#!/usr/bin/env python3 f='bibliography.bib' indexes=[] flag = False with open(f) as fh: for line in fh.readlines(): if flag is True: print(line.rstrip()) if line[0] == '}': flag = False if line[0] == '@': index = line[line.find('{')+1:line.find(',')] if index.strip() in indexes: continue else: indexes.append(index.strip()) flag = True print(line.rstrip())