This paper presents the RefUTU framework for automatic bibliography database generation for freely formatted reference listings. Its three stages of reference extraction, partitioning, and formation are explained, implemented, and trialed on test data. The results showcase detection accuracy and discuss the possibility of using pre-existing solutions independently at each stage. It is concluded that the framework provides an improvement over the laborious and error-prone work of manual reference handling often required for example in the conduction of systematic literature reviews.