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| adding_items_to_zotero [2019/08/13 22:03] – dstillman | adding_items_to_zotero [2024/04/11 04:29] (current) – [Verify and Edit Your Records] dstillman |
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| =====Via your web browser===== | =====Via your web browser===== |
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| //To use Zotero properly, you need to install the Zotero Connector for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, in addition to the Zotero desktop app. See [[/download|Downloads]].// | **To use Zotero properly, you need to [[/download|install the Zotero Connector]] for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari, in addition to the Zotero desktop app.** |
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| The Zotero Connector's save button is the most convenient and reliable way to add items with high-quality bibliographic metadata to your Zotero library. As you browse the web, Zotero will automatically find bibliographic information on webpages you visit and allow you to add it to Zotero with a single click. | The Zotero Connector's save button is the most convenient and reliable way to add items with high-quality bibliographic metadata to your Zotero library. As you browse the web, the Zotero Connector will automatically find bibliographic information on webpages you visit and allow you to add it to Zotero with a single click. |
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| For example, if you are reading a journal article online, Zotero's save button will change to the icon of a journal article (circled in red): | For example, if you're on the main page for a journal article, the save button will change to the icon of a journal article (circled in red): |
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| {{:connector_firefox.png?nolink&600}} | {{:connector_firefox.png?nolink&600}} |
| {{:connector_book.png?nolink&125}} | {{:connector_book.png?nolink&125}} |
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| Clicking the save button will create an item in Zotero with the information that Zotero has identified. On many sites, Zotero will also save any PDF accessible from the page or an open-access PDF that can be found for the saved item. | Clicking the save button will create an item in Zotero with the information it has identified. |
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| | On many sites, Zotero will also save any PDF accessible from the page or an open-access PDF that can be found for the saved item. |
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| ==== Generic Webpages ==== | ==== Generic Webpages ==== |
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| ==== PDFs ==== | ==== PDFs ==== |
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| If you are viewing a PDF file in your browser, the save button will show a PDF icon. Clicking this button will import the PDF file alone into your library and then automatically attempt to retrieve information about it. While this will often produce good results, it is usually better to use the save button described above from the publication's abstract page or catalog entry. | |
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| {{:connector_pdf.png?nolink&150}} | {{:connector_pdf.png?nolink&150}} |
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| | If you are viewing a PDF file in your browser, the save button will show a PDF icon. Clicking this button will import the PDF file alone into your library and then automatically attempt to [[retrieve_pdf_metadata|retrieve information]] about it. While this will often produce good results, it is usually better to use the save button from the publication's abstract page or catalog entry, as described above, if there is one. |
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| | If you save a PDF directly and Zotero isn't able to retrieve metadata, it will leave the PDF as a standalone attachment. To add metadata, you'll need to create a parent item, either by saving a regular bibliographic item as described above and dragging the PDF on top of it or by right-clicking on the PDF, choosing Create Parent Item, and entering an identifier such as a DOI or ISBN. If all else fails, you can click Manual Entry after selecting Create Parent Item and manually enter metadata for the item. |
| ==== Multiple Results ==== | ==== Multiple Results ==== |
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| The quality of the data Zotero imports is determined by the information supplied on the webpage. Some websites provide very high-quality data using a standard way to provide Zotero with data (via embedded metadata). Other websites provide only limited metadata (e.g., only the title of a blog post) or no metadata at all. For many sites, Zotero has website-specific "translators" to obtain the best quality metadata. Zotero recognizes almost all library catalogs, most news sites, research databases and scientific publishers. (For more information, see our [[translators|compatible websites list]].) By default, translator updates are automatically installed, independent of Zotero updates. Metadata for the same item may vary in quality across sites providing it. For example, importing an item from the publisher website will generally yield much better data than importing from Google Scholar. | The quality of the data Zotero imports is determined by the information supplied on the webpage. Some websites provide very high-quality data using a standard way to provide Zotero with data (via embedded metadata). Other websites provide only limited metadata (e.g., only the title of a blog post) or no metadata at all. For many sites, Zotero has website-specific "translators" to obtain the best quality metadata. Zotero recognizes almost all library catalogs, most news sites, research databases and scientific publishers. (For more information, see our [[translators|compatible websites list]].) By default, translator updates are automatically installed, independent of Zotero updates. Metadata for the same item may vary in quality across sites providing it. For example, importing an item from the publisher website will generally yield much better data than importing from Google Scholar. |
