diff --git a/pubs/command_utils.py b/pubs/command_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..445f203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pubs/command_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+"""Contains code that is reused over commands, like argument definition
+or help messages.
+"""
+
+
+def add_doc_add_arguments(parser, move=True):
+    doc_add_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    doc_add_group.add_argument(
+        '-L', '--link', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='link',
+        default=None,
+        help="don't copy document files, just create a link.")
+    doc_add_group.add_argument(
+        '-C', '--copy', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='copy',
+        default=None,
+        help="copy document (keep source).")
+    if move:
+        doc_add_group.add_argument(
+            '-M', '--move', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='move',
+            default=None,
+            help="move document (copy and remove source).")
diff --git a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
index 9487d05..4510db7 100644
--- a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from .. import apis
 from .. import pretty
 from .. import utils
 from .. import endecoder
+from ..command_utils import add_doc_add_arguments
 from ..completion import CommaSeparatedTagsCompletion
 
 
@@ -34,19 +35,7 @@ def parser(subparsers, conf):
                         ).completer = CommaSeparatedTagsCompletion(conf)
     parser.add_argument('-k', '--citekey', help='citekey associated with the paper;\nif not provided, one will be generated automatically.',
                         default=None, type=p3.u_maybe)
-    doc_add_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
-    doc_add_group.add_argument(
-        '-L', '--link', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='link',
-        default=None,
-        help="don't copy document files, just create a link.")
-    doc_add_group.add_argument(
-        '-M', '--move', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='move',
-        default=None,
-        help="move document instead of of copying.")
-    doc_add_group.add_argument(
-        '-C', '--copy', action='store_const', dest='doc_add', const='copy',
-        default=None,
-        help="copy document instead of of move.")
+    add_doc_add_arguments(parser)
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/pubs/commands/import_cmd.py b/pubs/commands/import_cmd.py
index fa6236e..8f11bc9 100644
--- a/pubs/commands/import_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/commands/import_cmd.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ from .. import endecoder
 from .. import bibstruct
 from .. import color
 from ..paper import Paper
-
 from ..uis import get_ui
 from ..content import system_path, read_text_file
+from ..command_utils import add_doc_add_arguments
 
 
 _ABORT_USE_IGNORE_MSG = "Aborting import. Use --ignore-malformed to ignore."
@@ -18,18 +18,22 @@ _IGNORING_MSG = " Ignoring it."
 
 
 def parser(subparsers, conf):
-    parser = subparsers.add_parser('import',
-            help='import paper(s) to the repository')
-    parser.add_argument('bibpath',
-            help='path to bibtex, bibtexml or bibyaml file (or directory)')
-    parser.add_argument('-L', '--link', action='store_false', dest='copy', default=True,
-            help="don't copy document files, just create a link.")
-    parser.add_argument('keys', nargs='*',
-            help="one or several keys to import from the file")
-    parser.add_argument('-O', '--overwrite', action='store_true', default=False,
-            help="Overwrite keys already in the database")
-    parser.add_argument('-i', '--ignore-malformed', action='store_true', default=False,
-            help="Ignore malformed and unreadable files and entries")
+    parser = subparsers.add_parser(
+        'import',
+        help='import paper(s) to the repository')
+    parser.add_argument(
+        'bibpath',
+        help='path to bibtex, bibtexml or bibyaml file (or directory)')
+    parser.add_argument(
+        'keys', nargs='*',
+        help="one or several keys to import from the file")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-O', '--overwrite', action='store_true', default=False,
+        help="Overwrite keys already in the database")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-i', '--ignore-malformed', action='store_true', default=False,
+        help="Ignore malformed and unreadable files and entries")
+    add_doc_add_arguments(parser, move=False)
     return parser
 
 
@@ -90,9 +94,10 @@ def command(conf, args):
 
     ui = get_ui()
     bibpath = args.bibpath
-    copy = args.copy
-    if copy is None:
-        copy = conf['main']['doc_add'] in ('copy', 'move')
+    doc_add = args.doc_add
+    if doc_add is None:
+        doc_add = conf['main']['doc_add']
+    copy = doc_add in ('copy', 'move')
 
     rp = repo.Repository(conf)
     # Extract papers from bib