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Zotero

An overview of how to use Zotero to manage your citations.

Collaborating with Zotero Groups

Zotero offers users the ability to share your collection of citations and references with others through Zotero Groups. These groups are separate from your library, and can be used to both manage multiple libraries of resources on one account and to share and collaborate with others. There are two ways to create a group:

  • Select the New Library icon on the Zotero desktop app, or
  • Select Create a New Group from the Zotero Groups page.

Additionally, there are three types of groups users can make:

  • Private
  • Public, Closed Membership
  • Public, Open Membership

Each type of group contains its own level of privacy settings. Users can set and adjust different settings for their group profiles, libraries, and group members. Members of a group can also interact with group libraries through the Zotero desktop app or through the Zotero Groups webpage.

For more information regarding Zotero Groups, click here.

Tips for Zotero Groups

Web-based Zotero will not allow you to set a preferred folder for saving new citations or save to a group folder. You will need to add new citations to a group folder by selecting the article and clicking "add to collection."

Adding citations directly to the group folder requires the Zotero desktop client. Be sure to sync your accounts if you plan to use both the web and desktop versions.

To save citations directly to the group folder using the web connector

Open the Zotero desktop client

When you click on the connector to import a source, a dropdown menu will appear allowing you to choose your preferred folder: 

small box showing zotero connector in action with dropdown menu

To move citations from your library to the group library

Drag and drop to the desired folder in the desktop client

 

 

Sharing with My Publications

Zotero's My Publications feature allows for you to create a bibliography of your research and share it through the Zotero website. This feature is meant to be used to share works that you've created and published. To share other works, use Zotero Groups. The instructions below detail the steps to sharing with My Publications:

  1. Select the work you wish to share, and drag it over to the My Publications collection on the left-side of the screen.
  2. Select whether to include any files or personal notes you've attached to this work through the Zotero desktop app
    Select whether to include files or personal notes by check marking the respective boxes
  3. Be sure to checkmark the I created this work box, then select Add to My Publications
  4. Choose the level of rights you want to keep regarding your work by selecting either: All rights reserved, Creative Commons licenses, or public domain
  5. If you chose to use a Creative Commons license for your work, select the terms of the license to apply.

For more information regarding Zotero's My Publications, click here.