Files with the .ris extension were developed by RIS (Research Information Systems). They are files that contain information about citations used mostly in academic and scientific documents. The citation information in the RIS file includes the title, author, publication date, publisher, keywords, issue number if any.

Files containing the .ris file extension are most commonly associated with ASCII text files, which are used to exchange citation information between multiple platforms and computer applications.

The RIS file format is supported by a variety of reference management applications, digital libraries, and other software programs that export citation information.