An easy way to run Bibliometrix on Windows. ➡️ Install Bibliometrix Desktop and run. No separate R or Rtools needed.
Platform note: The current release targets Windows x64. macOS and Linux packaging are planned for later.
Bibliometrix is excellent for bibliometric analysis, but installing R, package dependencies, and Rtools is a hurdle for students. This project ships an all-on-one Bibliometrix. Just install and run.
- Download the latest release from GitHub Releases.
- Run the installer (no administrator rights required; installs under your user profile).
- Start Bibliometrix Desktop from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut. Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny opens in your browser.
Logs (if something goes wrong) are written to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Bibliometrix Desktop\launcher.log.
Windows SmartScreen (and some browsers or antivirus tools) may warn that the app is from an “unknown publisher.” That is common for new, unsigned open-source installers and does not mean the file is malware.
SmartScreen (“Windows protected your PC”):
- Click More info.
- Click Run anyway.
Microsoft Edge / Chrome download warning:
- Open the browser’s downloads list.
- Choose Keep / Keep anyway (Edge may ask you to confirm under the ... menu).
Only install builds downloaded from the official GitHub Releases page for this project. If your organisation’s antivirus still blocks the file, ask IT to allowlist it, or open a GitHub Issue.
No. The installer includes everything you need to run Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny.
Yes. This app launches official Bibliometrix / Biblioshiny.
Yes. This is a powerful application. It may take a short while to open in your Browser,
Each desktop release ships with a working Bibliometrix version (so the app works offline). When online, the app checks for a newer version of bibliometrix at most once per week and installs it into the user’s library if available.
Desktop wrapper updates are separate: the launcher compares version.txt on this GitHub repo and notifies users to download a new installer from Releases.
I am a university lecturer. I encourage students to use Bibliometrix for literature analysis and wanted a one-click option. I have also used Bibliometrix in peer-reviewed literature.
This project is distributed under the GNU GPL v3. Bibliometrix and R retain their own licences; see upstream projects for details.
- Installer / desktop wrapper: GitHub Issues
- Bibliometrix itself: contact the Bibliometrix authors / upstream repo
- Bibliometrix by Massimo Aria and colleagues
- R Core Team and CRAN binary package maintainers
End users can ignore this section.
- Windows x64
- Python 3 +
pip install -r requirements-build.txt - Inno Setup 6+ (per-user or machine-wide install)
- Portable R under
R-Portable\(PortableApps-style layout). Use a current R 4.4/4.5 Windows build so CRAN still publishes recentbibliometrixbinaries. Older R (e.g. 4.2.0) can only bake older binary package versions.
From the repo root:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build_windows.ps1This will:
- Bake
bibliometrix(CRAN binaries) intoR-Portableviascripts/bake_packages.R - Trim non-runtime docs/tests/Tcl trees via
scripts/trim_r_portable.ps1 - Compile the onedir launcher with PyInstaller (
--onedir --noconsole) and stagerun_bibliometrix.exe+_internal\at the repo root - Compile
installer_config.issintoOutput\BibliometrixSetup_<version>.exe
Useful flags:
-SkipBake- skip package baking (only if already baked)-SkipInstaller- build the launcher exe only
.\R-Portable\bin\Rscript.exe .\scripts\bake_packages.R
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\trim_r_portable.ps1
pip install -r requirements-build.txt
pyinstaller --onedir --noconsole --icon=app_icon.ico --name run_bibliometrix run_bibliometrix.py
# Copy dist\run_bibliometrix\run_bibliometrix.exe and dist\run_bibliometrix\_internal to the repo root,
# then compile installer_config.iss in Inno SetupBump version.txt before each release. Publish only the setup exe on GitHub Releases (not the whole R-Portable tree).