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Zotero Reference Management

Zotero is a tool that can help you keep track of your research and create bibliographies

Add a Source with Zotero Connector Plugin

Basic Steps

  1. Make sure you have Zotero Desktop App downloaded and the Zotero Connector plugin installed for the browser you're using.
  2. Open Zotero Desktop App so Zotero Connector can communicate with it
  3.  On the webpage you want to save, click the Zotero Connecter button on your browser
  4. On the small dropdown that appears, select the folder you want the page to be saved to, if any (this is optional).
  5. Congratulations, the source should now be in Zotero! Zotero will download a PDF, if available, or a snapshot of the webpage.
  6. Check in Zotero to make sure that all metadata has imported correctly and completely

Other Ways of Adding Sources

The vast majority of the time, the Zotero Connector is your best option for adding a source to Zotero. Occasionally, you may want to use one of the alternate methods below: 

  1. Manual Entry - If you want to fill in all the information about a source by yourself, for example, if you have a print book in front of you rather than a website
  2. PDF Upload - If you have a scholarly article PDF saved on your computer, Zotero may be able to extract the metadata from the PDF itself
  3. RIS File - This is pretty much never the best option

Adding Sources Manually

In some cases, you may want to input the information manually. To do this:

  1. Click the green plus sign
  2. Select the kind of source that you're entering (for example, book, journal article, webpage, etc)
  3. Fill out all relevant information (at a minimum, author, title, and year of publication--other information will depend on the kind of source)

Adding a Source by Uploading a PDF

Basic Steps

  1. Download the PDF you want to import into Zotero.
  2. Open Zotero Desktop App
  3. You can import in one of two ways:
    1. Click the green plus sign in the toolbar & select "Link To File." Select the PDF file
    2. Click and drag the PDF file into Zotero.
  4. Doublecheck that the information imported correctly. In the example below, all the important information was imported correctly, but Zotero had issues with some of the formatting in the title. 

 

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Adding Sources with an RIS file

Scholarly databases allow you to export a file with all the citation information, in a format that Zotero can read. 

1. In the database, use the cite or export tool, and select the RIS option. The file will be downloaded to your computer

2. In Zotero, click the green plus sign and link to file. Select the .ris file that you downloaded. Double-click the .ris file within Zotero when it appears, and click ok in the pop-up. It will import the citation information. (You can now delete the .ris file)