Zotero

This guide will give you an overview of the citation manager Zotero

Install Desktop Application

  1. On the front page of the Zotero website, there should be a big red "Download" button that will detect your operating system and current browser. For Windows, simply click that "Download" button.
  2. You will be redirected to a download page. Click the "Download" button under "Zotero 5.0 for Windows."
  3. Run the setup program that you downloaded.
  4. Finally, you will need to install the Zotero Connector for your browser, instructions below.

Note: If you are using a university-owned machine you may need an administrator password to install this software or updates

  1. On the front page of the Zotero website, there should be a big red "Download" button that will detect your operating system and current browser. For Mac, simply click that "Download" button.
  2. You will be redirected to a download page. Click the "Download" button under "Zotero 5.0 for Mac."
  3. Open the .dmg you downloaded and drag Zotero to the Applications folder. You can then run Zotero from Spotlight, Launchpad, or the Applications folder and add it to your Dock like any other program.
  4. Finally, you will need to install the Zotero Connector for your browser, instructions below.
  1. On the front page of the Zotero website, there should be a big red "Download" button that will detect your operating system and current browser. For Linux, simply click that "Download" button.
  2. Linux users may wish to use a package for their distro rather than using the tarball directly. If you download the tarball, unzip it and run zotero from that directory to start Zotero.
  3. Alternatively, on Ubuntu, move the directory to a location of your choice, run the bundled set_launcher_icon script (which will update the included desktop file with the full path to the bundled Zotero icon), and then double-click Zotero (which may display as zotero.desktop initially). You can also symlink zotero.desktop to ~/.local/share/applications/ to add it to your launcher.

Install Browser Plug-In

  1. When you are redirected to the download page for your operating system, it will also detect your browser.
  2. For Chrome, click "Install Chrome Connector."
  3. The browser will prompt you to "Add Zotero Connector," and then click "Add extension."
  4. If the installation is successful, another prompt will appear in the top right of your screen that says "Zotero Connector has been added to Chrome."
  5. You will then see an icon next to your address bar that looks like a gray rectangle; this icon will change depending on the resource! Right click on this and select "Options" to link it to your desktop application, as well as adding any proxies.
  1. When you are redirected to the download page for your operating system, it will also detect your browser.
  2. For Firefox, click "Install Firefox Connector."
  3. The browser will let you know that Firefox is trying to install an add-on, and then click "Allow."
  4. Then it will prompt you again to "Add Zotero Connector" letting you know what data it can read, and then click "Add."
  5. If the installation is successful, another prompt will appear in the top right of your screen that says "Zotero Connector has been added to Firefox."
  6. You will then see an icon next to your address bar that looks like a gray rectangle; this icon will change depending on the resource! Right click on this and select "Options" to link it to your desktop application, as well as adding any proxies.
  1. When you are redirected to the download page for your operating system, it will also detect your browser.
  2. For Safari, click "Install Safari Connector" to download the extension file.
  3. Go to your downloads and click the file. The "Extensions" settings for Safari will pop up and prompt you to "Trust" the extension.
  4. You will then see an icon next to your address bar that looks like a gray rectangle; this icon will change depending on the resource! Right click on this and select "Options" to link it to your desktop application, as well as adding any proxies.

Depending on your settings Safari may not automatically open the file. Use Control+ Click and select "Download linked file to..." to save the file to your desktop or some other easy to remember location. Double click the file to open. Click "Open", then click "Install". The Safari capture icon will show up as a little box to the left of the address bar.

Although Zotero does not officially support other browsers, there are ways you can work around this.

  1. If you are using Opera or another browser that is based on Chromium, there are often add-ons you can install which let you install Chrome add-ons.
  2. If you are using another Mozilla browser, you can also find add-ons which let you install Firefox add-ons.

Enable the Browser Plug-In

In the top right hand corner of your browser window, click on the puzzle piece icon to open the Extensions menu.

 

In the Extensions menu, click on the pin icon next to Zotero to change it from clear to filled in.

 

Your Zotero extension for Chrome is now enabled, and it will appear in the top right corner of your browser.

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In the top right hand corner of your browser window, click on the puzzle piece icon to open the Extensions menu page.

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In the left hand menu, click on the second option "Extensions" to access your extensions.

Locate the Zotero Connector extension, it will be under the "Disabled" extensions.

Enable Zotero Connector by toggling on the slider on the side from left to right. This will move this app to enabled category.

 

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Your Zotero Connector is now enabled for Firefox. You should see it in the right hand corner of your browser window near your other extensions. Note: since the extension changes icon to match what type of source it is citing, and since you are looking at webpage, you may see the Zotero webpage icon instead of the Z in the right hand corner of your browser window.

 

The Safari extension should automatically be bundled in the Mac download. You still need to enable the extension in Safari through the Settings menu.

Instructions coming soon

Microsoft Word and LibreOffice Integration

Zotero integrates with both Microsoft Word and LibreOffice.

If you're running Zotero 5.0 or Zotero Standalone 4.0, the word processor plugins are bundled with Zotero and should be installed automatically for each supported word processor on your computer when you first start Zotero. In Microsoft Word, this adds a Zotero tab. In LibreOffice, this adds a Zotero toolbar.

You can reinstall the plugins later from the "Cite" → "Word Processor Plugins" pane of the Zotero preferences. If you're having trouble, see Manually Installing the Zotero Word Processor Plugin or Word Processor Plugin Troubleshooting.

If you previously installed the Firefox versions of the word processor plugins into Zotero 5.0 or Zotero Standalone 4.0, you should uninstall them from "Tools" → "Add-ons."

Google Docs Integration

Along with word processors, Microsoft Word and LibreOffice, Zotero works with Google Docs. To use Zotero in Google Docs, you need to have the Zotero desktop app open and the Zotero Connector for your browser installed. You will then see a Zotero menu added to Google Docs.

Mobile

There are several ways that you can access or even edit your library while using your mobile phone or tablet.

iOS

  • Zotero for ios
    • The official Zotero app for iPad or iPhone, available on the App Store

Android

  • Zotero for Android (beta)
    • If you are feeling adventurous, you can beta test the Android version of Zotero available on the Google Play Store 

Other

  • Zotero for Mobile
    • The Zotero documentation lists different community-created mobile versions available for Zotero
  • Zotfile, by Joscha Legewie

    • Zotero plugin to sync PDFs from your Zotero library to your (mobile) PDF reader (e.g. an iPad, Android tablet, etc.) and extract annotations to Zotero notes

Scrivener

While there is no official plugin for Scrivener, many creative minds have found workarounds.

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