How to Use Zotero

About Zotero

Collect, manage and cite research sources


Free & easy to use
Attach PDFs, notes and images to your citations
Organize them into collections for projects
Create bibliographies using Word or Open Office

Get Zotero now!

See also this great guide published by the Zotero developers themselves.

Many thanks to Erin Mooney of Emory University for permission to adapt her Zotero guide.

Getting and Installing Zotero

Zotero will run on any operating system. Installation only takes a few seconds.

Open http://www.zotero.org/ and click the red "Download Now" button. You have a choice to download the current version for Firefox, OR choose the standalone and a browser connector for that.

  • If you download the Firefox plugin, you need to restart Firefox. You'll see a small Zotero button at the bottom of your Firefox window.
  • If you choose the Firefox version, you'll probably also want to download and install the Microsoft Word citation plugin or the OpenOffice plugin. These allow you to easily cite items from your Zotero library in your papers.

Problems installing? Check the Zotero installation page.