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Journal Abbrev

  • 1.9k installs
  • 29 repo stars
  • Updated August 2, 2026
  • agents365-ai/365-skills

journal-abbrev is an agent skill for use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and iso 4/medline abbreviations, processing bibtex files for journal name.

About

The journal-abbrev skill is designed for use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name. Never guess abbreviations — even common journals have non-obvious abbreviations. | Command | |---------------|---------| | Abbreviate a journal name | python3 jabbrv.py abbrev "Nature Medicine" | | Expand an abbreviation | python3 jabbrv.py expand "Nat. Invoke when the user looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name standardization, or answering questions about 期刊缩写/杂志缩写.

  • Success: { "ok": true, "data": ..., "meta": { "schema_version", "cli_version", "cache", "latency_ms" } }.
  • Partial success (batch): { "ok": "partial", "data": { "succeeded": [...], "failed": [...] }, "meta": {...} }.
  • Error: { "ok": false, "error": { "code", "message", "retryable", ... }, "meta": {...} }.
  • Branch on error.code + error.retryable, not exit code alone. Exit 1.
  • bib --idempotency-key <token> persists the success envelope next to.

Journal Abbrev by the numbers

  • 1,921 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +128 installs in the week ending Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #41 of 733 Git & Pull Requests skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

journal-abbrev capabilities & compatibility

Capabilities
success: { "ok": true, "data": ..., "meta": { "s · partial success (batch): { "ok": "partial", "dat · error: { "ok": false, "error": { "code", "messag · branch on error.code + error.retryable, not exit
From the docs

What journal-abbrev says it does

Use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name standardization,
SKILL.md
Use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal n
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/agents365-ai/365-skills --skill journal-abbrev

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs1.9k
repo stars29
Last updatedAugust 2, 2026
Repositoryagents365-ai/365-skills

How do I use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and iso 4/medline abbreviations, processing bibtex files for journal name?

Use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name.

Who is it for?

Developers using journal abbrev workflows documented in SKILL.md.

Skip if: Skip when the task falls outside journal-abbrev scope or needs a different stack.

When should I use this skill?

User looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name standardization, or answering questions about 期刊缩写/杂志缩写.

What you get

Completed journal-abbrev workflow with documented commands, files, and expected deliverables.

  • Abbreviated daily journal entry

By the numbers

  • 382 installs on skills.sh
  • Ranked #5 in agents365-ai/365-skills

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Journal Abbreviation Lookup

Look up journal/magazine name abbreviations using a multi-source cascade: JabRef database (~25K journals) → AbbrevISO API (ISO 4) → NLM Catalog (MEDLINE).

Critical rule: Always use jabbrv.py for lookups. Never guess abbreviations — even common journals have non-obvious abbreviations.

Quick Reference

User wants...Command
Abbreviate a journal namepython3 jabbrv.py abbrev "Nature Medicine"
Expand an abbreviationpython3 jabbrv.py expand "Nat. Med."
Auto-detect directionpython3 jabbrv.py lookup "J. Am. Chem. Soc."
Fuzzy search (paginated)python3 jabbrv.py search "biolog chem" --limit 10 --offset 0
Process a .bib filepython3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib
Preview .bib changes (no write)python3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib --dry-run
Explicit .bib output pathpython3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib --output out.bib
Expand .bib abbreviationspython3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib --expand
Replay-safe .bib (retry returns cached envelope)python3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib --idempotency-key run-001
Batch text listpython3 jabbrv.py batch journals.txt
Batch as NDJSON streampython3 jabbrv.py batch journals.txt --stream
Inspect cache statepython3 jabbrv.py cache status
Download missing cache filespython3 jabbrv.py cache update
Preview what update would fetchpython3 jabbrv.py cache update --dry-run
Atomic rebuild (destructive, with audit marker)python3 jabbrv.py cache rebuild --yes
Preview rebuild (no delete)python3 jabbrv.py cache rebuild --dry-run
Suppress stderr progresspython3 jabbrv.py --quiet cache update
Machine-readable CLI contractpython3 jabbrv.py schema
Schema for one subcommandpython3 jabbrv.py schema lookup

Output format

Stdout is a stable JSON envelope when the CLI is not attached to a terminal (piped or captured by an agent), and a human table/indented view when run on a TTY. To force a format: --format json|table|human|auto. --json remains as a back-compat alias for --format json. Flags may appear before or after the subcommand.

Envelope shape (always the same fields for every subcommand):

  • Success: { "ok": true, "data": ..., "meta": { "schema_version", "cli_version", "cache", "latency_ms" } }
  • Partial success (batch): { "ok": "partial", "data": { "succeeded": [...], "failed": [...] }, "meta": {...} }
  • Error: { "ok": false, "error": { "code", "message", "retryable", ... }, "meta": {...} }

Exit codes

CodeMeaning
0success (including partial success)
1runtime / upstream error
2validation / bad input (missing file, bad flag)
3not found (the looked-up journal does not exist)

Error codes (inside error.code)

CodeRetryableExitMeaning
not_foundno3Lookup completed but no source matched
upstream_unavailableyes1One or more upstream APIs failed transiently; the lookup could not be concluded. Carries error.sources[] listing each failure. Retry later.
file_not_foundno2Input file path does not exist
validation_errorno2Bad argument or flag combination
runtime_erroryes1Unexpected internal error

Branch on error.code + error.retryable rather than exit code alone — exit 1 covers both upstream_unavailable and runtime_error. Full machine-readable listing: python3 jabbrv.py schemadata.error_codes.

