Citation Management Software: Organizing References

Zotero allows you to share collections with others by creating either private or public groups with associated libraries.

Create a group library:

• Navigate to the Zotero website
• Click 'Log In'
• Enter your username and password
• Navigate to Groups 
• Click 'Create a New Group'
• Add a group name
• Choose the group type
• Click 'Create Group'
• Choose group settings (private; public, closed membership; public, open membership)
• Click 'Save Settings'

If you set-up automatic syncing between Zotero Online and the Zotero desktop app, this new Group Library should automatically appear in the Zotero desktop app. If syncing is not automatic, open the Zotero desktop app and click the Sync with zotero.org icon.

Share a group library with others:

• Navigate to the Zotero website
• Click 'Log In'
• Enter your username and password
• Navigate to Groups
• Click 'Manage Members' beneath the group name
• Click 'Send More Invitations'
• Add collaborators' email addresses
• Click 'Invite Members'
• Choose member roles

Please visit Zotero's documentation page for more information.

Copy References to Another Collection or Sub-Collection

References can be included in multiple collections or sub-collections.

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Select the item(s) you want to add to a collection or sub-collection
• Drag and drop to the collection or sub-collection

Tags are keywords that allow you to describe an item. You can add multiple tags to a single reference.

Add tags:

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Click the reference you would like to tag
• Click the Tags tab
• Click 'Add' and type the name of the tag
  • Zotero will automatically suggest matching existing tags
• Hit 'Enter' on your keyboard or click the matching tag name

Rename a Tag

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Navigate to the Tag Selector area
• Right click the name of a tag and select 'Rename Tag'
• Type the new name of the tag
• 'Click 'OK
  • Zotero will update the tag name across all items that include it

Assign a Tag Color

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Navigate to the Tag Selector area
• Right click the name of a tag and select 'Assign Color'
• Choose the color and position (e.g. keyboard shortcut)
• Click 'Set Color'
  • Zotero will update the tag name across all items that include it

Attach a PDF to a Reference

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Right click the reference you would like to attach the PDF to
• Click 'Add Attachment' and select 'Attach Stored Copy of File'

Add a Note to a Reference

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Select the reference you would like to add the note to
• Click 'Notes' and select 'Add'
• Type the note text
• Zotero will automatically save what you type

Find Duplicate References

Duplicate references are those that have been added to the same Zotero Library more than once. Items added to more than one Collection are not considered duplicate items.

• Open the Zotero desktop app
• Click 'Duplicate Items'
• Review identified duplicates to confirm that they are the same reference
• Choose a version of the item
• Select 'Merge' to create a single item

Read and Annotate PDFs

• Double-click the reference you want to read or annotate
  • The reference must have a PDF already attached
• Annotate using various tools such as the highlight tool and the note tool

All annotations are stored within this copy of the PDF.