Zotero User Guide: 7. Using Zotero for Citations in Word

Creating quick bibliographies

It's easy to create a bibliography from your Zotero library.

Select the references or collections you want to include. Hold the control key (PC) or command key (Mac) and click to select multiple items. Right-click one of the selected items and choose Create Bibliography.

Choose the citaiton style you want to use, select Copy to Clipboard, click OK, and paste into your word processor.

Screenshot of the right-click menu in Zotero used to create a bibliography from the selected items

This method works with any word processor (or anywhere you can paste text).

Creating your bibliography while you write

Screenshot of the Zotero menu in Microsoft Word​Zotero offers word processing plugins for Word and LibreOffice. The plugin adds a Zotero toolbar to your word processor that allows you to add citations to your document while you write.

To add a citation, click the first button ("Add/Edit Citation") on the toolbar. Search for the reference you want to cite and press Enter. Zotero will add the citation at your cursor.

At the end of your paper, click the "Insert Bibliography" button. Your bibliography will appear, and new citations will be added automatically. Change bibliographic styles with the "Document Preferences" button.

The toolbar looks different on different operating systems and versions of Word. Mousing over the toolbar will pop up each button's function if they're not clearly labeled.

Zotero's Word integration will also create links between Zotero and your document. This means that if you ever edit the entry for your citation in Zotero, it will automatically change the citation in your document. To prompt it to do this, click the "Refresh" button.