Add references

Zotero "watches" the pages you view to see if any contain citations to books, articles or other sources.

If Zotero detects that you're looking at a book or an article via the Library catalogue or database, or a site like Google Scholar, you'll see an icon appear in the address bar of your browser.

This icon will change to reflect the type of item. For example, a book icon if a book is detected, a printed page if a journal article is detected.

Click the icon and Zotero will automatically save the citation.

If you're on a page of search results with many items (such as a database), you'll see a folder icon. Click this to get a list of all items and select the ones you want to save.

Saving web pages

Zotero doesn't automatically capture citation information from regular web pages.

To save a web page as a reference, right-click the 'Save to Zotero' icon in your browser and choose 'Save Zotero snapshot'.

► See video below and 'Adding items to Zotero' for further information.

Zotero: saving references to Your Library / Georgia State University Library (YouTube)

Click the + icon in your reference column and choose the type of item from the dropdown list. The most used reference types are suggested, click 'more' to access the full list.

► Ensure you add all the data required for the particular reference.  Refer to the Library's Referencing Tool on what data is required.

To save citations directly from a Library database:

1. Select the records you want to save
2. Look for an 'Export' option
3. Select Zotero or if not available, select a RIS option
4. Click 'Export'
5. Choose to 'Open with 'Zotero'. If this option is not available, save to your downloads folder
6. Go to your Downloads folder. Right click the *.RIS file and select

These instructions may change depending on the operating system and browser you are using.

On the main screen of Zotero, click the 'Add item(s) by Identifier' icon.

This opens a small window where you can type the journal article DOI or a book ISBN. Press Enter. Check the reference contains the necessasry metadata and it is correctly formatted.

A book's ISBN can usually be found on the  back of the book near the barcode.

When you have selected an item in the center pane, you can view and edit its bibliographic information via the Info tab of the right-hand pane. Most fields can be clicked and edited. Changes are saved automatically as they are made. For further information, see Zotero-Edit Items as some fields have special features.