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| Zotero will generally choose the best translator available for each site automatically. You can choose an alternative translator by right-clicking on the Zotero save button (click-and-hold in Safari) and choosing one of the supplied options. If a website isn't importing properly, please report it on the [[/forum|Zotero Forums]] and provide the webpage URL. | Zotero will generally choose the best translator available for each site automatically. You can choose an alternative translator by right-clicking on the Zotero save button (or the page background in Safari) and choosing one of the supplied options. If a website isn't importing properly, please report it on the [[/forum|Zotero Forums]] and provide the webpage URL. |
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| ===== Add Item by Identifier ===== | ===== Add Item by Identifier ===== |
| {{ :add-item-by-identifier-popup.png?nolink&|}} | {{ :add-item-by-identifier-popup.png?nolink&|}} |
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| You can quickly add items to your library if you already know their ISBN, Digital Object Identifier (DOI), or PubMed ID. To add an item via one of these identifiers, click the "Add Item by Identifier" button ({{:toolbar-lookup.png?nolink&|}}) at the top of the center column of the Zotero pane, type or paste in the identifier, and press Enter/Return. To enter multiple identifiers at one time, type the first identifier, then press Shift+Enter/Return, then type the remaining identifiers (one on each line). Once you've typed all the identifiers, press Shift+Enter/Return to import all the items at once. You can also paste a list of multiple identifiers (each on a separate line), then press Shift+Enter/Return to finish. | You can quickly add items to your library if you already know their ISBN, DOI, PubMed ID, arXiv ID, or ADS Bibcode. Click the Add Item by Identifier button ({{:toolbar-lookup.png?nolink&|}}) in the toolbar, type or paste in the identifier, and press Enter/Return. To add more than one item, separate identifiers by spaces, commas, or line breaks. |
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| Zotero uses the following databases for looking up item metadata: Library of Congress and [[http://www.worldcat.org/|WorldCat]] for ISBNs, [[http://www.crossref.org/|CrossRef]] for DOIs, and [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/|NCBI PubMed]] for PubMed IDs. | |
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| | To look up metadata, Zotero uses Library of Congress, [[http://www.worldcat.org/|WorldCat]], and other catalogs for ISBNs, [[http://www.crossref.org/|CrossRef]] and other registries for DOIs, [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/|NCBI PubMed]] for PubMed IDs, [[https://arxiv.org/|arXiv.org]] for arXiv IDs, and [[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/|ADS]] for ADS Bibcodes. |
| ===== Adding PDFs and Other Files ===== | ===== Adding PDFs and Other Files ===== |
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| To add a PDF or any other file from your computer, simply drag it to Zotero — you can drag to an existing item to attach the file or drag between items to store as an independent item. Zotero will automatically attempt to [[retrieve_pdf_metadata|retrieve bibliographic metadata for PDFs]], though in some cases this may yield lower quality metadata than importing using the Save to Zotero button from your browser. If Zotero isn't able to retrieve high-quality metadata for a PDF, you can save the item another way — using Save to Zotero or Add Item by Identifier — and drag the PDF onto the new item (if a PDF wasn't already attached automatically). | As explained above, when possible, we recommend saving items [[#add_via_your_web_browser|using the Save to Zotero button]] in your browser from the primary webpage (e.g, a journal article's abstract page) rather than adding PDFs directly. The Save to Zotero button will usually save high-quality metadata and also automatically download the relevant PDF if you have access to it. |
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| You can also add add files as attachments to existing Zotero items by right-clicking on the Zotero item and choosing "Add Attachment" or clicking the paperclip icon in the Zotero toolbar. You can also add independent file items by clicking the green plus sign ({{:add.png?nolink&|}}) in the Zotero toolbar and choosing "Store Copy of File…" or "Link to File…". | If there's no primary webpage, you can click the Save to Zotero button while viewing the PDF in your browser to save the PDF directly. |
