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Zotero Tutorials

Learn the basics of the free Zotero citation management program

Zotero Citation Manager

Zotero is a free online tool that helps you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. These brief tutorials will help you get started using the basic functions of Zotero. For more information and support, you can consult the Zotero website.

Note that all the tutorials were created using Zotero for Firefox in a Windows environment. Some aspects of the program will appear differently depending on your browser, operating system, and version of Zotero.  

Installing Zotero

Learn how easy it is to install Zotero 5.0 for either Windows or Mac!

Organizing Your Zotero Library

Get oriented to the structure of Zotero and learn how it can help you organize your references.

Adding Items to Your Zotero Library

Zotero works with library catalogs and databases, publisher websites, Google Scholar, and other popular websites such as Amazon and NYTimes. See how easy it is to add items from the web to your Zotero library with a single click of the mouse!

Learn to add PDFs that are already saved on your computer to your Zotero library and retrieve or create citation information.

Editing Citation Information

Zotero uses your stored citation information to create bibliographies, so you want to make sure this information is correct. Learn how to correct, update, and add citation information for the sources in your library.

Dealing with Duplicates

You want to avoid saving the same item more than once to your Zotero library because it can create problems with your citations. A single item can be included in as many collections as you want, so there's no need to have duplicates.

It's easy to find out if you have duplicate items in your library!

Writing and Citing in Microsoft Word

Zotero provides word processor plugins that allow you to insert and edit citations and bibliographies into your documents using a customized toolbar. (Information on how to install the plugin is included in the Installing Zotero tutorial.)
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