier-integrated workflows
Mendeley Reference Manager is Elsevier’s cloud-first reference manager. It replaces the older Mendeley Desktop with a modern electron app. Notable strengths: automatic PDF metadata extraction, in-line PDF annotations, group libraries, and native integration with ScienceDirect and Scopus for one-click references.
Where it falls short: Elsevier owns your data. Group libraries are limited to 5 members on the free tier. Cloud sync is mandatory; offline-only mode is not supported.
Pricing:
- Free: 2 GB storage
- Institutional: available through university licenses
- vs Publish or Perish: same free tier, more polished UI, Elsevier ownership
Migrating from Publish or Perish: Export RIS from Publish or Perish and import into Mendeley. Reference data transfers cleanly.
Download: mendeley.com/download-reference-manager
Bottom line: Pick Mendeley if your lab already lives inside Elsevier. Skip it if data ownership matters.
3. JabRef — Best for BibTeX-first academic writers
JabRef is the reference manager built specifically for BibTeX users. Every entry is a native BibTeX record, edits round-trip cleanly to LaTeX projects, and the UI never abstracts away the underlying .bib file. Open source, runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Where it falls short: Not focused on PDF management or citation metrics. Fetching h-index numbers requires a separate lookup.
Pricing:
- Free (MIT license)
- vs Publish or Perish: comparable free tier, BibTeX-focused, no built-in metrics
Migrating from Publish or Perish: Export as BibTeX and import into JabRef. Native format, high fidelity.
Download: jabref.org
Bottom line: Pick JabRef if your papers are LaTeX and your bibliography is a .bib file. Skip it for PDF-heavy workflows.
4. EndNote — Best for institutional labs with existing licenses
EndNote is the incumbent reference manager for many life-science and clinical research labs. It is the deepest Word integration in the category, supports institutional-scale group libraries via EndNote Web, and has a citation-metrics module.
Where it falls short: Expensive if the institution does not already provide it. UI feels enterprise and dated.
Pricing:
- Trial: 30-day
- Individual: $299 one-time (Windows/macOS)
- Student: $149
- vs Publish or Perish: significantly pricier, deep Word integration, metrics included
Migrating from Publish or Perish: RIS import works. Reference details transfer; citation counts do not.
Download: endnote.com
Bottom line: Pick EndNote if your university already licenses it. Skip it as a personal purchase.
5. Papers — Best on Mac
Papers is the reference manager beloved by Mac-native researchers. Its reading pane is polished, PDF annotations sync across devices, and the citation library integrates with Word and Pages. Available for Windows and macOS.
Where it falls short: Subscription-only. No free tier beyond the 30-day trial. Windows client feels less native than the Mac original.
Pricing:
- Trial: 30-day
- Personal: $5/month or $36/year
- vs Publish or Perish: paid subscription, better reading experience
Migrating from Publish or Perish: RIS import supported.
Download: papersapp.com
Bottom line: Pick Papers on Mac when the reading experience matters. Skip it on Windows or Linux.
6. Citavi — Best for Windows scholars who need note-taking
Citavi is the Windows-native reference manager that blends references with knowledge organization. Alongside citation records, you keep quote fragments, categorized notes, and outlines that grow into your paper draft. Popular in German-speaking academic circles.
Where it falls short: Windows-only (a web version exists but is not full-featured). Learning curve is steeper because the note structure is opinionated.
Pricing:
- Trial: 100 references free
- Citavi 6: ~$180 one-time
- Citavi Web: $9/month subscription
- vs Publish or Perish: paid, richer note-taking, weaker citation metrics
Migrating from Publish or Perish: RIS import works.
Download: citavi.com
Bottom line: Pick Citavi if your writing process is note-heavy and you draft in Word on Windows. Skip it on Mac.
7. BibDesk — Best for macOS BibTeX users
BibDesk is the free open-source BibTeX manager for macOS. AppleScript automation, deep Finder integration, and native BibTeX editing make it the go-to for Mac researchers writing in LaTeX.
Where it falls short: macOS only. No collaboration features. Development pace has slowed.
Pricing:
- Free (BSD license)
- vs Publish or Perish: same free tier, macOS-first, BibTeX-focused
Migrating from Publish or Perish: Export as BibTeX and open in BibDesk.
Download: bibdesk.sourceforge.io
Bottom line: Pick BibDesk on Mac when writing LaTeX papers. Skip it elsewhere.
How to choose
Pick Zotero if you want an open-source reference manager plus metrics via the Publish or Perish plugin. It is the default recommendation.
Pick Mendeley if your discipline lives inside Elsevier’s journals.
Pick JabRef or BibDesk if your writing is LaTeX-first.
Pick EndNote only if your institution already pays for it.
Pick Papers on Mac if reading and annotating PDFs is your primary workflow.
Pick Citavi on Windows when references and notes need to live together.
Stay on Publish or Perish as a sidecar for citation metrics regardless of which manager you pick. Its niche is well-defined and no full reference manager matches it for pure metric queries against Google Scholar.
FAQ
Is Publish or Perish free? Yes. Anne-Wil Harzing distributes Publish or Perish at no cost from harzing.com. There are no paid tiers.
Which reference manager has the best free tier? Zotero (300 MB storage), JabRef (no cloud, unlimited local), and BibDesk (macOS, no restrictions) are all free with no seat limits. Mendeley’s free tier includes 2 GB of cloud storage.
Can I combine Publish or Perish with Zotero? Yes. Publish or Perish exports RIS and BibTeX, both of which Zotero imports natively. Researchers commonly use Publish or Perish for metric queries and Zotero for reference management.
What is the best Publish or Perish alternative for Linux? Zotero, JabRef, and Papers (via the web client) all support Linux natively. Publish or Perish itself runs under Wine but is not officially supported.
Do reference managers include h-index calculation? EndNote includes an in-app h-index calculation for author libraries. Zotero and JabRef require a plugin or an external query. Publish or Perish remains the strongest dedicated tool for metric analysis.
