Zotero is a free, open-source citation management software. It lets you collect sources in a single click, add citations and bibliographies to your papers, and share libraries of resources with your colleagues. Read more below to learn about Zotero!
Need more help with Zotero? Check out these resources:
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Step 1: Download and Install Zotero and Plug-in
You can download Zotero from their webpage. Make sure you download the right version for your operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux) and also the Zotero plug-in for your preferred browser! If you use Firefox, there is an option to use Zotero in your browser. Check out our Zotero Guide for more information!
Step 2 (optional): Sign Up for a Zotero Account
Signing up for a free Zotero account will let you automatically sync your collections between devices when logged in. It's not required to use Zotero, but it's helpful if you tend to use several devices. The storage limit for syncing with a free account is 300 MB, but you can purchase additional storage.
Step 3 (optional): Install Additional Plug-ins
Zotero offers plenty of useful plug-ins that you can download. Two very useful plug-ins to have are Auto Index and ZotFile. Auto Index will automatically make the full text of your PDFs searchable within Zotero and ZotFile will automatically rename and attach PDFs to items in your collections. There are dozens of other plug-ins, though, so check them out!
Step 4: Save and Cite!
Once you have Zotero and the plug-in for your browser installed, you're ready to start saving all kinds of content, including eBooks, articles, websites, and more. Zotero will automatically download PDFs where available and will capture "snapshots" (with functional links!) for sites with no PDF available. Zotero automatically imports the metadata needed to generate citations, saving you time and effort!
Once you have your sources, you can use Zotero plug-ins for word processers to input citations and bibliographies directly into your papers with the press of a button.
NOTE: Zotero will capture the metadata available from your source correctly, but that doesn't mean the metadata itself is correct! Always double-check the metadata when you import new sources to avoid issues when generating citations. Some key things to watch out for include capitalization, missing dates or other information, and correct links/DOIs.
Remember: your citations will only be as good as the metadata they include!
Step 5: Share!
Zotero Groups let you share bibliographies and resources with other users. You can set up shared collections for your classes, work collaboratively on research projects, and find other groups and collections to use, all completely online! You'll need a free account to create and join groups. Keep in mind that groups use the storage of the group owner, so with a free account your group will only have 300 MB of online storage for files.
Check out the video tutorial below for a step-by-step walkthrough of saving a source using Zotero and using it to insert references in Microsoft Word.