Skip to Main Content

Reference management software: Zotero 7

Importing references

Importing references from databases and catalogues.

When you have a result list in a catalogue, a database or a search engine, there is a document or folder icon in your web browser. This icon changes appearance according to whether Zotero identifies the resource as an article, a book, a web page, etc. Click on the document icon to save a single reference to your Zotero library. When you click on the folder icon, you can save several references at once.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Sometimes essential bibliographic information, such as journal issue, page number or publisher, is missing in the saved reference. In this case, you need to add it manually. Always double check the references in your Zotero library; this will ensure that your in-text citations and bibliographies are generated correctly.

Adding references manually

If you want to cite sources that cannot be saved via the Zotero plugin in your web browser, you can add references manually to your Zotero library. Click on New Item and select the publication type you want to add. Continue by adding information on author, title etc.

Adding references by reference numbers

You can add references via ISBN, DOI or PubMed ID. Click Add Item(s) by Identifier and fill in the information.

Adding references by importing locally stored PDFs

If you have saved articles as PDF files on your computer, Zotero can sometimes create references from metadata in the files. 

  • Drag and drop a PDF to Zotero, or click on File → Add Attachment →  Add File and find the PDF file you want to add. The PDF is saved to Zotero.

If Zotero cannot create the reference, you can add one manually. 

  • Right-click on the PDF, choose Create Parent Item, and fill in the information.

Attaching PDFs to your references

  • If one of your bibliographic references to journal articles in Zotero lacks attachments, you can right-click on it and choose Find Full Text. Zotero will sometimes be able to find and attach the PDF.
  • If you drag and drop a file to My library or into a folder, a copy of the file will be saved.
  • If you drag and drop the file onto an already existing reference, it will be added to the reference.
  • You can also right click on a reference, choose Add Attachment and then select a file.

Adding references to web pages

You can create a reference to a web page by clicking on the document icon in the web browser or by right clicking on the web page and choosing Zotero Connector → Save to Zotero. Manually add any missing information (such as author, date and so on) to the reference.