Environment variables (set by host, not by agent argv)

VariableEffect
JABBRV_CACHE_DIROverride the cache directory (default: <install>/cache). Useful in sandboxes where the install tree is read-only.
JABBRV_OFFLINETruthy (1/true/yes/on) skips AbbrevISO and NLM; only the local JabRef cache is consulted. Misses become definitive not_found (not retryable) since the host has declared upstream off-limits. meta.offline: true appears in every envelope so callers can see the policy.
NO_COLORhttps://no-color.org convention. Any non-empty value disables color. No ANSI is emitted today; meta.no_color: true appears when set so callers can see the policy.

Trust boundary: these are read from the process environment, not from arguments. The host or sandbox sets them; the agent cannot override them via argv. Schema introspection: python3 jabbrv.py schemadata.global_env.

Retries, idempotency, and destructive intent

  • Branch on `error.code` + `error.retryable`, not exit code alone. Exit 1

covers both upstream_unavailable (retry) and runtime_error (retry once, then escalate).

  • `bib --idempotency-key <token>` persists the success envelope next to

the output file as <output>.<token>.envelope.json. A retry with the same key returns that envelope with meta.idempotent_replay: true instead of rerunning the rewrite. Token must match [A-Za-z0-9._-]{1,64}.

  • `cache rebuild` is atomic — downloads stage into a sibling directory

and the swap only happens if every file succeeded. If any fails, the existing cache is preserved and the response is upstream_unavailable (retryable). Add --yes to record meta.confirmed: true for audit policies; the CLI itself never prompts, so --yes is not a gate.

Workflow

Step 1: Detect Intent

IntentAction
Single journal name/abbreviationUse lookup (auto-detect) or abbrev/expand (explicit direction)
"What's the abbreviation for X?"Use abbrev
"What journal is X?"Use expand
Partial or uncertain nameUse search for fuzzy matching
Fix journal names in .bib fileUse bib
List of journals to processUse batch

Step 2: Execute

Run the appropriate jabbrv.py command. The script handles:

1. Local cache lookup (instant, ~25K journals from JabRef) 2. AbbrevISO API fallback (algorithmic ISO 4 abbreviation, forward only) 3. NLM Catalog fallback (biomedical journals, bidirectional)

First run downloads JabRef CSV cache files automatically (~2-5 MB).

Step 3: Present Results

  • Show the full name, abbreviation, and source
  • Note the standard (ISO 4 vs MEDLINE) when relevant
  • For .bib processing: show the change summary before confirming

ISO 4 vs MEDLINE

Two common abbreviation standards exist:

StandardPeriodsExampleUsed by
ISO 4YesNat. Med.Most publishers, BibTeX
MEDLINENoNat MedPubMed, NLM databases

JabRef provides ISO 4 style. NLM Catalog provides MEDLINE style. AbbrevISO computes ISO 4 algorithmically from LTWA (List of Title Word Abbreviations).

Common Abbreviation Patterns

WordAbbreviationWordAbbreviation
JournalJ.InternationalInt.
AmericanAm.EuropeanEur.
Science/SciencesSci.Medicine/MedicalMed.
Biology/BiologicalBiol.Chemistry/ChemicalChem.
Physics/PhysicalPhys.EngineeringEng.
ResearchRes.Review/ReviewsRev.
SocietySoc.NationalNatl.
ProceedingsProc.TransactionsTrans.
LettersLett.CommunicationsCommun.
AppliedAppl.ComputationalComput.

Note: Single-word titles (e.g., "Nature", "Science", "Cell") are NOT abbreviated per ISO 4 rules.

Integration Examples

With Zotero

# Export BibTeX from Zotero, then standardize journal names
zot export COLLECTION_KEY --format bibtex > refs.bib
python3 jabbrv.py bib refs.bib

With LaTeX

# Before compiling, ensure all journal names are abbreviated
python3 jabbrv.py bib references.bib
# Use the output file (references_abbrev.bib) in your LaTeX document

Batch Processing

Create a text file with one journal name per line:

Nature Medicine
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Then run:

python3 jabbrv.py batch journals.txt

Troubleshooting

IssueSolution
"No result found"Try search with partial name for fuzzy matching
Cache download failsCheck network connection, retry with cache update (or cache rebuild to force)
Wrong abbreviation styleJabRef = ISO 4 (with dots), NLM = MEDLINE (no dots)
BibTeX field not detectedEnsure format is journal = {Name} (curly braces)

Related skills

How it compares

Choose journal-abbrev over full retrospective or PM skills when you only need a short daily progress blurb, not sprint metrics or ticket sync.

FAQ

What does journal-abbrev do?

Use when looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name.

When should I use journal-abbrev?

User looking up journal or magazine name abbreviations, converting between full names and ISO 4/MEDLINE abbreviations, processing BibTeX files for journal name standardization, or answering questions about 期刊缩写/杂志缩写.

Is journal-abbrev safe to install?

Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

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