Research & Subject Guides: Zotero: Citing and Generating Bibliographies

Using Zotero with Google Docs

Zotero makes it really easy to add citations and bibliographies to the documents you create in Google Docs. Its seamless integration can help you quickly search for items in your Zotero library, add page numbers and other details, and insert citations. Assuming you have Zotero Connector already up and running, you should be able to see the Zotero menu and Zotero toolbar button (Z icon) in you Google Docs Interface:

Under Zotero menu on the top bar, there are several options you can choose from:

Menu	Description
Add/edit citation...	Add a new citation or edit an existing one at the location of your cursor in the document. Shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+C (Windows) or Ctrl+⌘C (Mac), or click of Zotero button (Z icon) on the toolbar.
Add note	Add text from one of the notes in your Zotero library at the location of your cursor in the document.
Add/edit bibliography	Insert a bibliography at the cursor location or edit an existing bibliography.
Document preferences...	Open the Document Preferences window to change the citation style or the document language.
Refresh	Refresh all citations and the bibliography, updating any item metadata that has changed in your Zotero library. Note that doing so will override any manual edits you added to your citations or bibliography.
Switch word processors...	Let Zotero convert citations in the document to a format that can be safely transferred to either Word or LibreOffice. Note that you should make a backup of the document before proceeding.
Unlink citations...	Unlink Zotero citations in the document by removing the field codes. This prevents any further automatic updates of the citations and bibliographies. Note that removing field codes is irreversible and should usually only be done in a final copy of your document.

Authorization

The first time you interact with Zotero functionality in a Google Docs document, you will be prompted to authorize the plugin to access your Google account. To proceed, make sure to:

Select the Appropriate Google Account: Choose the Google account you used to create the document or one that has been granted editing access by the document's creator. This can be your personal Google account or an institutional account that is part of a Google Workspace (e.g., your SBU account). Remember, this is separate from any Zotero account you may have, as a Zotero account is not required to use the Google Docs integration.
Grant Permissions: Allow Zotero the permission to “See, edit, create, and delete all your Google Docs documents.” Zotero needs this permission to insert and modify citations in your document. The plugin only uses this access to manage citations; it doesn’t perform any other actions with your document content and doesn’t access documents other than the ones on which it’s triggered. The integration operates entirely locally on your computer, meaning that even when you use the plugin, no data is sent to Zotero servers.

Once you have authorized the plugin, you can begin inserting citations from your Zotero libraries into your document.

Citing

When you add a citation, either through the top menu or by clicking the Zotero one-click button, the citation dialog box will appear. This dialog box allows you to select items from your Zotero library and create a citation:

Occasionally, the dialog box may not appear in the foreground, and you might only see a message saying "Zotero is updating your document. Please wait..." for a while without any other dialog box showing up. If this happens, the citation dialog box may have opened in the background. To check, hover over the Zotero icon in your start menu or use the Alt+Tab shortcut on Windows or ⌘Tab on Mac to switch between open windows.

It is important to ensure that the Zotero desktop app is running, as it is required for the citation process. If the app is not running, you will receive an error message. Simply open the Zotero desktop app, click OK on the error dialog box, and try adding the citation again if that happens to you.

In the Citation dialog, you can type “p.45-48” or ”:45-48“ after a citation to cite a specific page or page range. You can also type “ibid” to automatically select the last cited work. This works with all citation styles, regardless of whether “ibid” is actually used in citations. If you use Zotero in a language other than English, use the corresponding abbreviation instead of ibid., e.g. “ebd.” in German.

Bibliography

The first time you click the "Add/edit bibliography" menu in a Google Docs document without any bibliography generated by Zotero yet, it will generate one for you from all references you cited in your document. If you click the menu on a document with an existing bibliography, it will open a new "Edit Bibliography" window.

In this window, you can add uncited sources to your bibliography (such as items included in a review but not cited in the paper) or remove items that are cited in the text but should not be included in the bibliography (such as personal communications).

While it is possible to edit the text or formatting of bibliography references in this window, doing so is generally discouraged. References edited here will not be automatically updated by Zotero if you change the data in your library.

