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Hunter Library
Research Guides
Western Carolina University

Zotero

Zotero is free, easy to use software for collecting, organizing, and citing print and electronic resources for research.

Creating Quick Bibliographies

Right click on either a collection folder, a single reference, or multiple references (Shift or Crtl click) and choose Create Bibliography from Collection / Item(s). 

Create bibliography from items

Choose the desired citation style, select Copy to Clipboard, click OK, then paste where you want your reference list to be.

Select citation style and copy to clipboard

Write & Cite

​Zotero offers word processing plugins for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. The plugin adds a Zotero button to the word processor toolbar that allows you to add citations to your document while you write.

Zotero toolbar in Microsoft Word

To "write and cite" in Microsoft Word, click to the Zotero tab in the Word toolbar. Make sure the Zotero app is open. Write your paper as you normally would, but when you reach a point where you want to add an in-text citation, click the Add/Edit Citation button. Select the correct citation style and click OK. A popup will open, where you can search for an author name or title word. Click on the desired reference, and it will add itself to the text.

Zotero search bar

Continue writing as normal, adding citations where necessary. At the end of the paper, click the Add/Edit Bibliography button. Your bibliography will appear, with all of the citations you included in-text. Change bibliographic styles with the Document Preferences button.

The toolbar may look different on different operating systems and versions of Word. Mousing over the toolbar will pop up each button's function if they're not clearly labeled.