Getting the Most Out of the Zotero Citation Manager
Information on how to access Zotero and how to install the extensions:
- Create an account on the Zotero website: https://www.zotero.org/
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- This will be your main account, which will allow access to everything.
2. Download the desktop app: https://www.zotero.org/download/
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- The desktop app is where you can create your folders, select citations styles for bibliographies, etc.
- Once you have a bibliography in the desktop app and a Word/Office plug-in you will be able to access your saved articles and insert in-text citations as well as a bibliography in your selected citation style. You can also simply copy and paste the bibliography into a document.
3. Zotero Connector: https://www.zotero.org/download/connectors –
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- One click uploading of citations and articles from PubMed and many other sites/databases.
4. Using Zotero with Google Docs https://zotero.org/support/google_docs
5. Zotero Word plugin: https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_installation
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- Allows you to create in-text citations and insert a bibliography at the end of a document.
6. Zotero mobile apps: https://www.zotero.org/support/mobile
7. For more information – Zotero Tutorials: https://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials
About Citation Managers
Ascension Wisconsin Library Services recommends two free citation managers: Mendeley and Zotero.
Both are
- easy to use
- feature an extension for automatic upload of citations and pdfs,
- and allow sharing files.
- Built-in synchronization across web and mobile platforms allows users access to full text articles in their account, from anywhere.
- Word extensions make inserting in-text citations and creating a list of references a snap.
Note to students and authors preparing for publication:
Citation managers are not perfect and they are not a substitute for learning how to format a citation.
- Uploaded citations commonly contain errors, such as improper capitalization of words in title or missing authors’ names, pages, place of publication, or doi.
- Please always double check and correct your citations.
- APA templates and information can be found at the Purdue OWL site.