Zotero Basics: Citing Sources

Pick a citation style to use for your work and make an effort to learn how to format notes and bibliography citations in that style.  Zotero makes it easier, but is no substitute for knowledge and organization on your part.  A sloppy bibliography may cast doubt upon the quality of your work.

One of the major reasons to use a citation manager is to make it easier to generate citations to your sources.  Zotero gives you the ability to generate citations to one or more sources, formatted in a variety of citation styles, for use in footnotes, end notes, or bibliographies.

Zotero has special "cite while you write" plugins for both Microsoft Word and Google Docs.  It should download the word processor plugins and install them when you install Zotero. 

We highly recommend that you practice with this tool before you need to create a large document. 

Adding a footnote or endnote:

1. First, open your Zotero desktop software.  Next, open your word processor document.
2. Look in the word processor menu bar for the Zotero tool.
3. Choose "Add/Edit Citation"
4. Zotero should ask you to choose a citation style, and then bring up a Zotero search box.
5. Search on the item you wish to cite and select the record from the results list.

Adding a bibliography from your footnotes or endnotes

If you consistently use the citation tool in the word processor, Zotero will allow you to generate a bibliography at the end of all the sources that you used in your notes.

1. Place your cursor at the end of your document where you want the bibliography.
2. Use the Zotero tool in the menu of your word processor.
3. Choose the option for "Add/Edit bibliography".
4. Zotero should build a bibliography using all the records that you selected for your footnotes or endnotes.

CAUTION:

• If you didn't clean your Zotero records when importing them, it is essential to proofread citations as you insert them. Clean Zotero records will produce better notes and bibliographies. 
• Make sure that your records include the proper information in the proper style for your preferred citation style.  This is especially important for title capitalization, inclusion of both volume and issue numbers, and date formatting.
• Always proofread your citations and bibliography.  Don't assume that everything automatically worked correctly.  Your thesis or dissertation reviewers will notice sloppy citations.  Be sure to be consistent with the citation style, font, etc.