Reference Management
Zotero
Free & Open Source
Main content
Some good reasons for using Zotero as refererence manager:
- Zotero is open source and free software. This means that students and employees can continue to use Zotero regardless of their affiliation with UiB.
- Zotero works on all operating systems. Particularly if you are working on a UNIX computer it is not possible to use e.g. EndNote.
- A Zotero browser plugin (Zotero connector) makes it easy to import references directly from web pages and search engines such as e.g. ORIA, GoogleScholar, Web of Science, EuropePMC, or Pubmed. If you archive webpages, Zotero will automatically save a snapshot.
- Zotero can automatically import references through a DOI (often associated with scientific articles) or an ISBN-number (often associated with printed or digital books)
- Zotero supports import of PDF files and can automatically retrieve reference metadata.
- Zotero supports import and export of various library formats, including .ris and BibTeX (.bib) that can easily be transferred between various reference management tools.
- Zotero can easily synchronize your reference library with a central server. Thus you can use the same reference library on several machines with great ease.
- With Zotero you can easily create group libraries, synchronize them with the central server, and edit them together with your collaborators. There is no limit for the group size and number of references (free storage space is 300MB - more is available at a cost or consider not syncing attachments to save space).
- Zotero works well with tools for collaborative writing such as Google Docs.
- Zotero is handy when writing with LaTeX. It generate BibTeX keys based on author and publication year and it is possible to automatically update your .bib-files. Consider to use the Better BibTeX plugin to generate the citation keys according to your preferences.
- Zotero notifies about retracted items in your library.
Zotero is continuously developed further and there exist many tutorials and help pages online. Don’t hesitate to take contact if you have further questions.
