Zotero : Creating Bibliographies & Citations

There are two main ways that you can create citations and bibliographies from Zotero:

• Create Bibliography
• Drag and Drop

If you are using a word processor, Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs, you can also use the Zotero plugin to create citations and bibliographies right from your word processor!

Follow these steps to create a bibliography from your Zotero library or collection.

1. Select the items you wish you cite
    You may choose one item, several, or a whole collection

2. Right click, and select Create Blibliography from [Item/Items/Collection]

3. ​Choose your preferred citation style (e.g. APA), language, output mode (Citations or Bibliography) and output method

4.  Select OK to create your citations/bibliography entries
     If you chose Copy to Clipboard, you can now paste your citations/bibliography entries into your work.

Please note collections will only create citations/bibliography entires for items directly in the main collection. You will need to repeat these steps for any subcollection you wish to include.

There are two methods of drag and drop citation creation and placement in your document: 1) via the Zotero interface; 2) using keyboard shortcuts. 

Zotero Drag and Drop

1. Open the Zotero client on your desktop.
2. Select the Zotero top menu item and from the dropdown menu, Choose Preferences
3. Navigate to the Export tab
4. Select your preferred citation style
5. If applicable, select OK to save
6. At the top of the Preferences dialogue box there are instructions on the combination of keys to press to copy to the clipboard, then you can paste the item(s) into a Word document.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can be used for inserting both citations and full bibliographic references.

To drag and drop in-text citations:

1. Select the item(s) you wish to cite from your Zotero library or collection by selecting/highlighting them while holding down the Shift key.
     NOTE:   You can select multiple items in the middle column by holding the Ctrl key, once highlighted select the Shift key.
2. Drag and drop the selected items directly to your document where you would like them to appear. 

To drag and drop full bibliographic citations:

To add a bibliography, simply select items in Zotero and drag them into the document (without holding the Shift key).

Zotero is the best tool for almost anyone doing serious research, but we know that a lot of students don’t need all of Zotero’s power just to create the occasional bibliography.

An alternative to the full Zotero is ZoteroBib, a free service to help people quickly create perfect bibliographies.

You should always double-check citations generated using Zotero or any other citation management software.

Zotero ships with several popular citation styles for creating citations and bibliographies, and over 8,100 additional styles can be found in the Zotero Style Repository.

See Zotero's Citation Styles pages for instructions on accessing multiple citation styles.

Check out Zotero's Documentation tab for more guidance and tips. 

Search Zotero's Forums tab to find answers to common questions, or to submit a "New Discussion".

For more options and answers to common problems, go to our Ask & Services Page.