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Zotero and Microsoft Word
Zotero and Microsoft Word
One of the most useful features of Zotero is its ability to import citations directly into your Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and/or Google Drive documents. This section will show you how to use it with MS Word.
The first thing you need to do is make sure the plugin for Microsoft Office is installed.
Navigate using the menu at the top left of the screen to Edit and then select Preferences.
Click on the Cite menu.
You will see two tabs under Cite: Styles and Word Processors. Select Word Processors.
Image 01: Install Microsoft Word Add-In
4. You should be able to see if the Microsoft Word add-in is installed. If not, Click the "Install Microsoft Word Add-in" button. (See Image 01).
5. If it is already installed or you want to make sure it did install, the button should say "Reinstall Microsoft Word Add-in".
6. Open up Microsoft Word. You should see a tab now for Zotero across the top menus. (See Image 02).
Image 02: Zotero Menu in Microsoft Word
7. Click on the Zotero Tab to see the options you have available.
8. Try adding a citation by click "Add/Edit Citation". (See Image 03)
Image 03: Zotero Menu Options
Video: Zotero and MS Word & Google Docs
9. The first time you do this, a screen to select your citation style should appear. Choose the citation style you will be using in this paper. If you change your mind later, you can always change this setting and Zotero will automatically change all your citations you've already added to your paper based on your new setting. See Image 04.
10. Now that you've selected your citation style, you should see a Zotero search box. Begin typing the author or source title from Zotero you wish to cite. See Image 05.
Image 05: Zotero Search in MS Word
Image 04: Selecting Citation Style
11. When you see the source you would like to cite, click on it and it should fill the box. Now click on the citation in the box, and a new screen will appear that allows you to add the details of where the citation came from in that source. See Image 06.
12. After you have entered this information, hit the enter key or click the arrow at the right side of the box. Your paper should now have the citation inserted where you had the cursor when you began the process.
Image 06: Citation Details
Zotero and Microsoft Word using "linked citations" meaning that if you add or change information to a source in Zotero, you can click the "Refresh" option in the MS Word Zotero menu to repopulate the citations in your document with the new information you've added to Zotero. You can also click "Unlink Citations" if you do not want them to ever change in your document even if you change the citation information in Zotero. Doing this will require you to manually edit them going forward.
⚠️ Warning
Zotero only works as well as your citation data allows it to. If you use incorrect citation information or don't get all the data you need to make a correct citation, Zotero will use what it has leaving your citation incorrect. It is important that as you save sources to Zotero you make sure you collect as much information about the sources as you can right away. It will save you a lot of work in the long run.
Add Notes to MS Word
Add Notes to MS Word
In a Using Zotero, we discussed that you could save annotations and quotes from a PDF as a note and that you could then import those into your research document. This provides instructions on how to do that assuming you have already followed the instructions on how to save a note from a PDF.
Place your cursor in MS Word where you want to import the note to.
Click "Insert Note" within the Zotero menu options in MS Word. See Image 07.
Image 07: Insert Note in MS Word
3. A search box will appear similar to the citation search box demonstrated above. This one will be gold instead of red. Start typing text from the note and the note should appear. See Image 08.
Image 08: Searching for a Note
4. Select you note and it will automatically include the page from the PDF you highlighted it on as part of the citation. See Image 09.
Image 09: A Note Inserted into MS Word
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