Zotero
Zotero is an open-source reference management tool. You can use it to store bibliographic information and citations. It has three components:
- Zotero Desktop is advanced reference management software, with a citation plugin for Microsoft Word and LibreOffice.
- Zotero Web lets you manage your reference library online and collaborate with researchers.
- Zotero Connector is a browser extension that collects references from online sources and stores them in your library. You can also add citations from your library to Google Docs.
Once you have registered to use Zotero, you can access your Zotero library from any computer with an internet connection. For full functionality, we recommend installing Zotero Desktop and Zotero Connector.
Key features
- Collect and organise references from online resources (including some PDFs).
- Access your citations anywhere by syncing your web and desktop libraries.
- Insert in-text citations and reference lists in Google Docs, Microsoft Word and LibreOffice.
- Generate bibliographic lists.
- Create group libraries to share with other Zotero users.
Access instructions
To use this service, you need to register an account (you don't need to use your University email address).
- Zotero Desktop and the Microsoft Word plugin are installed in our computer labs.
- For other University managed devices running Windows, you can install Zotero from the Software Center*.
- For other devices, download software from Zotero*.
*You can access your Zotero Web Library from any computer with an internet connection. For full functionality, we recommend installing Zotero Desktop and Zotero Connector.
Related tools
Additional information
Using Zotero after leaving the University
As Zotero is a free, open source application, you can continue to use Zotero after you leave the University. If you use a University of York email address to sign up for Zotero, you will need to change this to a different email address once you leave. To do this, log into your Zotero account and add another email address, then make that one your primary email address.