Zotero guide: Adding citations to documents

Zotero is compatible with commonly-used word processing programs including Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and LibreOffice. If you use LaTeX and have access to a paid Overleaf account, you can link your account to Zotero. Follow the instructions on the Overleaf website.

 

The Zotero word processor plug-in

The word processor plugin is bundled with Zotero and should be installed automatically for each supported word processor on your computer when you first start Zotero. If the plugin does not show up, you can reinstall the plugins. In Zotero, click on Edit > Preferences > Cite tab > Word Processors > Reinstall Microsoft Word Add-in > Restart Word 

 If you are still having issues, see Manually Installing the Zotero Word Processor Plugin or Word Processor Plugin Troubleshooting.

The Zotero tab in Word has the following icons:

 

Adding citations

To insert citation in your document, place the cursor where you want a citation to be inserted. You will also need to have the Zotero desktop application open. Click on the Add/Edit Citation icon in the Zotero tab. A citation search bar will appear allowing you to search for references in your library. Start typing part of a title, last name of an author, or a year and matching items will appear.

Select an item by clicking on it and it will appear in the search box. Click on the reference in the search box to add page numbers, or to remove the author (as for some in-text citation styles, you may only need the year). You can also add a page number by typing ‘p’ followed by a space and then the page number directly in the Zotero search box. To add multiple references at once (e.g. Smith, 2019; Brown, 2018), search for and select another item.

When you are ready to insert the reference(s) into your document, hit enter on the keyboard.

Tip: You can select the ‘classic view’ by clicking the drop down arrow on the ‘Z’ icon in the citation search bar. The classic view allows you to see your entire Zotero Library. 

 

Choosing your citing and referencing style

The first time you insert a citation in a document you will be required to choose a referencing style from a pop-up window. You can change the referencing style at any time using the Document preferences option in the Zotero tab. If your style is not listed, click ‘Manage styles’ and then click on ‘Get additional styles’. Search for the style you want to add, the example below shows adding the AGLC style. Click the link to add it to the list of styles in your Document preferences menu.

  

 

Note for users of the Monash Harvard style: In the additional styles menu, there is a style called 'Style Manual - Australian Government (author-date), updated on 2022-07-04 (note that this style may be further updated in the future). This style is a close match for the Monash Harvard style in our citing and referencing guide.

Note for users of Vancouver and other styles with abbreviated journal titles: If you are using Vancouver as your referencing style, or another referencing style that includes abbreviated journal titles, check the box for 'Use MEDLINE journal abbreviations' when selecting your reference style. Journal titles will then be automatically abbreviated in your bibliography (note that not every journal title has an abbreviation in the NLM catalog).

 

Editing citations

You may need to edit a citation that you have inserted into Word, for example if you need to add or change page numbers, or you need to select a different source. To change the source or page number, highlight the citation in Word, click the ‘Add/Edit Citation’ icon, and when the citation box appears, change the citation or page number. 

Learn more about adding/editing a citation.

 

Adding a bibliography (reference list)

After you have added one or more citations, you can create a bibliography that matches your chosen referencing style. To do this, click on ‘Add/Edit Bibliography’.  Zotero will insert a fully-formatted bibliography in your chosen style from the references included in the document. 

If you add or remove references in your paper, select "Refresh" from the Zotero menu to update the bibliography.

Learn more about adding/editing a bibliography.

 

Creating stand-alone bibliographies

You can also create a stand-alone bibliography in Zotero. To create a bibliography in Zotero, rather than in Word, highlight your references from the middle panel and right-click to select ‘Create Bibliography from Selected Item(s)…’, then select a referencing style. Then choose one of the following four ways to create your bibliography:

• Save as RTF will allow you to save the bibliography as a rich text file. You can open this in Word and copy/paste into other documents as needed.
• Save as HTML will allow you to save the bibliography as a HTML file for viewing in a web browser. 
• Copy to Clipboard will allow you to save the bibliography to your clipboard to paste into any text field.
• Print will send your bibliography straight to a printer.

 

Editing bibliographies

If the reference entry in your Word document is incorrect, you need to change the reference in Zotero itself, not in the Word document. For information about editing references in Zotero, see the Editing and organising references section of this guide. Once you have corrected the reference in Zotero, click on the Refresh icon in the Zotero toolbar in Word.

 

Document preferences 

Click on the Document Preferences icon to make changes to the entire document, including changing to a new citation style, and changing the citation display from footnotes to endnotes

 

Removing Zotero Field Codes from your document 

When you are finished using Zotero with your Word document, you may want to take out the Zotero field codes (references in grey box). Doing so will turn your document into plain text and will allow you to make changes to your document without Zotero overriding your changes.

Warning: Removing field codes is irreversible, so please save a copy of your document with the field codes first. To remove field codes, click on the ‘Unlink Citations’ icon. 

Using Zotero in Google Docs is very similar to Microsoft Word, except the Google Docs menu bar looks different.

 

There is also a ‘Z’ symbol in your Google Docs toolbar, which is a shortcut to add/edit a citation with one click.

The first time you use Zotero in a Google Doc, you will be asked to authenticate the plugin with your Google account. Be sure to select the Google account you used to create the document or that has been given editing access. This is unrelated to any Zotero account you may have.

If you’re planning a large collaborative project in Google Docs, it is recommended that each user has the Zotero Connector installed and that you use a Zotero Group Library. You and your co-authors should avoid inserting or editing citations at the same time.

Learn more about using Zotero with Google Docs, including the limitations.