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Zotero

Use Zotero to add, manage, share and sync your references, and insert and manage citations in Word.

Adding references from Library sources

Adding references with the Zotero Connector

Zotero Connector users:

  • If you have the Zotero Connector installed, you can add references individually or multiple references at once from pages of search results.
  • However, adding references individually too many times (i.e. overusing the Zotero Connector) can cause you to be locked out.
  • To avoid this, it is best to select multiple references, and then use a batch file format like RIS or BibText to import the multiple references simultaneously into your Zotero library.
  • It is also recommended you update your Zotero Connector proxy settings when using Library resources. See this short guide on Zotero Connector for details.

Note: Regardless of which search tool you import references from, go to your Zotero library and check each newly imported reference to ensure the information is correct and that none is missing. Sort your Zotero references by selecting the heading date added to view the most recent.

Adding references from LibrarySearch

LibrarySearch can download individual or multiple references. The process is similar for both, but the following instructions highlight downloading multiple references.

  1. Open LibrarySearch and your Zotero Desktop library.
     
  2. For full access, log into your Library account using your RMIT ID and password.
     
  3. Do a search on a topic of choice.
     
  4. Mark the references you want to import from LibrarySearch by selecting the pin icon to the right of each reference.
    Pin icon for each search result in LibrarySearch.
    Image: Copyright © Ex Libris. Used under licence.
     
  5. To view your marked references, select the pin icon on the top right of the page to open My Favourites. Once there, place a tick within the checkbox located at the top of the list to select all references, or tick individual references to select only those.
     
  6. Select the ellipsis icon next to My Favourites.
     
  7. Select the EndNote (RIS) Export option. This will save (download) your marked references in a .ris file. The file is normally saved in your Downloads folder or the desktop.
    Downloading search results from My Favourites in LibrarySearch.
    Image: Copyright © Ex Libris. Used under licence.
     
  8. Open the downloaded .ris file to import your marked references into your Zotero library. If you have another reference management application on your computer (e.g. EndNote Desktop), open the actions menu for the .ris file and select Open With > Zotero.

Adding references from ProQuest Central database

ProQuest Central can download individual or multiple references. The process is similar for both, but the following instructions highlight downloading multiple references.

  1. Go to ProQuest Central and open your Zotero Desktop library.
     
  2. If prompted, log into ProQuest Central using your RMIT ID and password.
     
  3. Do a search on a topic of choice.
     
  4. Mark the references you want to import from ProQuest Central by placing a tick within the checkbox located above the reference's corresponding number. To select a page of references, select the 1-20 option, for example, at the top of the page.
     
  5. Select the ellipsis icon at the top of the page, then select the EN Endnote option or the RIS Citavi, Mendeley, etc. option located under the Citation export heading.
     
  6. The Export/Save box will appear. Select on Continue. This will save (download) your marked references in a .ris file. The file is normally saved in your Downloads folder or the desktop.
     
  7. Open the downloaded .ris file to import your marked references into your Zotero library. If you have another reference management application on your computer (e.g. EndNote Desktop), open the actions menu for the file and select Open With > Zotero.

Note: Many other databases will allow downloading in a similar way to ProQuest. Select the references of your choice, then look for a function to export your choices. Whenever the option is given to export as an RIS file, select it to create a file. You then open that file to add your selected database references into your Zotero library.

Adding references from Google Scholar

Google Scholar can download individual or multiple records. The process is similar for both, but the following instructions highlight downloading multiple references.

  1. Open Google Scholar and your Zotero Desktop library.
     
  2. For full access, log into your Google account using your RMIT ID and password.
     
  3. Do a search on a topic of choice.
     
  4. Select on the white star to mark the references you want to import from Google Scholar. This will save the references to My Library and the white star will change colour to blue. (To export an individual citation, select Cite, then select EndNote or RefMan.)
     
  5. Select My Library at the top right corner. Once there, select Export all at the top of the page and select EndNote or RefMan. This will save (download) your marked references in an .enw file (with EndNote option) or a .ris file (with RefMan option). The file is normally saved in your Downloads folder or the desktop.
     
  6. Open the downloaded .enw or .ris file to import your marked references into your Zotero library. If you have another reference management application on your computer, open the actions menu for the file and select Open With > Zotero.

