Zotero: A Beginner's Guide

There are a five ways to add references to your Zotero Library. Below this box are details explanations for each method.

• Zotero Browser Connector (works best with library database),
• Drag a PDF article into your Zotero library,
• Enter a standard number (ISBN, DOI) via Zotero application,
• Manually enter a citation in the Zotero application,
• Import a machine readable file (e.g., RIS, nbib).

Once the Zotero Connector is added to your browser you should see a “Z” icon near the browser address bar (especially if on blank page/tab). This “Z” icon  will change based on the web page you are visiting.

The browser Connector is the communicator between the Zotero program (must be opened) and your browser. When you are visiting any web page, especially library databases, the connector detects the type of item (article, book, web page) you are viewing. The connector will change from the Z to a different icon to match the type of item you are viewing.

So to add content via the Zotero Connector

1. Open Zotero program
2. Select the folder you want to add new items (or use My Library)
3. Go to a library literature database (e.g., ProQuest, EBSCO, JSTOR)
4. Conduct a search
5. Select one of the items in your search results
6. Select the icon (paper, book, webpage or folder**)

• A little window will briefly appear in the upper right of your screen as the information is collected.
• In the Zotero program, a new reference is created with the bibliographic information.
• If a PDF was on the page, it was also collected in the Zotero program
• NOTE: Add items from non-library databases only provides minimum info and a screenshot

**If the icon is a folder, you can select one or multiple items from page and a new reference is created in the Zotero program for each.

How to add a PDF (e.g. article) from your computer to a reference in Zotero

1. Open Zotero
2. Find the PDF (or any file) on your computer
3. Drag PDF to item in Zotero
4. Zotero will look for the metadata (e.g. citation) automatically
5. It should now appear under the title of reference

OR

1. Open Zotero
2. Right-click on reference
3. Select Add Attachment
4. Find PDF (or any file)
5. It should now appear under the title of reference

You can quickly add items to your library if you already know items' standard number, which are unique to each item.

• ISBN - book identifier (10 or 13 digits)
• Digital Object Identifier (DOI) - many scholarly articles have this number, and they all start with "10."
• PubMed ID - health/medical-related articles in the PubMed database 

In the Zotero program

1. Select “Add Item by Identifier” button (wand icon)
2. Enter the standard number (or paste in)
3. Press the Enter key on keyboard
4. If the item is found a new reference is created in Zotero with the bibliographic information

Manually add an item to your Zotero library:

1. Open the Zotero program
2. Select the “New Item” button at the top of the center column.
3. Select the desired item type from the drop-down menu (e.g. book, book chapter, article, etc)
4. An empty space (place holder) for the item type will now appear
5. Enter the bibliographic information in the right panel
6. The empty space will change with the new information.

NOTE: Use for adding items (e.g., websites, reports) from the open web

Most library databases allow users to export citations in an RIS, nbib, txt, but there are other options. These files types are basically machine-readable text files, which allows you to exports hundreds of citations from a database in one click. This process is most useful for systematic and scoping reviews.

1. Select items in the database from your search
2. Export RIS file (or other file type)
3. In Zotero, from File menu select Import
4. Use popup window to locate the RIS file (probably in download folder)
5. Import
6. New folder is created.
7. Rename folder (right click on folder) or move items to other folders.