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| | If you have a local PDF or other file on your computer — for example, if you received a file via email — you can drag it to Zotero, either onto an existing item to create a child attachment or between items to create a standalone attachment. You can also add an attachment to an existing item by clicking the paperclip button in the Zotero toolbar and selecting "Attach Stored Copy of File…" or "Attach Link to File…", or you can add a standalone attachment by clicking the green plus sign ({{:add.png?nolink&|}}) and choosing "Store Copy of File…" or "Link to File…". |
| | ==== Standalone Attachments and Parent Items ==== |
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| | Attachments can be either child items or standalone attachments. Standalone attachments can't have bibliographic metadata or child notes, so in most cases you'll want to convert them to child items under regular parent items. |
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| | When you add a PDF directly, Zotero will initially save it as a standalone attachment and then automatically attempt to [[retrieve_pdf_metadata|retrieve metadata for it]] and create a parent item. This should work well for most academic PDFs (though it may sometimes yield lower-quality metadata than using the Save to Zotero button on the article page). For other documents, while Zotero can sometimes extract basic information (title, author), you shouldn't expect that — anything can be distributed as a PDF, but that doesn’t mean there’s any standard metadata available for it. |
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| | If Zotero isn't able to retrieve metadata for the PDF, you'll be left with just the standalone attachment. You have a few options: |
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| | * If you can find a source for metadata online, you can save a regular bibliographic item by [[#add_via_your_web_browser|using the Save to Zotero button on the article page]] and drag the attachment item onto the new item. |
| | * If you have a DOI, ISBN, or other identifier, you can right-click on the attachment item, choose Create Parent Item, and enter the identifier to retrieve metadata. |
| | * If all else fails, you can click Manual Entry in the Create Parent Item window to enter metadata manually. |
| =====Saving Webpages===== | =====Saving Webpages===== |
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| =====Importing from Other Tools===== | =====Importing from Other Tools===== |
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| You might want to migrate to Zotero but already have an extensive library stored in other reference management software (e.g., Endnote, Reference Manager, Citavi, RefWorks, Mendeley, Papers). To import such libraries into Zotero, start by exporting the bibliographic data from your other software program. Then, in Zotero, choose the "Import…" option from the File menu. Browse to your exported file, select it, and click the "Open" button. This should import the exported items into your Zotero library in a date-stamped collection. | See [[Moving to Zotero|Importing from Other Reference Managers]]. |
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| For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Mendeley to Zotero, see [[kb/mendeley_import|Importing Records From Mendeley]]. | |
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| For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Endnote to Zotero, see [[kb/importing_records_from_endnote|Importing Records From EndNote]]. | |
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| For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Citavi to Zotero, see [[kb/import-from-citavi|Importing Records From Citavi]]. | |
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| Importing from other tools follows similar steps, so long as they can export a standardized format. | |
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| Zotero can import [[kb/importing_standardized_formats|among others]] the following bibliographic file formats: | |
| * Zotero RDF | |
| * CSL JSON | |
| * MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema) | |
| * BibTeX | |
| * RIS | |
| * Refer/BibIX | |
| * Unqualified Dublin Core RDF | |
| * Endnote XML | |
| * XML ContextObject | |
| * Web of Science Tagged | |
| * MEDLINE/nbib | |
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| Note that import/export is generally not recommended for [[kb:transferring_a_library|transferring entire Zotero libraries]] between different computers or Zotero installations. Import/export usually does not give you an exact copy of your Zotero library, and, if you use Zotero's word processor plugins, any links to Zotero items from existing word processor documents will be lost after recreating a Zotero library via export/import. Instead, you can use Zotero's [[sync]] features or manually copy the [[zotero_data|Zotero data directory]]. See [[kb/transferring_a_library|Transferring a Library]] for detailed instructions. | |
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| Bibliographic data stored directly in Word documents using Word's bibliography feature cannot be directly imported by Zotero or other reference management tools. However, it is possible to import Word bibliographies by first formatting them as BibTeX, then using Zotero to import the BibTeX data. See [[kb/importing_formatted_bibliographies|Citations inserted using Microsoft Word's built-in citation feature]]. | |
