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Zotero

How to use the Zotero citation management tool

Creating a Stand Alone Bibliography

  1. You can create a bibliography based on a particular collection or just a few references that are not linked to in-text citations.  First, select the resources you want to include in your bibliography.  To include an entire collection (folder), add all the relevant sources to that collection then right click on the collection and choose Create Bibliography from Collection. 

Right click on the collection

2. To choose just a few items from within a collection, use the control key (command key on a Mac) to select the relevant sources for your bibliography. You now have two options to add bibliographic references for the selected items into a document:

Option A: Drag and drop into document:

  • drag the highlighted items into a Word or Google doc
  • Zotero will automatically generate references in your (pre-set) preferred citation format 

Option B: Create bibliography and insert it into document:

  •  right click on the selected items and choose Create Bibliography from Selected Items.

Right click on selected items

3. Choose the citation style you want and your preferred output method. In this example, I've chosen "copy to clipboard" so I can paste the bibliography into the desired location, which could include an email, a document, a presentation slide, or a Canvas module.

Choose citation style and output method

4. Paste your bibliography into the desired location. Note - for numerical styles, it is best to use the paste special menu and select "keep text only."

Standalone bibliography in Word