Previously, the company Scientific Publications provided a review of reference manager Mendeley and Endnote. Today we will talk about a similar manager – Zotero. This is a free reference manager that was created in 2006. Since then, 6 service updates have been released. Consider the main functionalities and structure of the reference manager Zotero.
After downloading the program to the PC, the service control panel is displayed. At the first stages of work with Zotero, it is possible to note the concise and simple design of the reference manager. All the functionality of the service is placed on three modules and a toolbar, which are intuitive to use.
Modules of work with the reference manager
On the left is the library management module, which contains all the materials saved by scientists. They are placed in collections (folders), within the collection you can create subcollections, thus systematizing the sources in the library.
You should pay attention to these points:
- All saved materials that are not placed in any of the collections are on the «Blank documents» tab.
- If the same source was accidentally added to the library several times, it will be displayed on the tab «Duplicate documents», together with all copies. Duplicates can be merged.
- The researcher can create a collection from his own publications and add it to the author profile of Zotero. This collection is saved on the «My Publications» tab.
The saved document module is centrally located. It displays the contents of collections from the library. It contains basic information on the sources: title, creator, year of publication, type of access and others. Also, if available, the full text of the work, links to it and others is displayed.
The module on the right indicates the detailed source information using these tabs:
- Information – metadata of the work, information about the author, editions, year of publication, identifiers, links.
- Notes – a tab that allows you to add notes to the selected source, they are written by the scientist himself/herself. The notes may contain any information necessary to work with the material.
- Tags – adding work tags. To each source, the scientist can add tags needed to systematize the material. All of them are located in the window on the left at the bottom. Clicking on one of the tags will automatically show the work associated with it.
- Related – the researcher in manual mode can add to this tab the works that he/she wants to associate with the selected source.
Ways to add scientific contents to Zotero
In fact, the toolbar at the top of the page shows the main ways of adding scientific contents to the reference manager. The most important ones are:
- Addition in manual way. When using this method, you need to manually select the source type (book, article in journal, book section) and fill in the fields with information about the material - name, year, author, metadata, links, identifiers, and more.
- Through the identifier. For this method of adding materials it is necessary to specify the digital identifier of work: ISBN, DOI, PMID, arXiv ID, ADS Bibcodes. After that, the source will be automatically added to the library.
- Zotero Connector. To use this method of adding materials, it is necessary to additionally install the web-plugin of the reference manager. Then the library can be added directly from the Internet.
Other reference manager tools
There are also other useful features on the toolbar:
- Adding a new collection – a tool to add the folders to the library that is used to organize material.
- Creating a new library – adding a new source network. This will be useful for separating materials from different research areas or working on a large number of projects.
- Add a note – you can add two types of text notes: the main notes, which refer to the entire collection or library; the child notes - to a specific material.
- Attachment – adding a work text, a URL link, a copy of a file for a specific source.
- Search – includes both searching inside the library and searching for work on other resources, such as CrossRef LookUp, Google Scholar, PC search, etc.
- Sync with zotero.org – tool to adjust citation styles and extensions for documents.
Zotero is one of the most convenient and accessible reference managers, which allows you to simplify the process of searching, using and citing the necessary scientific contents. It will help the scientist to save valuable time, allotted for writing scientific research.
If you need help with the publication of a scientific article in the editions of the international scientific databases Scopus and Web of Science, the specialists of the company Scientific Publications will gladly consult you! Leave the application on the website or contact us in any way convenient for you, and our experts will respond to your request during the working day.
Let’s remind you, the material has recently come out: «How to choose the title of the research paper? Checklist and step-by-step instructions»