Adding references from other sources

Using an identifier

In Zotero, you can add a reference by its identifier, e.g. DOI, ISBN, etc.

  1. Press the Add item(s) by identifier button in Zotero Desktop or the Add by Identifier button in Zotero Online.
  2. Type in the ISBN, DOI, PubMed ID or other identifier. You can add multiple entries by separating each with a space or comma.
  3. If Zotero finds any of the items, it will automatically add each of them to your Zotero library. 

Adding a reference for a PDF 

If you have the Zotero Connector, you can add a reference for a PDF you are viewing in your browser by using the Zotero Connector's Save to Zotero button. The button will appear as a document icon when you have a PDF open in your browser.

Document icon for Zotero Connector shown in a browser.
Image: Document icon for Zotero Connector shown in a browser. Permission not needed for educational purposes.

The Save to Zotero button will import the PDF into your Zotero library and automatically add whatever bibliographic information it can identify. In general, to help it identify as much information as possible, it is best to add the publication from its own journal or database page, if possible.
 

If the Zotero Connector cannot identify any bibliographic information, it will save the PDF as a separate item in your Zotero library. You will then need to create a parent item for the PDF. You do this by either:

  • saving the information from the webpage or database and dragging the PDF onto the reference, or
  • by opening the actions menu on the PDF and selecting Create Parent Item and then entering an identifier. As a backup, you can chose to manually enter information after selecting Create Parent Item.

Adding references manually

If an item is unavailable online, either on a webpage or database, you can add it to your Zotero library manually.

  1. Go to your Zotero library and press the New Item button.
  2. Select the item type of the reference from the drop-down menu (e.g. Book, Journal Article, etc.).
  3. Type in the bibliographic details of the reference in the relevant fields located on the right panel.

Editing references

Editing reference entries

Zotero will import bibliographic information, or metadata, whenever it can.

However, it is good practice to check every reference when it is created for any potential errors or missing information. This can save a lot of hassle later on.

  1. If you need to make a correction, select the reference on the middle panel of your Zotero library.
  2. Check and update any part of the reference from the Info tab of the right panel.
  3. Changes you make will be automatically saved.

Learn more about editing on the Adding items to Zotero help page. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for editing details.)

Using Find Full Text to automatically attach files to references

  1. Select (highlight) all references within My Library.
     
  2. Open the actions menu for the selected references and select the Find Full Text option.
     
  3. Zotero will now begin of process of locating the full text PDF for each reference. If you have many references, this can process can take a while.
     
  4. Once the process has finished, select the Close button.
     
  5. If Zotero did find (and therefore attached) the PDF for a reference, it will appear as a PDF file icon in the paperclip column.
     
  6. If Zotero did not find the PDF for a reference, you will need to download the PDF and manually attach it yourself to the reference. Please see the Manually attaching files to references section in this tab for how to do this.

Manually attaching files to references

  1. Download the PDF file for the reference. Or you may already have it on your computer.
  2. Drag-and-drop the file into an existing reference. That will add the file to that reference as an attachment.

You can also drag-and-drop the file between existing references. That will add the file to your Zotero library as a standalone attachment. Zotero will then try to find bibliographic information about the standalone attachment and create a reference for it.

Note: If Zotero cannot find any bibliographic information about the standalone attachment, you can try to locate the information online yourself. You can then create a new reference using the Zotero Connector, create the new reference using an identifier, or manually create the reference. (Please see the Adding references from other sources box on this page for details.)

Learn more on the Zotero support page for Adding Files to your Zotero Library..

Removing duplicates

In Zotero Desktop, if any duplicate references are detected by Zotero, they will automatically appear in the Duplicate Items collection on the left panel.

It is preferable to resolve duplicates by merging them, instead of deleting a duplicate. Merging duplicates preserves all the connections made to all versions of the duplicate, like tags and collections.

  1. To merge duplicate references, select the Duplicate Items collection.
  2. Select the duplicate references and press the Merge items button.
  3. If particular fields do not match, you can select one duplicate reference to be the master item.

Learn more about removing duplicates on the Zotero support Duplicate Detection page.