Zotero

Zotero helps researchers gather, manage, store, and generate citations and bibliographies.

Add Citations and Bibliographies

To start, make sure you have installed the Zotero word processor plugin.

To add citations to your text, click on the Zotero tab to access the Zotero Word dashboard.

Zotero Word Tool Bar

Start typing your paper. When you need to add a citation, click on the "Add Edit Citation" icon.

Zotero Word Ttool bar with Add/Edit Citation selected.

Select the appropriate style format for your paper (Zotero will only ask you once, for each document. To change this later, go to Zotero's preferences).

Citation styles listed, Chicago style is selected.

Next, select a reference and click "Okay" in the pop-up window that appears.

Reference the user wishes to cit is selected.

Note your citation has been inserted.

Example: in-text citation is as it now appears in the Word document.

Zotero will also automatically generate a list of your references if you click on the "Add/Edit Bibliography" icon. You only need to click on this icon once. From now on, each time you add a citation, Zotero will automatically add references to your bibliography in the proper order and in the proper style format.

Zotero Word tool bar show with Add/Edit Bibliography selected. Bibliography is shown appearing in the Word document.

Google Docs support is part of the Zotero Connector for Chrome and Firefox. 

To start make sure that you have installed the Zotero connector for Chrome or Firefox

Start typing your paper. When you need to add a citation, click on the "Zotero" tab and then "Add/edit citation" option.

Zotero Google Doc Add citation

Select the appropriate style format for your paper (Zotero will only ask you once, for each document. To change this later, go to the Zotero tab and then Document preferences).

A pop-up Zotero search window will appear. You can search for your selected source by typing in a keyword (author name or word from title etc.)

Zotero Google Doc Search

Note your citation has been inserted.

Zotero will also automatically generate a list of your references if you click on the "Add/edit Bibliography" option. You only need to click on this icon once. From now on, each time you add a citation, Zotero will automatically add references to your bibliography in the proper order and in the proper style format.

 

The Quick Copy or "drag and drop" method works for both MS Word and Google Docs. 

Add In-Text Citations: Hold down the shift key, select a reference from the middle pane of Zotero, and (still holding down the shift key), drag it into Word or Google Docs.

Add Bibliography: Using the CTRL key (Windows) or CMD key (Mac), select all the references you wish to include and drag them into your paper.

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Support from Zotero.org

Comprehensive support and documentation is available at Zotero.org. Check out the following support pages for help Citing Items: