CAT 591: Orientation to Research and Writing

Zotero is a tool that will help you collect, organize, manage your citations, and cite your research.

Download Zotero and get started!

• Download Zotero and the Zotero connector for your browser
• Set up syncing to keep your library up to date across devices
• Search databases and other online resources and use the "save to Zotero" icon in the upper right corner of your browser to capture citation information
  • Or use the "export" tool in CINAHL or Medline
  • Or you can enter citation information into Zotero manually
• Organize items in your Zotero library into folders and subfolders
• Drag saved PDFs from your computer into your Zotero library to generate citations
• Save PDFs and attach them to items in your library
• Use the Zotero toolbar in Word to add in-text citations and generate references in your bibliography
• You can drag and drop items from Zotero into your Word document (set Export preferences in Zotero to APA first)
  • hold down the shift key while you drag for in-text citations
  • just drag and drop to create a reference
  • NOTE:  This is a quick and easy way to transfer a few citations, but you will have to spend more time correcting formatting in Word.

Tips:

Avoid frustration! Set aside some time to practice using Zotero before you are working under a deadline. The tool is very easy to use once you get the hang of it!

Clean up your citations in Zotero after export. Make sure the information and APA style conventions are correct. Zotero can help! For example, if an article title goes into Zotero in all caps, right click on it and "transform text" to "sentence case."