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| If you have Word documents with embedded Zotero or Mendeley citations, you can extract these and import them into your Zotero library using the [[http://rintze.zelle.me/ref-extractor/|Reference Extractor]] tool. | |
| ===== Large-Scale Imports from Databases ===== | ===== Large-Scale Imports from Databases ===== |
| If you are importing a large of items from scholarly databases (e.g., if you are conducting a systematic review), databases such as Google Scholar, ProQuest, Web of Science, and others, may lock you out if you use the Zotero save button too frequently or with too many items at once. In such cases, it is better to export the items as a batch in one of the standardized formats listed [[#importing_from_other_tools|above]] (e.g., BibTeX and RIS are common choices) and import this file into Zotero. Web of Science and ProQuest offer the ability to select multiple items from a search results list and export as a batch to various formats. In Google Scholar, you need to first save the items to your Google Scholar library (using the ☆ icon in the search results), then select and export them from the Google Scholar "My Library" page. | If you are importing a large number of items from scholarly databases (e.g., if you are conducting a systematic review), databases such as Google Scholar, ProQuest, Web of Science, and others, may lock you out if you use the Zotero save button too frequently or with too many items at once. In such cases, it is better to export the items as a batch in one of the standardized formats listed [[#importing_from_other_tools|above]] (e.g., BibTeX and RIS are common choices) and import this file into Zotero. Web of Science and ProQuest offer the ability to select multiple items from a search results list and export as a batch to various formats. In Google Scholar, you need to first save the items to your Google Scholar library (using the ☆ icon in the search results), then select and export them from the Google Scholar "My Library" page. |
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| ===== Manually Adding Items ===== | ===== Manually Adding Items ===== |
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| To manually add an item to your Zotero library, click the green "New Item" ({{:add.png?nolink&|}}) button at the top of the center pane, and select the desired item type from the drop-down menu (the top level of the menu shows recently created item types; the complete list of item types, minus Web Page, can be found under "More"). An empty item of the selected item type will now appear in the center column. You can then manually enter the item's bibliographic information via the right-hand pane. | Zotero is designed to help you avoid manual entry whenever possible. As a rule, you should save items to Zotero [[#via_your_web_browser|via your web browser]] rather than creating them manually. When you save from the web, Zotero will automatically extract high-quality metadata and download PDFs when available, saving you time and reducing errors. Even if you need to make manual corrections, it's best to start with the version that Zotero saves rather than creating an item completely from scratch. |
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| | But if you really need to add something manually — for example, a source that isn't available anywhere online — you can do so by clicking the green "New Item" ({{:add.png?nolink&|}}) button at the top of the middle pane and selecting the desired item type from the drop-down menu. (The top level of the menu shows recently created item types. The complete list of item types, minus Web Page, can be found under "More".) An empty item of the selected item type will now appear in the center column. You can then manually enter the item's bibliographic information via the right-hand pane. |
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| **Note:** When you want to create an item for a webpage, it is usually easiest to visit the page in your browser and then save it to Zotero (see [[#Saving Webpages]]). Because of this, the Web Page item type is not included in the "New Item" menu. However, if you really want to create a webpage item by hand, you create an empty item of another type and switch the item type to Web Page in the right-hand pane. | **Note:** Since it's almost always better to visit a webpage in your browser and use the "Save to Zotero" button, the Web Page item type is not included in the "New Item" menu. However, if you really want to create a webpage item by hand, you create an empty item of another type and switch the item type to Web Page in the right-hand pane. |
| ===== Editing Items ===== | ===== Editing Items ===== |
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| === Titles === | === Titles === |
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| In English, titles are typically either Title Cased or Sentence cased (for the distinction, see http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/03/title-case-and-sentence-case-capitalization-in-apa-style.html ). Because citation styles differ in their casing requirements, and because automatic conversion from Sentence case to Title Case is much more accurate than the other way around, we recommend that you always store titles in your Zotero library in sentence case. Zotero can then reliably convert titles to Title Case in rendered bibliographies when the chosen citation style calls for it. | We recommend that you always store titles in your Zotero library in sentence case. See [[:kb/sentence_casing|Sentence Casing]] for more information. |
