Zotero Workflow

Lisa Oswald

This is an intro to working with zotero. It shows an example workflow that combines zotero and overleaf. However, there is certainly room for improvement!

1. Getting all set up

   Zotero ✏️

   • Create online account (think about subscription for more storage space)
   • Download desktop version
   • Sync with online account for back-up
   • Install Google Chrome (suggested browser!) Zotero plug-in

     

   Overleaf 🍃

   • Create online account (think about integration with Dropbox and/or GitHub for backup)
   • Find a overleaf template, e.g. with APA7 citation style using biblatex, for example this one
   • Integrate Zotero into Overleaf

     

2. Workflow: finding, archiving and reading articles
   • Scroll Twitter, browse google scholar, have issue alerts of your favourite journals, …
   • Find an interesting paper and open in Google Chrome
   • Click Plugin save to Zotero (don’t worry too much about folders/projects for now)

     

   • Go to Zotero desktop (perhaps, double check whether document type is correct, whether the PDF is included)
   • If PDF is not included, get it somewhere… and park it on your desktop for two seconds
   • Go to item in your Zotero library, click „add attachment“ > „attach stored copy of file“ and select document on desktop (you can now delete the desktop version of the document)
   • This copies the PDF on your desktop to a designated folder, linked to the publication in Zotero – no more mess with PDFs in different folders and subfolders of different projects
   • Then, „rename file from metadata“, so that you can also search for the PDF on your computer (which is now in your Zotero folder)

     

   • When you want to read and edit (e.g. highlight sections) the PDF on your laptop, from now on, always open the PDF through Zotero
   • Extract annotations by clicking on “add note from annotations”
   • From time to time, go on “Duplicate items” and merge duplicates

     

   • Delete information in the “Extra” field, they will likely show up in your bibliography: Java Script code to remove all “Extra” content: https://github.com/eschnett/zotero-citationcounts/issues/2
   • Sort your library by “date added” (right-click on “Title” to open list of possible features to show, select “date added”, sort by date added by clicking the heading, then remove feature again) so that you keep track of your reading list / may come back to read the latest articles you discovered in times between meeting (because they show up at the very top)

     

   • Use tags if you have several specific readings for a workshop, project or course

     

   • For quick reference: right click on item > create Bibliography from item > APA (or whatever) > Copy to Clipboard, and paste anywhere you need it

     

   • Consider using Group libraries for shared projects (folders within your library don’t help here, neither do they help with the overleaf integration - you can export static .bib files though)

3. Citing articles in overleaf
   • Define APA-7 Citation style in Preamble:

\usepackage[style=apa,sortcites=true,sorting=nyt,backend=biber]{biblatex}

\DeclareLanguageMapping{american}{american-apa}

\addbibresource{references.bib}

• Place bibliography

\printbibliography

\Textcite{} in text

\parencite{} in parentheses

\parencite[]{} in parentheses with additional information (e.g. page)

• If needed: create multiple bibliographies (one for main text, one for appendix)

\begin{refsection}

\end{refsection}