Zotero may not be able to capture citation information from some web pages, but you can still add them to your Zotero library.
Right-click on the webpage and choose "Save to Zotero" from the pop-up menu. This will save a new "web page" item to your library. You can manually add in any missing citation information (like author or publication date) in Zotero after the item is added.
This will also attach a "snapshot" of the page to the citation entry. Taking a snapshot saves a copy of the page to your computer. It includes the page's text and images, so if the page is removed later, or if you're offline, you'll still be able to view your copy.
Learn more about citing on our Write and Manage Citations guide
Ask your subject librarian for help learning citation managers
Ask a librarian for help here or look for the Ask Us icon on any library webpage
If Zotero detects that you're viewing a book or article in a library catalog or database, or a website like a news outlet or shopping site, the Connector icon will appear as a book or page icon. Click the icon and Zotero will automatically save the citation to the last active folder. Change the location be selecting from the dropdown menu, and press the Enter key.
The icon will change, depending on what kind of item is detected on the webpage. Here are some of the icons you may see:
If you're on a page of search results with many items, you'll see a folder icon instead. Click this to get a list of all the items on the page, and select the items you want to save.
Export items from databases using RIS files. Different databases all do this a little differently, but look for Save / Export options in saved folders or collections. Here are a few examples:
EBSCOhost
From the folder view, select items to export, by clicking the Select / deselect all checkbox, or by selecting individual items to include.
Then click the Export link on the right-hand panel, then select the Direct Export in RIS Format option, and click Save.
The RIS file will appear in your Downloads folder. With your Zotero application open, double click on the RIS file to open it in Zotero, or go into Zotero and File > Import, select the file type (RIS), click Next, and navigate to the downloaded file.
You will be prompted to create a new collection. If you do not select this, the file will import into the last active collection in your Zotero library. Collections can be renamed at any time.
ProQuest
From the folder view, select items to export, by clicking the Select items checkbox, or by selecting individual items to include.
Then click the All Save and Export Options button then select the RIS option
. Make any necessary changes in the Export/Save popup, and click Continue.
The RIS file will appear in your Downloads folder. With your Zotero application open, double click on the RIS file to open it in Zotero, or go into Zotero and File > Import, select the file type (RIS), click Next, and navigate to the downloaded file.
You will be prompted to create a new collection (see example above). If you do not select this, the file will import into the last active collection in your Zotero library. Collections can be renamed at anytime.
Add items manually by using one of the icons at the top of the Zotero library.
Add a New Item. Select the item type from the dropdown menu and fill in citation details in the edit panel.
Add Item(s) by Identifier. Enter a DOI, ISBN, PMID, or other identifying number for Zotero to fetch citation information for the item. Use the edit panel to fill in any blanks.
Zotero automatically saves PDFs along with citations when possible (you can change this in the preferences menu). Note, attachments take up space in your Zotero account. Free accounts have 300 MB of storage. Users can purchase more space if desired..
Attach files manually either by:
Create collections to organize your references. Collections are like file folders on your computer, but a reference can be in more than one collection at a time. For example, a book on the Civil War could be filed in your "Civil War" collection, your "NC History" collection and your "19th Century America" collection without having to make three copies of the reference. Right click on an existing collection to rename it, or to create sub-collections.
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