A quick guide on how to use Zotero

1. 1

2. 2
What’s inside?
Content Slide Number
INTRODUCTION 3
Download and installation of Zotero 4-6
Zotero Interface 7
Creating your Zotero Library 8
EXPORTING ENTRIES 9
1. From the Library Catalogue 10-12
2. From Google Scholar 13
3. From Web 14
Entries in Zotero Library 16
FORMATTING CITATIONS IN MS WORD 14
1. How to create in-text citation 17-21
2. How to create a Reference List 22-23
OTHER FUNCTIONS IN ZOTERO 24

3. • is a free, open-source
research tool that helps you collect and organise
scholarly works for teaching, research, and personal
study.
• Free storage up to 300 MB.
3
Introduction to Zotero
IMPORTANT NOTES:
NP Library suggests the use of Zotero to automate formatting of resources in academic papers.
However, auto-generated citations are NOT always error-free.
It is best to cross-check against the prescribed format of your chosen Reference Style.
See available online guide https://np-sg.libguides.com/CitingResources to check citing conventions and make edits to the auto-
generated citations as may be necessary.

4. Download Zotero
STEP 1.
Go to
Zotero.org/download
STEP 1.2.
Install Zotero
Connector to
automatically save
web sources
STEP 1.1.
Click on the
Download button
4

5. Download Zotero
5
(From Step 1.1.) Once downloaded,
a Zotero tab and a Zotero ribbon will
be added in MS Word

6. Download Zotero
6
(From Step 1.2) When the Zotero software is open,
the Zotero Connector icon “Z” will appear at the
right hand corner of Google Web page

7. FROM Step 2
The software has a
3-column interface (each with a
different function)
(NOTE: The sample interface already
has entries for demonstration
purposes. Steps to populate the
software with bibliographic entries
are outlined in the succeeding slides).
LIBRARIES
panel
(contains
folders for your
research topics)
RESOURCES
panel (contains
all books, web
pages, other
items you have
stored in your
Zotero folder)
METADATA panel
(contains
information
about your
resources)
7
Zotero interface STEP 2
To see the software
interface,
open Zotero

8. STEP 3.
Click the folder with a
+ sign
STEP 3.2
Click on the relevant folder to fill it with citation
details. Each folder is similar to a ‘mini-library’
that can contain relevant sources.
(NOTE: Keep Zotero open and the desired folder
clicked before filling in entries from various
sources, e.g. Lib Catalogue, Google Scholar, and
Web)
8
Creating your Zotero Library
STEP 3.1
Name the folder with
your preferred research
topic and hit “OK”

9. 9
Automatically export entries from
1. Library Catalogue
2. Google Scholar
3. Web

10. STEP 4.1
Go to Library Catalogue.
Type a search word
10
Export entries from Library catalogue
STEP 4.2
Click on SEARCH

11. STEP 4.4
Click on “Save to Zotero”
and choose “Save to
Zotero COinS”
STEP 4.3
Right click anywhere on the
‘Search Results’ page.
A box menu will be prompted
11
Export entries from Library catalogue

12. STEP 4.5
Tick the box(es)
beside the item(s)
that you wish to
save in the Zotero
library
Records of your chosen items will
be automatically saved in the
opened folder in Zotero
12
Export entries from Library catalogue
STEP 4.6
Click on “OK”

13. STEP 5.
Go to scholar. google.com.sg
& key in your search term
STEP 5.2
Click on your desired citation
style
STEP 5.3
Click on “RefMan”
(Note: ‘RefMan’ is short for reference
management)
Records of your chosen items will
be automatically saved in the
opened folder in Zotero
STEP 5.1
Select the citation icon
13
Export entries from Google Scholar

14. STEP 6.
Go to the web page you
want to save and click on
the Zotero Connector icon
(which turns into this icon
if you want to save web
pages)
14
Export entries from the Web
(From STEP 6.) A pop-up
message will automatically
appear

15. Reference entries exported
from the
 1) Library Catalogue,
 2) Google Scholar, and
 3) Web
are automatically stored in the
Zotero library
15
Entries in Zotero Library

16. 16
Formatting citations in MS Word

17. STEP 7.1.
Open MS Word. Keep the populated
Zotero library open. A Zotero tab is
automatically added in the menu
bar
STEP 7.2.
Click on “Document Preferences”
and select your desired citation
style
STEP 7.3.
Click on “OK”
17
How to create in-text citations

18. STEP 7.5
Click on
“Add/Edit Citation”
STEP 7.4.
As you write your academic
paper, place the cursor where
you want to insert the citation
STEP 7.6
A Zotero pull down bar
will appear. Key in the
title of the resource you
want to cite.
Click on the title and hit
‘ENTER’
18
How to create in-text citations

19. The in-text citation will be
automatically added
19
STEP 7.7
When quoting directly, put page number(s) in
the in-text citation. To do this, follow the exact
process from STEP 7.4 to 7.6 (refer to Slide 18).
Click on the resource in the Zotero bar
How to create in-text citations

20. 20
STEP 7.8
A dialogue box will appear.
Put the page number(s) in the field.
Hit ‘ENTER’ to exit the dialogue box
and another ‘ENTER’ to put the in-
text citation
The in-text citation (with
page number) will be
automatically added
How to create in-text citations

21. STEP 8
Click on “Add/Edit Bibliography”
From STEP 8. The record(s)
used in-text will automatically
appear
21
How to create in-text citations
STEP 8.1
After you have completed citing all the resources, click on “Unlink Citations”.
This will make the references editable. Check the prescribed format from
https://np-sg.libguides.com/CitingResources and do edits as necessary in the
auto-generated citations

22. STEP 9
Alternatively, you can right
away create a Reference List
from Zotero without doing in-
text citations. Highlight the
items you want to include in the
Reference List from the Zotero
interface
STEP 9.1
Right click and choose
“Create Bibliography from Items”
22
How to create a Reference List (alternative approach)

23. STEP 9.3
Choose your preferred
citation style
STEP 9.4
Click on “Bibliography” radio button
STEP 9.5
Click on “Save as RTF” radio button
STEP 9.6
Click “OK”
23
How to create a Reference List (alternative approach)
From STEP 9.6. The
reference list will be
automatically saved in
your preferred location

24. 1. Manually add records in
Zotero library
2. Look up items using
identifiers (DOI, ISBN)
(NOTE: DOI is short for digital
object identifier. It is given to
materials legitimately
published online)
4. Attach PDF items or links
to each resource
5. View stored PDF
attachments
6. Link resources to
different online sources
3. Add notes or
annotations on
reference entries
24
Other functions in Zotero