Zotero - Online Citation Manager: Creating Bibliographies and Citations

Information on bibliographic citation manager program specially created for the humanities.

Word Processor Plug-Ins

Zotero offers word processor plug-ins that allow you to create citations and notes within your word document. Once you download Zotero 5.0, the plug-in for Microsoft Word will automatically download if Word has already been installed.

Insert References

Choose the Zotero tab in your Word document to add/edit citations. Use this button to insert in-text citations. Choose a reference from your Zotero library by typing in the name of the author or title, or choose from your full Zotero library. Set your preferences in Zotero desktop version to choose your preferred citation style.

The image below is an example of what this will look like for the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (footnotes).

Zotero pug-in for MS word and adding an in-text citation in Chicago manual of Style

Create Your Bibliography

Zotero offers a convenient drag-and-drop, or Quick Copy, method of creating a bibliography from items in your library. Simply select an item from your library in the middle column, and then drag it to a text box or word processor document.  These items will appear as a bibliographic citation arranged in alphabetical order. You can change citation format by clicking the gear icon in Zotero and selecting Preferences. This reveals a dropdown menu with not only citation styles but also preferred export formats.

You can also add a bibliography through the Microsoft Word plug-in. This will automatically create a bibliography from the in-text references added to your paper.

The image below is an example of what this will look like. Note that the Zotero tab in Word is selected.

Bibliography button and example on Microsoft Word

For more information, see Zotero's creating bibliographies page.

ZoteroBib

ZoteroBib helps you build a bibliography instantly in your web browser from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software.