4.2: Citation Management with Zotero
- Page ID
- 82811
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There are many citation managers to chose from, but Zotero is recommended for the following reasons:
- Zotero is free (you can pay for more storage space)
- Zotero is open-source and run by a non-profit
- Many popular citation managers are run by publishers that use your data for profit
- Zotero has a great support
- Zotero is easy to use
Download Zotero
Download the two components of Zotero at https://www.zotero.org/download/
- Zotero Desktop: where you can see and organize your citations
- Zotero Connector: a browser plugin that automatically detects content as you browse the web and allows you to save it to Zotero with a single click

Add items to Zotero
There are two main ways to add item to Zotero
- Zotero Connector
- Use the Zotero button to automatically add materials to Zotoro
- If you are looking at a series of search results, you can bulk add to Zotero
- If you are on a webpage that includes the pdf of an article, Zotero will automatically download the article
- Adding pdfs
- You can manually drag-and-drop pdfs into the main window of Zotero desktop to add those item to Zotero
Organizing with Zotero
In the Zotero desktop you can:
- Create folders to organize your resources
- Add tags and notes to items
- Search by keyword to find your resources
The original version of this chapter contained H5P content. You may want to remove or replace this element.
Cite with Zotero
To cite with LaTeX see the next chapter.
To cite in Word or Open Office:
- Enable to Zotero plug in
- Go to Tools > Add-ons and choose your plug in (you may need to restart your computer)
- Use the Zotero tool bar to add citations and create a bibliography
To cite in Google Docs:
- Using the Zotero connector will automatically add a Zotero menu in Google Docs
- Use the menu to add citations and create a bibliography
Zotero Help
Zotero Quick Start Guide – Guide to help you get started with Zotero
Zotero Support – For more in depth help
Note
Always double check that your citations are correct, even when you use a citation manager
- If a citation manager has the wrong information, you citation will be incorrect
- Always update or edit citation information in Zotero to correct your citation
- If you edit a citation in Word or Google Docs, the edit will be undone when you refresh.