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Zotero Basics: Citing and References

Last Updated: Oct 15, 2024 4:22 PM

Zotero allows you to quickly create standalone bibliographies, insert citations directly into documents, and automatically generate bibliographies from those citations. Over 8,000 citation styles are supported.

Standalone Bibliographies

Standalone bibliographies are useful if you need to create a bibliography that is not associated with text that contains in-text citations, like an annotated bibliography, or if you wrote a paper using in-text citations that are not linked to your Zotero Library. You can create standalone bibliographies from an entire collection or from individually selected items within a collection.

Cite an Entire Collection:

  1. In the Zotero desktop application, right click on the collection you want to cite.
  2. Select Create Bibliography from Collection.
  3. In the popup window, select a citation/bibliography style.
    1. Don't see the style you want? To add styles, click the "Manage Styles..." link below the citation style box, then click the "Get additional styles..." link and search for the style you want to add.
  4. Select your Output Mode.
    1. "Citations" will format your items as in-text citations.
    2. "Bibliography" will format your items as a full reference citation.
  5. Under Output Method, select the Copy to Clipboard option.
  6. Paste your bibliography into a word processor document.

Cite Individual Items:

  1. In the Zotero desktop application, open the collection containing the items you want to cite.
  2. Select the item you want to cite (hold the Ctrl button to select multiple). Selected items will be highlighted.
  3. Right click on one of the highlighted items.
  4. Select Create Bibliography from Items.
  5. In the popup window, select a citation/bibliography style.
    1. Don't see the style you want? To add styles, click the "Manage Styles..." link below the citation style box, then click the "Get additional styles..." link and search for the style you want to add.
  6. Select your Output Mode.
    1. "Citations" will format your items as in-text citations.
    2. "Bibliography" will format your items as a full reference citation.
  7. Under Output Method, select the Copy to Clipboard option.
  8. Paste your bibliography into a word processor document.

Word Processor Plugins

Google Docs works with Zotero to help you quickly add properly formatted citations and bibliographies to your documents.

Google Docs - Cite While You Write:

  1. The Google Docs plugin is bundled with the Zotero Connector and should be automatically installed when you download the Connector.
  2. Open your Google Docs document and the Zotero desktop application. Both need to remain open while using the Google Docs plugin.
  3. In Google Docs, the Zotero button is located in the top tool bar.

Add In-Text Citations:

  1. Place the cursor where you want the in-text citation to be added.
  2. From the Zotero drop down menu, select Add/Edit Citation.
  3. The first time you add an in-text citation, you will be prompted to set up the document's preferences. From the popup window, select your citation style and click OK.
    1. The document's citation style can be changed later on.
  4. In the popup search bar, enter information (title, author, etc.) about the item you would like to cite.
    1. As you type, items from your library will appear. Select the correct item.
    2. Once selected, the item will display in the search bar in the format that will be added to your document.
    3. Multiple items can be included in the same in-text citation. Add all the items you want to cite to the search bar.
    4. To edit the in-text citation (i.e. omit author name or add page number), click on the formatted citation in the search bar.
  5. Once you have added and edited your citations, press the Enter key. Your formatted in-text citation will be added to the text.

Note: If you have a large number of items in your library, you might prefer Zotero's classic Add Citation view, which allows you to view all of your items without using the search bar. Follow these classic view set up instructions to make the switch. For help using classic view, see Zotero's Using the Classic View Citation Window documentation.

Add a Bibliography:

To create a bibliography, you must have at least one in-text citation in the document that is linked to your Zotero library.

  1. Place the cursor where you want the bibliography to be added.
  2. From the Zotero drop down menu, select Add/Edit Bibliography.
  3. The bibliography will be automatically generated in your selected citation style.
  4. If you add or remove in-text citations from your document, select Refresh from the Zotero drop down menu to update the bibliography.

Word's Zotero plugin can be used to easily add citations and bibliographies to your Word documents, with minimal disruption to your workflow.

Word - Cite While You Write:

  1. The Word plugin is bundled with Zotero and should be automatically installed when you use Zotero for the first time.
  2. Open your Word document and the Zotero desktop application. Both need to remain open while using the Word plugin.
  3. In Word, select the Zotero tab from the top tool bar.

Add In-Text Citations:

  1. Place the cursor where you want the in-text citation to be added.
  2. From the Zotero tab, select the Add/Edit Citation icon.
  3. The first time you add an in-text citation, you will be prompted to set up the document's preferences. From the popup window, select your citation style and click OK.
    1. The document's citation style can be changed later on.
  4. In the popup search bar, enter information (title, author, etc.) about the item you would like to cite.
    1. As you type, items from your library will appear. Select the correct item.
    2. Once selected, the item will display in the search bar in the format that will be added to your document.
    3. Multiple items can be included in the same in-text citation. Add all the items you want to cite to the search bar.
    4. To edit the in-text citation (i.e. omit author name or add page number), click on the formatted citation in the search bar.
  5. Once you have added and edited your citations, press the Enter key. Your formatted in-text citation will be added to the text.

Note: If you have a large number of items in your library, you might prefer Zotero's classic Add Citation view, which allows you to view all of your items without using the search bar. Follow these classic view set up instructions to make the switch. For help using classic view, see Zotero's Using the Classic View Citation Window documentation.

Add a Bibliography:

To create a bibliography, you must have at least one in-text citation in the document that is linked to your Zotero library.

  1. Place the cursor where you want the bibliography to be added.
  2. From the Zotero tab, select the Add/Edit Bibliography icon.
  3. The bibliography will be automatically generated in your selected citation style.
  4. If you add or remove in-text citations from your document, select the Refresh button in the Zotero tab to update the bibliography.