Managing Reference Data with Zotero: Citing in Style

If your Zotero application is installed properly, the Zotero's Word plugin should be installed automatically. You should see a Zotero tab above the Word's ribbon area. Click on the Zotero tab, you should see the Zotero toolbar. This Zotero toolbar enables you to insert a new in-text citation in your document conveniently, and the bibliography will be automatically updated to include the cited item. 

• Insert a citation by using the red dialogue box to search your Zotero library

  • From the Zotero toolbar for Word, click on “Add/Edit Citation” button. 
  • If it is your first time to insert a citation in a document, Zotero opens the Document Preferences, where you can select the citation style you want to use in your document. You can change the citation style at any point later by clicking the “Document Preferences” button.
  • Start typing part of a title, the last names of one or more authors, and/or a year in the red dialog box. Matching items will instantly appear below the dialog box. 
  • Select an item by clicking on it or by pressing Enter/Return when it is highlighted. Press Enter/Return again to insert the citation. 

• Insert a citation by using the "Classic View" to browse your Zotero library

  • Switch to the "Classic View" citation dialog by clicking the “Z” icon on the left side of the Citation box, and selecting “Classic View”.
  • "Classic View" allows you to navigate your Zotero library and select an item to insert citation. 

• With Zotero 6, you can insert any Zotero note directly into the document with the Add Note button. Citations in the note, including those generated from PDF annotations, will remain active, so they’ll automatically be added to your bibliography.

  • After you click on Add Note button on the Zotero toolbar, a list of notes will appear, which you can choose from.

  • Or you can use the yellow dialogue bar to search your notes in your Zotero library.

• Using Zotero's Word plugin to generate bibliography automatically based on the citations in the document.

  • Clicking the “Add/Edit Bibliography” button in the Zotero toolbar inserts a bibliography at the cursor location.

  • Zotero will automatically update the bibliography based on the citations in the document.

• Generating bibliography based on the selected items in Zotero library. 

  • Simply select items in the center column in Zotero and drag them into any text field. Zotero will automatically create a formatted bibliography for you.

    • Make sure you set the default export format. Open the Zotero preferences menu and select Export. Set the default export format here. 

  • Or select items in the center column in Zotero, then right-click (or control-click on Macs) to select “Create Bibliography from Selected Item(s)…”. Then select a citation style for your citation/bibliography format and choose to create Bibliography from item,  then Copy to Clipboard, then paste it to any text field.