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| To help with changing the case of titles, the title fields (e.g., "Title", "Publication", "Series Title", "Short Title" for the "Journal Article" item type) can be right-clicked. This shows the "Transform Text" menu, with options to convert the title to either "Title Case" or "Sentence case". Zotero does not recognize proper nouns, and transformed titles should always be checked for capitalization errors. | |
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| If you need APA-style Sentence case, with the first letter after a colon also capitalized, we still recommend storing the title in full sentence case (with that letter in lowercase unless a proper noun), installing the [[https://github.com/Juris-M/propachi-vanilla/releases|Propahi plugin]], and using its Uppercase Subtitles feature. | |
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| === Links === | === Links === |
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| =====Verify and Edit Your Records===== | =====Verify and Edit Your Records===== |
| ===Zotero will accurately import the metadata on a Web page, but the supplied metadata may not be fully accurate=== | |
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| Zotero will accurately import metadata supplied by most bibliographic databases, library catalogs, publisher sites, and webpages. It will even make adjustments to the metadata to compensate for known quirks (author names in all upper case, etc.) in what the supplier provides. That said, sometimes the metadata that Zotero receives is incomplete or incorrect. For example, one major academic search site often provides the wrong serial name with otherwise correct metadata. Another scholarly research site's metadata can omit some of the authors' names or present them in the wrong order. Even major publishers sometimes provide individual authors' first and last names in the wrong order and inconstantly within the same journal volume and issue or even within the same article. Some publishers' metadata may omit important items (author names when there are many, journal ISSNs, DOIs, etc.) | ** When using Zotero — or any other reference manager — for citing, you should always check items for accuracy after saving them to your library. ** |
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| | Zotero will accurately import metadata supplied by most bibliographic databases, library catalogs, publisher sites, and webpages. It will even make adjustments to the metadata to compensate for known quirks (e.g., author names in all upper case) in what the supplier provides. |
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| | That said, sometimes the metadata that Zotero receives is incomplete or incorrect. For example, one major academic search site often provides the wrong serial name with otherwise correct metadata. Another scholarly research site's metadata can omit some of the authors' names or present them in the wrong order. Even major publishers sometimes omit important metadata fields. |
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| | Some metadata is provided with only author last names and one or two initials when the authors' full names are provided on the full-text version of the article. (For author names to be properly disambiguated in author-date styles, the author's name must be consistently and identically entered across all items they contributed to.) |
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| Some metadata is provided with only author last names and one or two initials when the authors' full names are provided on the full text version of the article. For author names to be properly disambiguated in author-date styles, the author's name must be consistently and identically entered across all items they contributed to. | Publishers have different conventions for the casing of titles. No software can accurately and reliably convert title case to sentence case, so you should [[:kb/sentence_casing|always store titles in sentence case]] and let Zotero convert them to title case as necessary. |
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| Publishers have different conventions for the casing of titles. No software can accurately and reliably convert title case to sentence case. If titles are entered in (or converted to) sentence case, Zotero can accurately convert them to title case if the style requires that format. | You should be aware of these issues and verify that the items in your library are accurate and in the correct format so that Zotero can produce well-formed citations. One of the primary benefits of using a reference manager is that, once you've corrected item data once, your citations will always be correct going forward, in any citation style, no matter how many times you cite them. |
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| Zotero users should be aware of these issues and verify that the records in their library are accurate and in the correct format so that Zotero can produce well-formed citations in the text and the bibliography of your manuscript. | If you do consistently receive incorrect information from a particular source, you should report it — with an example URL or identifier — in the [[/forum|Zotero Forums]], as Zotero developers may be able to update Zotero to automatically correct the incorrect data. |
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