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Zotero for Citation Management: Navigating the Interface

Overview of the Interface

Note: Rule No.1 for learning a new tool - always start with getting familiar with the tool interface.

On top of the left sidebar, you can see there is an area called My Library, below that is the Group Libraries. My Library contains the library of references you created for yourself, while Group Libraries are shared libraries with your teammates if you are going to write a paper or manage the references together.

At the bottom part of the left sidebar is the Tags. For each paper, you can add tags manually, though some of the paper will have automatically generated tags. When you click on the tags, you can find out references related to the same tags.

In the middle panel, it shows the collection of items in your library. 

The panel on the right shows the details of an item, such as item information, tags, and notes.

Create a New Collection in My Library

 

Step 1. Click on the icon.

Step 2. Enter a name for the Collection.

Step 3. Confirm your action.

 

Right-click the Collection to:

  • Rename, delete Collections or items
  • Add a new Sub-collection
  • Export Collection
  • Create a Bibliography from the Collection
  • Generate report from Collection

Create a New Group

Step 1. Go to https://www.zotero.org/groups.

Step 2. Click on [Create a New Group] with the Group Name and Group Type.