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Zotero Basics

user guide for the citation manager Zotero

Zotero desktop application: Preferences

Managing Citation Styles

  1. Open Zotero (desktop application)
  2. Click Edit, Select preferences
  3. Go to the Cite tab
  4. In the Style tab, add or remove citation styles
  5. in the Word Processor tab, enable add-ons

Creating a Bibliography: Zotero Desktop

Reference items need to be in a Collection in order to proceed. If necessary, Create a Collection and add Reference items.new collection pop up

  1. RIGHT-CLICK on the collection, select Create Bibliography from Collectionscreenshot of collection's create bibliography option
  2. Select the citation style. Select Bibliography. Select Copy to clipboard.create citation pop-up with citation styles and more options
  3. Click OK
  4. Attention - it will look like nothing happened but the pop-up box will disappear. The bibliography was copied. default zotero library screen showing collection
  5. Go into your document and Paste (RIGHT-CLICK, or ctrl+v, or command+v)screenshot of a word document with bibliography that was copied
  6. You will need to properly format your bibliography in your documentscreenshot of word doc with paragraph options to fix formatting for references

Even after formatting - you still need to check to make sure that the citation information is correct. There are several errors in the example below.screenshot of propery formatted reference page

Creating a Bibliography: Zotero Plugin

If you are using the Zotero plugin with GoogleDocs, Microsoft word, or LibreOffice, you must have references in your document already. Then you can use the Add/Edit Bibliography feature.microsfot word with the zotero pluginzotero plugin citation and bibliogrpahy options

Zotero Web Version: Creating a Bibliography

  1. Open a collection -  check the boxes for the items you want to cite.  Click the Cite button. collection and citation options on the web version of zotero
  2. A pop-up box will appear (if not, check your pop-up blocker).cite pop-up box
  3. Select the citation style (ex. MLA). A bibliography will appear in the box.select citation syle from the dropdown menu
  4. Highlight the bibliography to copy it.highlight bibliography to copy and paste
  5. Paste bibliography into your document and double-check the formatting (Microsoft Word is shown below)paste bilbiography into your document, check formatting
  6. There are several errors in the above example. As with any automatically generated citations, you should read these carefully to make sure they are correct and follow the desired citation format.