Referencing Software in Health: Zotero

Zotero

Introduction

Zotero is a free, open source referencing tool. This means that you will be able to continue using it seamlessly, even if you leave Coventry University. You can also use it to collaborate with colleagues at other institutions. It allows you to:

• Store, organise, and manage references from lots of different sources.
• Create references in APA style, or the style you are using for your research.
• Add a plugin to Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and Google Docs.

Zotero online has limited storage for files, such as PDFs of journal articles. However, there is an option to pay for additional online storage.

Getting Started

Zotero has three components:

• A desktop program, which is essential to download. You can download this from the Zotero website. If you work across multiple computers, you can install this on each one.
• An online version, which you should create an account for. To create an account click 'Log In' at the top of any Zotero page, or go direct to the registration page.
• A browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. This component is optional, but makes it much easier to add references to Zotero. You can install this from the Zotero website.

Once you have everything installed, the last step is to sync your online account with your desktop. You should only need to do this once per device. To sync your account:

• From the Zotero desktop app, click Edit at the top of the window, then Settings.
• On the Sync tab, enter the username and password for your Zotero Online account. Click Set Up Syncing.
• Zotero has an online storage limit of 300MB. If you are likely to add a lot of PDFs to your Zotero Library, you may want to turn off file syncing and just store the PDFs in your desktop app. To do this, untick 'Sync full-text content', 'Sync attachment files in My Library', and 'Sync attachment files in group libraries'.
• Exit Settings. Syncing should then happen automatically. If it doesn't, you may need to click the circular arrows in the top right corner to prompt it the first time.

Zotero Guides

Zotero has extensive written guides in the Documentation section of their website. They also have Forums, where you can ask questions if you cannot find the answer in the guides.