---
name: "cit2pmid"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "ncbi-entrez-direct"
version: "24.0.20250523+dfsg-1+b1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/cit2pmid"
---

# cit2pmid(1)

find candidate NCBI PubMed identifiers for a citation

## NAME

cit2pmid - find candidate NCBI PubMed identifiers for a citation

## SYNOPSIS

cit2pmid \[**-debug**\] \[**-strict**\] \[**-remote**\|**-eutils**\|**-local**\|**-exact**\|**-verify**\] \[**-asn** *file*\|**-cit** *file*\] \[**-title**\|**-TITL** *str*\] \[**-author**\|**-FAUT**\|**-LAUT** *str*\] \[**-journal**\|**-JOUR** *str*\] \[**-year**\|**-YEAR**\|**-PDAT** *str*\] \[**-volume**\|**-VOL** *str*\] \[**-issue**\|**-ISS** *str*\] \[**-page**\[**s**\]\|**-PAGE** *str*\]

## DESCRIPTION

cit2pmid tries to identify NCBI PubMed identifiers corresponding to a supplied citation. Some modes search an indexed local NCBI PubMed archive (as prepared by [**archive-pubmed**(1)](/archive-pubmed/1.md)).

## OPTIONS

- **-debug**

  Trace some aspects of execution.

- **-strict**

  Perform stricter matching (only in **-local** mode, at least for now).

- **-remote**

  Use **nquire -citmatch** remote service (default).

- **-eutils**

  Use **esearch** remote service.

- **-local**

  Use **transmute -r2p** (**ref2pmid**) for relaxed search with local archive.

- **-exact**

  Use **xsearch -exact** for strict matching with local archive.

- **-verify**

  Query against local archive with strict (but not **-exact**) matching then confirm positive candidates via **citmatch**.

- **-asn** *file*

  Read NCBI **Pub** ASN.1 from *file* (**-** for standard input). Must be the only query specification.

- **-cit** *file*

  Read **CITATION** XML from *file* (**-** for standard input). Must be the only query specification.

- **-title**\|**-TITL** *str*

  Article title; may need other fields to disambiguate, especially if incomplete.

- **-author** *str*

  Author name (last name, optionally followed by initials); may appear twice, for first and last authors. (Otherwise, taken to be first author only.)

- **-FAUT** *str*

  Explicitly name first author.

- **-LAUT** *str*

  Explicitly name last author.

- **-journal**\|**-JOUR** *str*

  Journal name.

- **-year**\|**-YEAR**\|**-PDAT** *str*

  Publication year.

- **-volume**\|**-VOL** *str*

  Journal volume.

- **-issue**\|**-ISS** *str*

  Journal issue.

- **-page**\[**s**\]\|**-PAGE** *str*

  Journal page, or hyphenated range.

## ENVIRONMENT

- **EDIRECT\_LOCAL\_ARCHIVE**

  Local archive directory to use. Expected to hold an absolute path; mandatory for any mode besides **-remote** and **-eutils**.

- **EDIRECT\_LOCAL\_WORKING**

  Directory to hold intermediate subtrees; expected to hold an absolute path. Defaults to the local archive directory when not set.

## SEE ALSO

[**archive-pubmed**(1)](/archive-pubmed/1.md), [**ecollect**(1)](/ecollect/1.md), [**edict**(1)](/edict/1.md), [**esearch**(1)](/esearch/1.md), [**nquire**(1)](/nquire/1.md), [**ref2pmid**(1)](/ref2pmid/1.md), [**transmute**(1)](/transmute/1.md), [**xfetch**(1)](/xfetch/1.md), [**xlink**(1)](/xlink/1.md), [**xsearch**(1)](/xsearch/1.md).