Research Guides: Psychology: Zotero

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About Zotero

Zotero is great for capturing web content and biblographic information about published documents, but it is not as robust as EndNote or Mendeley in features you'll want to use when culling and organizing what you've collected. Luckily, Zotero is good at exporting in formats that can be imported into EndNote and Mendeley. A more complete guide to Zotero can be found here: https://gouldguides.carleton.edu/zotero

Install and Set Up

Zotero Quick Start Guide
An overview of features of Zotero, how to install it, and links to documentation.

Get a (free) Zotero account.

Signing up with your Carleton email address will get you unlimited free storage.
Signing up with a personal email address will get you 300MB of free storage.

Install BOTH the Zotero program and the Browser "Connector."

HINT: If the Zotero connector isn't communicating with your Zotero application, go to Zotero.org and log in with your Zotero account. This will let your browser, and therefore the connector, know who you are, and it will be able to send citations to your Zotero application again.

HINT: In some browsers, you may have to "Pin" the Zotero Browser Connector in order to make it visible in your toolbar. Here's a screenshot of where to find that pin.

Configure Zotero's Preferences

Open Settings

Windows users, click Edit > Settings
Mac users, click Zotero > Settings

Sync to your Zotero Account

In Settings, click the "Sync" tab.
Enter your Zotero username and password.
This will sync your Zotero account and all your citation information to the cloud so you can access it anywhere.

Set up the "Library Lookup" option

In Settings, click the "General" tab.
In the "Locate" section, click on the menu to the right of "Resolver." In that menu, hover over North America, and in the next menu that opens, find and select Carleton College. Close this window.
This will set up Zotero to find resources using Gould Library's catalog.

Optional, depending on your circumstances

Keeping Zotero from interfering with EndNote

(only necessary if you use both and want EndNote to be your default for database exports)

In your web browser, find the Zotero extension preferences
1. In Chrome: click "Window > Extensions > Zotero Options
2. In Firefox: click Tools > Add-ons > Zotero Preferences
3. In Safari: Safari does not offer extension preferences that you can configure
Under "Automatic File Importing," uncheck the box next to "Import BibTeX/RIS/Refer files into Zotero."

Keeping Zotero from blocking access to your Catalyst account

Sometimes (but not always) the Zotero connector in your browser will need some configuring. This is especially true if you click "accept" when Zotero asks you whether to configure proxy information. While configuring a proxy can make your saved URLs work from off campus, they also seem to interfere with some Catalyst functionality. If you find yourself running into difficulties logging into your library account through Catalyst, here's how to fix that.

In your web browser, find the Zotero extension preferences
1. In Chrome: click "Window > Extensions > Zotero Options
2. In Firefox: click Tools > Add-ons > Zotero Preferences
3. In Safari: Safari does not offer extension preferences that you can configure
Open the extension click "Proxies"
Under "Configured Proxies" delete default proxy. That box should be blank.

Using Zotero

Zotero provides the ability to save references from most library catalogs (including Carleton's) and databases, and even some regular web pages, with one click. (Zotero publishes a list of compatible sites, and many sites not on this list also work.) If Zotero detects that you're looking at a book or article on a catalog, database, or a site like Amazon.com, LibraryThing or the New York Times, you'll see a book or page icon appear in the address bar of your browser. Just click the icon and Zotero will automatically save the citation.

If you're on a page of search results with many items, you'll see a folder icon instead. Click this to get a list of all the items on the page, and check off the ones you want to save.

Other Web Sites

Zotero can't automatically capture citation info from some web pages, but you can still add them to your Zotero library.

Click the Zotero button at the bottom of your browser to access Zotero's controls. Click the page button (to the right of the green plus sign) to save a link to the page. This will save a new "web page" item to your library. You can add information about the author, etc., if you wish.

You may also want to attach a snapshot of the page. Taking a snapshot saves a copy of the page to your computer. It includes the page's text and images, so if the page is removed later, or if you're offline, you'll still be able to view your copy.

Take a snapshot by right-clicking the new item you just added to your library and choosing "attach snapshot of current page" from the menu. You can click the "view snapshot" button in the right pane to see it.

If you have collected citations to articles but not the full text, Zotero can help you find the full text.

If you are using a Carleton lab computer:

Highlight an article
Click the arrow button that says "Locate" when you hover over it
Select "Library Lookup"
If we have the full text of the article, you can attach the file using the instructions below.

If you are using your own computer:

Configure the OpenURL settings in the "Advanced" section of the "Preferences" https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/01BRC_INST/01BRC_INST:CCO?
Highlight an article
Click the arrow button that says "Locate" when you hover over it
Select "Library Lookup"
If we have the full text of the article, you can attach the file using the instructions below.

It's easy to attach files (like PDFs) to items in your Zotero library. Just drag the file into your Zotero pane. Dropping a file onto a collection, or in between library items, will copy it into your library as a standalone item. Dropping it onto an existing item will attach it to that item. This is the easiest way to attach a copy of an article to its entry in your library.

Each item also has an Attachments tab in the right column. You can attach files by clicking the Attachments tab and then the Add button.

Click the Zotero button at the bottom of your browser to open your library. At the top left is a folder button with a green plus sign. Click this to create a new "collection."

Create collections to organize your references. Collections are like file folders on your computer, but a reference can be in more than one collection at a time. In other words, a book on the Civil War could be filed in your "Civil War" collection, your "Georgia History" collection and your "19th Century America" collection without having to make three copies of the reference.

It's easy to create a bibliography from your Zotero library.

Select the references or collections you want to include. Hold the control key and click to select multiple items. Right-click one of the selected items and choose Create Bibliography. Choose the bibliographic style you want, and select the output format: Save as RTF or HTML, copy to clipboard or print. (The RTF file format is compatible with all word processors.)

Or you can just drag and drop references from Zotero into your document! They'll turn into fully formatted bibliography entries (hold down the shift key and drag, and you'll get formatted citations). This works with any word processor including Google Docs. Change the default style under Preferences on the "gear" menu.

Zotero offers word processing plugins for Word and OpenOffice. The plugin adds a Zotero toolbar to your word processor that allows you to add citations to your document while you write.

To add a citation, click the first button ("Insert Citation") on the toolbar. Select the reference you want to cite and click OK. Zotero will add the citation at your cursor.

At the end of your paper, click the third button ("Insert Bibliography"). Your bibliography will appear, and new citations will be added automatically. Change bibliographic styles with the last button on the toolbar ("Set Doc Prefs").