Adding references
Adding references while browsing the web using the Zotero Connector
Use the Zotero Connector icon in your browser to automatically add resources found on the web. First, locate the webpage, article, book or video you want to add. Then click the Zotero icon (usually located in the top right-hand corner of your browser window, next to the URL bar). Notice the Zotero icon will change depending what type of information you’re looking at (book, journal articles, news article, etc). Zotero will save the article into your chosen Zotero Library collection, and include the PDF if it’s available.
Adding several references at once using the Zotero Connector
You can also add multiple references at once from a search results list in Google Scholar or from scholarly databases (e.g. ProQuest, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, etc). From a results list page, click the Zotero icon (it should look like a ‘folder’ image). This will open a pop-up window listing the results from that page, you can then select which ones you want to save to Zotero. You will need to repeat this process for each results list page that you want to select references from.
Adding references to Zotero (desktop or online) using an identifier
If you have an identifier (such as an ISBN or DOI) for a resource, you can add this resource to Zotero by clicking the ‘magic wand’ icon and entering the number.
Importing references from databases
If you are importing a large number of items from scholarly databases, rather than using the Zotero Connector you can export the items as a batch in one of the standardised formats (e.g., BibTeX and RIS are common choices) and import this file into Zotero. Many scholarly databases (e.g. ProQuest, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, etc) offer the ability to select multiple items from a search results list and export as a batch to various formats. In Google Scholar, you need to first save the items to your Google Scholar library (using the ☆ icon in the search results), then select and export them from the Google Scholar “My Library” page. You will need to create a Google Scholar account to save items to your library, but you can use the Zotero Connector icon without creating an account.
For example, to export a large number of references from Ovid Medline:
- from a list of search results select the records that you wish to export using the check boxes to the left of each record
- click Export at the top of the Search results
- in the drop down menus, select RIS as the format and select an option from the Fields menu - we recommend Citation, Abstract
- click on Export
- a RIS file will be downloaded to your computer.
To import this RIS file into Zotero:
- either double-click on the downloaded file (if you have Zotero set up as your default reference manager) or select Import from the File menu in Zotero
- choose the 'A file ' option when asked where you want to import from
- select the downloaded RIS file, you can then choose whether to import the references into a new collection or into your main library
- we recommend the default option for file handling (copy files to the Zotero storage folder).
Adding references manually
Click the green ‘New Item’ button at the top menu, and select the reference type that best matches the source you are adding. Common reference types are included in the drop-down menu, and clicking the More option displays additional reference types. See our FAQs section for information on manually adding case law and legislation.
Adding a reference by uploading a PDF
Drag and drop the PDF file into either the left side panel to add to the relevant Zotero collection, or drag and drop directly into the blank part of the middle panel. Alternatively, use the ‘Store Copy of File’ or ‘Link to File’ options from the ‘add new item’ menu.
By default, Zotero will automatically retrieve metadata for each PDF. If Zotero can find a match for the PDF, it will create a full Zotero item with the available data and attach the PDF. You can edit this information if needed.
Learn more about adding PDFs to Zotero.