If you need to make edits to items in your bibliography, it is best to do this as a final step before submitting your document. Start by making a copy of your document. Then, in the copy, use the "Unlink Citations" menu option to disconnect your document from Zotero, converting all citations and the bibliography to regular text. You can then make the necessary adjustments to the bibliography text.

This process is useful for a variety of minor modifications to the bibliography, including:

Adding asterisks before references included in a review or meta-analysis
Setting the names of particular authors in bold, italics, or all caps
Adding annotations or comments about an item
Adding headings for bibliography subsections (e.g., primary versus secondary sources)

Note that general corrections to style formatting should be made in the CSL citation style, not in the "Edit Bibliography" window. Corrections to item data should be made directly in your Zotero library.

Collaboration

One of the key advantages of Google Docs over other word processors is its robust collaboration features, and Zotero's integration enhances this even further. You and your co-authors can add and edit citations in a shared document without needing to be in a Zotero group. However, for large collaborative projects, a Zotero Group library is recommended. This allows everyone in the group to make edits to item metadata, which is not possible directly from the Google Docs interface. If someone cites an item from their personal library, only that person can update the metadata for that item, which can be a limitation for collaborative work.

It is highly recommended that anyone contributing to the document have the Zotero Connector installed, and if they plan on adding or editing citations, the Zotero desktop application as well. If someone cuts and pastes an active citation without the Zotero Connector, the citation will become unlinked from Zotero, disappear from the bibliography, and the next person to refresh the document with the Zotero Connector will receive a warning about unlinked citations. While it is technically possible for people without Zotero Connector to edit non-citation parts of the document, it is not recommended, as it has the risk of accidentally unlinking citations.

When collaborating on a document, it is important that you and your co-authors avoid inserting or editing citations simultaneously. While the Zotero Connector has mechanisms to prevent document and citation corruption during concurrent citation editing, these mechanisms are not foolproof due to technical limitations. To ensure the integrity of your citations, coordinate with your co-authors to manage edits effectively.

Citation Styles

Zotero includes several popular citation styles for creating citations and bibliographies, and over 8,100 additional styles are available in the Zotero Style Repository. All these styles are written in the Citation Style Language (CSL), a format that is also supported by Mendeley, Papers, and many other programs.

Zotero allows you to choose a citation style that best fits your needs when you first set up your document. If you need to change the citation style in an existing document with active citations and a bibliography, Zotero makes it easy to switch. Simply go to "Zotero" → “Document Preferences” within your document, and select a new style from the list. Zotero will automatically update all citations and the bibliography to match the newly selected style, ensuring consistency throughout your document.

Saving for Publications

When you are ready to submit your document, go to "File" → "Make a copy…" and, in the new document, use "Zotero" → "Unlink Citations" to convert the citations and bibliography to plain text. This allows you to download the second document (e.g., as a PDF), while keeping the original document with active citations in case further changes are needed. If you attempt to download the original document with active citations, Zotero will prompt you to create a copy first.

Using Zotero with Microsoft Word

Note that using Zotero with Microsoft Word is only supported on the desktop versions for Windows and Mac. The Zotero plugin does not work with Microsoft Word on the web or on mobile devices (iOS or Android).

Once you have the Zotero plugin installed, you will see a Zotero menu in the top bar when you open Microsoft Word.

When you select the Zotero menu, you will see the following buttons in the Ribbon menu:

Button		Description
		Add a new citation or edit an existing one at the location of your cursor in the document.
		Insert a bibliography at the cursor location or edit an existing bibliography.
		Add text from one of the notes in your Zotero library at the location of your cursor in the document.
		Open the Document Preferences window to change the citation style or the document language.
		Refresh all citations and the bibliography, updating any item metadata that has changed in your Zotero library. Note that doing so will override any manual edits you added to your citations or bibliography.
		Unlink Zotero citations in the document by removing the field codes. This prevents any further automatic updates of the citations and bibliographies. Note that removing field codes is irreversible and should usually only be done in a final copy of your document.