Zotero: Bibliographies

Creating a simple bibliography from your item list

Quick Copy - Select titles in your item list and drag and drop them into an open Google, Word, or LibreOffice document.

Before you create the bibliography, you should choose the citation style that you prefer to use. In the Export section of Zotero settings, choose a style from the Item Format list. If the style you want is not listed, edit the Style Manager list in the Cite section of settings.

Right-Click to Create Bibliography - Select one or more items from the list you want  included in the bibliography and then right-click (control-click on Macs) to select Create Bibliography from Items.

Then select a citation style for your bibliography format and choose one of the following four ways to create your bibliography:

• Save as RTF will allow you to save the bibliography as a rich text file.
• Save as HTML will allow you to save the bibliography as a HTML file for viewing in a web browser. This format will also embed metadata allowing other Zotero users viewing the document to capture bibliographic information.
• Copy to Clipboard will allow you to save the bibliography to your clipboard to paste into any text application.
• Print will send your bibliography straight to a printer.

The word processor plugins for Microsoft Word and LibreOffice are bundled with Zotero and should be installed automatically for each word processor when you first start Zotero. The plugins will allow you to insert citations as you write.

You can reinstall plugins from the Cite section of Zotero settings. If you need to reinstall the plugins, close your word processing software first. If this does not work, Zotero provides instructions for manually installing the Word plugin.

Using Zotero with Word and LibreOffice

In Microsoft Word the plugin will add a Zotero option to your menu.

Installation of the plugin adds a toolbar to the LibreOffice Writer menu. [Note that LibreOffice for Windows requires Java Runtime Environment and the version (32-bit or 64-bit) must match the version of LibreOffice that you downloaded. Avoid installation problems by making sure the JRE on your computer is up-to-date and is chosen as an option under LibreOffice's Tools > Options > Advanced menu before installation (or re-installation). See the Zotero documentation for more information.]

		Add a new citation or edit an existing citation in your document at the cursor location.
		Add a note from your library.
		Insert a bibliography at the cursor location or edit an existing bibliography.
		Open the Document Preferences window, e.g. to change the citation style.
		Refresh all citations and the bibliography, updating any item metadata that has changed in your Zotero library.
		Unlink Zotero citations in the document by removing the field codes. This prevents any further automatic updates of the citations and bibliographies. Note that removing field codes is irreversible, and should usually only be done in a final copy of your document.

Adding citations to a document

While writing your document, when you get to a point where you want to add a citation, clicking on the Add/edit citation button will bring up a citation dialog that can be used to select items from your library. Start typing a title, author, or year in the box and select from the matching items. Hit enter to insert the citation. The next tab in this guide provides more information about editing the citations you insert.

To generate a bibliography from all of the items you have referenced, position your cursor where you want the bibliography to start, then click the Add/Edit Bibliography button. This command can be used as soon as you have inserted a citation into the document. The bibliography will continue to be built as you add additional citations and if you delete a citation, the corresponding bibliography entry will be removed.

There are two annotated styles available from the Zotero Style Repository: Chicago and APA.  Add a style to your preferences under using the Style Manager found in the Cite section of Zotero settings. Click on Get additional styles and on the next screen search for annotated. 

Click on the preferred style and it will be added to your Style Manager. When you are ready to format your annotated bibliography, make sure this style is selected.

In the APA style, the annotations are generated from the text that appears in the Abstract field of the item information. In the Chicago style, the annotations are generated from text added to the Extra: field in the item information.

Example of APA entry:

Example of Chicago entry:

When creating a document in your word processor, there may be times when you want sources cited in your document but not in the bibliography. Use the Add/Edit Bibliography command and remove items from the right pane of the window using the left arrow.

Attempting to edit a deleted reference will prompt an error message, so this step should be done in the final stages of editing your document.