Zotero: Home

Zotero

Zotero is a free open-source citation manager that can help you organize your sources and generate citations. Go to zotero.org to download Zotero and create a Zotero account. You can use any of your email addresses to create your account.  

This guide provides an intro to using Zotero. This guide covers:

• Group Libraries
• Adding Sources to Zotero
• Creating Citations
• ZoteroBib

You can find additional support documents on Zotero's website: https://www.zotero.org/support/

Add Sources to Zotero

There are multiple ways to add sources to your Zotero library. 

1. Use the Zotero browser extension. 

• In the Zotero desktop app, go to Tools and select "Install Browser Connector." 
• You can install the Zotero browser connector in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. 
• Once you have added the browser connector, you can use it to save online sources to your Zotero library. When you find an online source that you want to save, click on the Zotero browser connector symbol.
• A Zotero box will pop up. Select the library and folder that you would like to add the source too. Use the arrow buttons in the Zotero pop up to find your libraries and folders. Then click done.
• Zotero generally works well with academic sources, like journal articles and ebooks. It works for some webpages, but, some webpages don't provide any information that Zotero can recognize. If that happens, add the webpage manually to your Zotero library. 

2.  Add a source manually.

• In the Zotero desktop app, click on the green plus sign. 
• From the drop-down menu, select the type of source you are adding (book, journal article, etc.)
• Then fill in the information about that source (author, title, date, etc.) 

3. Add a pdf

• If you have a pdf of an article saved to your computer, you can click and drag the pdf into Zotero. Zotero is often (but not always) able to read the metadata of the pdf and create a record for the article. 

Learn more about adding items to Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero

Group Libraries

Go to zotero.org/groups to create a group library. One person from your team should create the group and then invite the other team members to join. 

ZoteroBib

ZoteroBib is free online citation generator. It is useful for quickly generating a citation that you can copy and paste. You do not need an account, and ZoteroBib will not save your sources. Go to zbib.org to use ZoteroBib.

Generate Citations

1. GoogleDocs

• You need to have the Zotero app open on your computer. 
• You need to have the Zotero Connector installed in Chrome or Firefox to use Zotero in GoogleDocs. 

  The Zotero Connector adds a Zotero menu to the Google Docs interface: 

• Add/Edit Citation: Add a new citation or edit an existing citation in your document at the cursor location.

  • The first time you select this option, a pop-up will ask you to log in to your Zotero account. 

  • Then another pop-up will ask you to select your citation style. 

  • Then a red box will appear where you can search for the source you wish to cite (start typing in the author or title to see a drop-down list of sources that match your search). 

  • If you do not see the red Zotero search box, click on the Zotero icon at the bottom of your desktop to bring it up

• Add/Edit Bibliography: Insert a bibliography. (You must already have at least one in-text citation in your document before you can add the bibliography. As you add in-text citations for new sources, those sources will also be added to your bibliography.)

• Learn more about using Zotero with GoogleDocs: https://www.zotero.org/support/google_docs

2. Word

• In Zotero, go to Tools and select Add-ons to find and enable the Word plug-in. 
• Installing the Zotero Word plugin adds a Zotero tab to Microsoft Word. The Zotero tab has options for Add/Edit Citation and Add/Edit Bibliography.

• Add/Edit Citation: Add a new citation or edit an existing citation in your document at the cursor location.

  • A pop-up will ask you to select your citation style. 

  • Then a red box will appear where you can search for the source you wish to cite (start typing in the author or title to see a drop-down list of sources that match your search). 

  • If you do not see the red Zotero search box, click on the Zotero icon at the bottom of your desktop to bring it up

• Add/Edit Bibliography: Insert a bibliography. (You must already have at least one in-text citation in your document before you can add the bibliography. As you add in-text citations for new sources, those sources will also be added to your bibliography.)

• Learn more about the Zotero Word plug-in: https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_usage

3. Right-Click to Create Citation/Bibliography

• To create a bibliography or a citations list in Zotero, highlight one or more references and then right-click (or control-click on Macs) to select “Create Bibliography from Selected Item(s)…”. Then select a citation style for your citation/bibliography format and choose either to create a list of Citations/Notes or a Bibliography. Then choose one of the following four ways to create your citation/bibliography:
  • Save as RTF will allow you to save the bibliography as a rich text file.
  • Save as HTML will allow you to save the bibliography as a HTML file for viewing in a web browser. 
  • Copy to Clipboard will allow you to save the bibliography to your clipboard to paste into any text field.
  • Print will send your bibliography straight to a printer.
• Learn more about creating bibliographies with Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/support/creating_bibliographies