Reference management software: Zotero

Importing references

Importing references from databases and catalouges

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 looks different depending on if Zotero identifies the material as an article, a book or a web page etc. Click on the document icon to save one reference to your Zotero library. When you click on the folder icon, you can save several references at once.

PLEASE NOTE! Sometimes necessary bibliographic information, such as journal issue, page number or publisher, is missing in the saved reference. In this case, you need to add this manually. Always double check the references in your Zotero library so that your in-text citations and bibliographies are correct!

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. Go to 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 by ISBN, DOI or PubMed ID. Click Add Item(s) by Identifier and fill in the information.

Adding references by importing locally stored PDF's

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 New Item → Store Copy of File and find the PDF file you want to add. The PDF is saved to Zotero. Right click the file and choose Retrieve Meta Data for PDF. A bibliographic reference will usually be created. If Zotero cannot create the reference, you can add one manually. Right-click on the PDF and choose Create Parent Item.

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 choose Zotero Connector → Save to Zotero. Add any missing information in the reference manually (author, date and so on).

Attaching PDF's to your references

When you have bibliographic references to journal articles in Zotero without attachments, you can right-click them and choose Find Available PDF. Sometimes, Zotero will be able to find and attach the PDF.

If you drag and drop a file to My library or in a folder, a copy of the file will be saved. If you drag and drop the file on an already existing reference, it will be saved to this particular reference. You can also right click on a reference, choose Add Attachment and then select a file.