Zotero: Citation Manager

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1 Page 1 Zotero: Citation Manager Zotero is a citation manager that will help you store and organize the results of a literature search. It will also help you generate citations for that literature in a variety of styles (e.g. APA, MLA, Chicago, and more). This handout will get you started with Zotero. To learn more, use the documentation found at Create a Zotero Account: Go to to setup a free account which will allow you to store your literature in the cloud and retrieve it from other computers. It will also allow you to share that literature with others (e.g. professor, research advisor, research partner, etc.). Download and Install Zotero: Firefox is the most efficient browser to use with Zotero because it installs as an integrated extension of the browser, maximizing reliability and functionality. You can use Zotero with Chrome or Safari but, with these browsers it runs as a separate program and may not function as effectively. The IE browser is NOT recommended. Zotero is already installed in Firefox on campus computers. Download Zotero from

2 Page 2 Note: If you want to use Zotero to help generate citations and bibliographies in Word, it is important to also install the plugin for Word. The link for doing so in included on the Zotero download page. Once Zotero is installed, a Z will appear in the toolbar at the top of the Firefox browser window. When you click on the Z, Zotero will open across the bottom half of the Firefox window. Configuring Zotero: First, you will need to setup the Sync function in Zotero. This enables you to upload your data to your Zotero account for convenient storage in the cloud and later to retrieve that same data when using a different computer. Open Zotero, click on the gear in the toolbar, and select preferences. Then click on the Sync button and log into your Zotero account. It is helpful to check the boxes to sync automatically and to sync full text content.

3 Page 3 To make sure that the PDF copy of articles you add to your library in Zotero are downloaded automatically, click on the button in this same window and check the box that says Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items.

4 Page 4 If you set your preferences to automatically snyc your library with your Zotero account, your data and PDF files will sync with the server whenever changes are made. To be sure your data is synced, you can always generate a manual snyc by clickiing on the Sync of the Zotero tool bar. button located at the far right Adding Citations to your library: When you re searching a library database in Firefox, you can download bibliographic information about books or articles into Zotero. While viewing an item, look for a page icon in the address bar of the browser. Click on this icon to download the information. Icon for adding references to Zotero After clicking on the icon, the reference is added to the library Expanding the reference displays the PDF file that was added. Always check the information that is added to Zotero to ensure that there are no omissions or misspellings.

5 Page 5 Creating a Group Library: You may want to share references with a professor, faculty advisor, or with others members a work group. To do so, you can create a group by clicking on the group icon in the Zotero menu bar. You will be prompted to decide on some group information including name, description, and privacy settings. For more information about groups, see Adding a reference style to your account: Zotero includes several popular styles for creating citations and bibliographies. To see the styles available, use the icon in the menu bar to go to Preferences > Cite > Styles. If you don t find the citation style you need in this list, you can add more from Zotero s style repository. To do so, click on the Get Additional Styles... link.

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7 Page 7 Using Word Processing Integration to Ad Citations and Bibliographies into your Documents: The Word plugin you installed earlier is used to integrate Word and Zotero functionality to enable you to add in-text citations or footnotes into your document and to automatically generate a bibliography. As you insert new in-text citations into your paper, the bibliography will automatically update. You can also make corrections to your library and have those changes reflected in your paper. 1. Begin by opening Word and Firefox and logging into your Zotero account. 2. Find the Zotero menu bar in Word. In Windows, it is in the ADD-INS tab. On Macs, it will be an added toolbar. Insert Citation: Adds a citation marker to your document. Insert Bibliography: Adds a list of references as endnotes or footnotes depending on the citation style preferences. Edit Citation & Bibliography: These allow you to edit the respective items. Set Document Preferences: This allows you to adjust style preferences for your citations. 3. Click on the Insert Citation button. If this is your first reference, you will see the document preferences screen that will allow you to set a style for references and, depending on the style, determine whether you are using footnotes or endnotes.

8 Page 8 4. Then you will be given a Zotero search bar that can be used to search your library for a particular reference. If you pull down the arrow, you can select a Classic View that allows you to see your library and select items from a list. Click in the small arrow to get a menu for selecting Classic View Once you ve inserted the citation, your document will look something like this: While writing your paper, you can add a citation like this (George, Kolodziej, Rendall, & Coiffait, 2014). 5. After you have completed your document, you can add the bibliography by clicking on the Insert Bibliography button in the ADD-INS menu. If you were using the American Psychological Association style as selected above, the bibliography entries would look like this:

9 Page 9 George, C., Kolodziej, N., Rendall, M., & Coiffait, F-M. (2014). The effectiveness of a Learning Disability specific group parenting programme for parents of preschool and school-age children. Educational & Child Psychology, 31(4), If you want to change the citation and bibliography format, click on the Set Document Preferences button in the ADD-INS menu and select the format you want. 7. If you need to add a citation, go to that location in the document, add the citation as we did previously, and click on the Zotero Refresh button in the ADD-INS menu. This guide was prepared by C. Hebblethwaite of Penfield Library, SUNY Oswego. It is an adaptation of the Zotero portion of Literature Searching and References, a document prepared for CHE 214L, by Dr. Casey Raymond.