Helpful Zotero links
Other Citation Resources
Don't like Zotero?
There are other citation managers to choose from, some free and some paid. Here are a few of the best-known:
Scholarly Communications Librarian
Librarians and educators: This page uses ideas from a guide created by Jason Puckett and licensed by Georgia State University Library under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License. Our thanks to Jason and GSU!
You may reproduce any part of it for noncommercial purposes as long as credit is included. We encourage you to license your derivative works under Creative Commons as well to encourage sharing and reuse of educational materials.
Welcome! This guide is designed to simplify your citation activities by introducing Zotero. The power of Zotero comes from its ability to collect, organize, and generate citations. Zotero can save you time when creating in-text citations or bibliographies to describe your research process.
Follow the tabbed links above for step-by-step instructions and tips. And remember, your librarians love this stuff and are here to answer your questions.
What is Zotero?
Zotero is a free citation management software that can help you organize and cite from research articles and other resources you find online. Zotero can:
- Put research articles you find online into your Zotero Library with one click (Add Items),
- Keep many types of research materials organized in one place, including related PDFs and citation details (Organize Your Library),
- Create in-text citations, Works Cited lists, or bibliographies in the correct citation style, like APA or MLA (Cite in Documents and Create Bibliographies)
- Sync across multiple computers, and
- Share your research lists with colleagues or students.
Over time, you will build up an impressive Zotero Library that reflects your scholarly interests and courses. Through your Zotero Library, you'll have perpetual access to articles and helpful websites that have helped you in the past.
Install Zotero
Go to the Zotero download page to get the app and the connector.
Step 1: Install the apps
- The Zotero application itself
- A Connector to allow your Internet browser to save citations to Zotero
Tip: We have noticed that the Zotero Connector in Chrome has a conflict with some database links to library content. There is an easy fix: After the Connector is installed, right click on the Connector icon in Chrome (see image below). At the option for "This can read and change site data", change from the default response "On all sites" to "When you click the extension".
Step 2: Install the word processor plugin
Want to use Zotero with your word processor? Install Zotero Word Processor plugins, too. The Cite in Documents page in this guide has instructions for installing and using Zotero's plugin for Word (with a video tutorial) and Google Docs.
Tip: Set up a (free) Zotero.org user account so you can sync your Zotero library across computers (and you are backed up in case of computer failure!). Read more about it at the Sync your Library page in this guide.
Video: Install Zotero
Video Tutorial: Zotero Basics & Installation
This video tutorial covers:
- what Zotero can do (starts at minute 00:35 in the video),
- how to install the Zotero app (1:22),
- how to add the Zotero Connector to your Internet browser (3:32), and
- how to activate the MS Word Plugin for Zotero (5:03).