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Add Sources to Zotero

This page describes how to get citations and pdfs from the web or your desktop into Zotero.

When retrieving sources from the web, you'll use the Zotero browser connector. It will appear somewhere in your address bar depending on your browser. Normally, it looks like a Zotero icon, but when Zotero recognizes a citation or citations it will change according to the item type (a little document icon, or a rolled-up newspaper icon, a video camera, etc; see the small blue book icon example in Add Books from DiscoverUR, below).

Adding sources is also known as "importing."

Note: Zotero, like other citation tools, is only as good as the metadata, or descriptive information, provided to it. It's important to check your citations. You can easily fix any error by clicking on the metadata field in Info (far right pane).

Add Books from DiscoverUR

Single Sources (one at a time)

When viewing an individual book record in DiscoverUR, Zotero displays a small blue book icon near the address bar.

• Click on that icon to add the book to your Zotero library. A pop-up will appear to allow you to select the Collection you'd like to save it in: 

Multiple Sources

When viewing multiple items on a search results screen in DiscoverUR, Zotero will display a folder icon to the right of the address bar.

• Click the folder icon and a window will open, allowing you to select the DiscoverUR records you would like to add to your Zotero library.
• When you are done selecting, click OK to add to your Zotero library.

Note: Adding multiple sources to Zotero at once is recommended only for searches in the Library Catalog section of DiscoverUR. Bulk adding from the Catalog & Articles section may result in incomplete metadata for journal articles, as well as PDFs not automatically downloading.

Add Journal Articles

You can save an article when viewing its record or abstract page. When on a page for an individual article Zotero will display an icon of a piece of paper  . Zotero will automatically download the full-text PDF if it is available.

Note: Just as with DiscoverUR, when viewing a search results screen in a database Zotero will display this folder icon  to the right of the address bar. We recommend importing individual articles rather than multiple at once to capture the PDF where available.

Click the  icon, and a small window will open.

By default Zotero will save the article to the most recently accessed collection. You can select a different collection by clicking the drop-down.

Add or import PDFs from your desktop

Saving PDFs that you already on have on your computer to Zotero is easy: drag and drop them into a collection. Zotero will then have the PDF, but it needs to create a "parent item" so Zotero can save the metadata necessary for citing the work later.

1. Drag-and-drop a PDF into a collection.
2. Zotero will automatically attempt to retrieve metadata for the item and add it for you.

Note: this metadata retrieval usually works really well when the PDF contains a unique identifier, e.g., a DOI. However, it may only work partially for items such as working papers, preprints, and manuscripts; in that case, you will need to add missing metadata manually (see below).

Another way to add PDFs:

Use the Add Files icon in the center pane to add files as "parent items" in Zotero. You can also use "attach files," which drops down from the same icon, to add files which will become "child items" to existing Zotero "parent items."

Manually Add Metadata for PDFs

If automatic metadata retrieval does not work, you will only have the PDF itself in your library, without the necessary metadata to generate a proper citation. You will therefore need to manually add this information to the item. There are a couple of ways to do this.

1. Right click (control-click on a Mac) the PDF that needs metadata added. and then choose Create Parent Item from the menu.
   
2. A pop-up will appear. If you know the DOI or other identifier for the item, you can enter it to retrieve the metadata (arrow). Otherwise, click "Manual Entry."
   
3. Add the metadata
   • First, change the item type to the appropriate type: 
     
      
   • Then add the remaining citation information: 
     

Check Citations for Accuracy

Although most of the citation information that Zotero captures will be correct, it is always a good idea to check every item's author, title, date, etc., and then to correct and/or add data. 

Correcting Information

All fields can be edited by clicking in the field.

• For example, if you need to fix a typo in a record imported from DiscoverUR, click in the field and edit as needed: 
  
   
• If you need to add or remove authors, editors, translators, etc., click on the plus or minus button and (when adding) select the appropriate role of the person from the drop-down menu, then enter their name: 
  
   
• You can also change the item type (for example, change a record imported as a web page to a magazine article) by selecting the new Item Type from the drop-down menu.
• In some cases, the fields available in the record—which are determined by item type—may also change, and you may lose data.  
• Sometimes there isn't a perfect "item type" for your item. Book chapters= "Book Section;" in other cases, you may need to choose something close to what you have. For instance, for government documents you can choose Report and put "government document" in the Report Type field. 

Note: Zotero & APA style

Zotero's output for APA style does not change title casing to sentence style. To change titles that are not in sentence case for APA or other styles with that requirement, right-click on the title > Sentence case.