Adding additional styles to Zotero
Zotero comes with the most common bibliographic styles, but many more are available to download.
To install a style:
- Go to the Zotero Style Repository page.
- Search for the name of the style you need.
- Download the style (right-click the Install link and choose Save As).
- Open Zotero preferences. Click Cite, then Styles, then the "+" button. Select the style you downloaded (a .CSL file).
The new style will appear in Zotero's style lists.
Don't See the Word Toolbar?
If you don't see the Zotero toolbar in Microsoft Word, do the following:
- Close Word, open Zotero.
- in Zotero, click Edit menu / Preferences / Cite button / Word Processors tab.
- Click "(Re)Install MS Word Add-in" button.
- Reopen Word.
Creating Quick Bibliographies
To create a bibliography from your Zotero library select the relevant references or collections. To select multiple sources hold the control key and click the items. Right-click one of the selected items and choose Create Bibliography.
Choose the bibliographic style you want, select Copy to Clipboard, click OK, and paste the Clipboard text into your word processor.
This method works with any word processor (or anywhere you can paste text).
Creating Your Bibliography While You Write
​Zotero offers word processing plugins for Word and OpenOffice. The plugin adds to your word processor a Zotero toolbar that allows you to add citations to your document while you write.
To add a citation click the first toolbar button ("Add/Edit Citation"). Search for and select the reference/s and press Enter. Zotero will add the citation at your cursor.
At the end of your paper, click the "Insert Bibliography" button. Your bibliography will appear, and new citations will be added automatically. Change bibliographic styles with the "Document Preferences" button.
The toolbar looks different on different operating systems and different versions of Word. Mouse over the toolbar to see a description of each button's function.
Zotero with Google Docs
Zotero works with Google Docs! You must have the Zotero Connector installed in Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
As in the Word screenshot above, look for the Zotero menu in your Google Docs editor.
The first time you use Zotero within Google Docs, you will be asked to grant Zotero Google Docs Integration to "See, edit, create, and delete all your Google Docs documents." As Zotero explains on its Privacy page, "[t]he plugin requires this permission to insert citations into your documents. The plugin doesn’t do anything else with your document content and doesn’t access documents other than the ones on which it’s triggered. The integration works entirely locally on your computer, so even when you trigger the plugin on a given document, nothing is sent to Zotero servers."
After you allow for the integration, you can use the functions under the Zotero menu. These functions are virtually the same as those in Microsoft Word.
