MedRef: Medical Reference Citation Docker Image

This Docker image provides a lightweight, web-based tool for generating formatted medical citations from DOIs. The interface allows users to paste or input a DOI, select a citation format, and obtain a properly styled reference in real time. It includes support for major citation styles used in medical and scientific publishing.

📦 How to Run the Container

This image can be executed in the following ways:

1. HTTP Mode

bash docker run -d --name test_medref -p 8080:80 humbertovvaronafong/medref

2. HTTPS with Automatic Certificates (Let's Encrypt)

bash docker run -d -p 8443:443 \ --name test_medref \ -e REDIRECT_TO_HTTPS=yes \ -e AUTOCERT=yes \ humbertovvaronafong/medref

3. HTTPS with Manual Certificates

bash docker run -d --name test_medref \ -e REDIRECT_TO_HTTPS=yes \ -p 8443:443 \ humbertovvaronafong/medref

4. Docker Compose Example

You can also use Docker Compose to manage the container:

yaml version: "3.8" services: medref: image: humbertovvaronafong/medref container_name: test_medref ports: - "8080:80" - "8443:443" environment: - REDIRECT_TO_HTTPS=yes - AUTOCERT=yes restart: unless-stopped

Start the service:

bash docker-compose up -d

🌐 Access in Browser

Use your browser to access the server:

HTTP Mode

http://192.168.1.4:8080/

HTTPS Mode

https://192.168.1.4:8443/

🩺 Health Check

Inspect container health:

bash docker inspect --format='{{json .State.Health}}' test_medref | jq

📃 Logs

To view logs:

bash docker logs test_medref

⚙️ Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | Default Value | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | | TIMEZONE | Sets the container timezone | UTC | | REDIRECT_TO_HTTPS | Enables HTTP to HTTPS redirection (yes or no) | no | | AUTOCERT | Enables automatic HTTPS certificate generation (yes or no) | no |

🎓 Citation Features

The web app interface supports citation generation using the following formats:

• AMA (American Medical Association)
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• ISO 690
• Vancouver
• MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Harvard
• ABNT (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas)
• Chicago Author-Date

These formats are selectable from a dropdown menu and automatically applied to the DOI input using citeproc-js.

Additional functionalities include:

• DOI validation and formatting
• Real-time citation output
• BibTeX output block
• Export and sort citation history
• Clipboard integration (Paste and Copy)

🔗 Main repository

• Zenodo Archive: https://zenodo.org/records/15399679

👤 Author

Humberto Vinlay Varona-Fong 📧 hvinlay.varona@gmail.com

🪪 License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. You are free to use, modify, and distribute without restriction.

How to cite

Varona-Fong, H. V. (2025). MedRef: Medical Reference Citation Docker Image (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15399679