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Citation Management Software - Zotero

A guide to getting started with Zotero, a free, open source citation management tool.

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Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) License

This guide has a Creative Commons BY-NC License.

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This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

About Zotero

Icon for Zotero 7 Zotero is a free, open source desktop application that allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share research. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. This guide has information on how to get started with using Zotero, from installing the application and its plugins, to adding sources to your library, to generating in-text citations and reference lists.

Zotero 7 was released in August 2024. If you're used to using an older version of Zotero, you may want to view the Zotero 7: Zotero Redesigned blog post to get a sense of what some of the changes are. 

Install Zotero

Go to the Zotero website at the link above, click on "Log in," and register for a free account. 

From the Zotero homepage or www.zotero.org/download, download the Zotero desktop application and browser extension (Zotero Connector) for your Internet browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Safari). 

Screenshot of Zotero website with link to download Zotero 7 for Windows and Zotero Connector for Firefox

Sync Zotero

Once you have the Zotero desktop application downloaded to your computer, you can set up syncing by signing in using your Zotero username and password. Syncing allows you to access your Zotero library from any computer. Zotero provides you with 300 MB of free storage. You can purchase additional storage space on the Zotero website. 

1. Click on Settings under the Edit menu:

Edit menu in Zotero with Settings highlighted

 

2. Click Sync and enter your Zotero username and password, and click Set Up Syncing:

Sync settings in Zotero settings with screen to log in with Zotero account

 

3. Click on the "Sync with zotero.org" icon in the upper right-hand corner to sync your Zotero library: