Law and American Society

Zotero is a free, open-source software program to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research. It is a full-featured desktop/laptop tool that can be synced across your devices. (If you are just creating a few references, consider the ZoteroBib tool for formatting citations.)

For the installation of Zotero, follow the step-by-step instructions on the Installations and Settings page in this guide or view the Tutorials and Quick Start Guide videos after the Benefits of using Zotero section, below.

Download Zotero at https://www.zotero.org/download/

Zotero 7 was released on August 9, 2024. Contents on this guide are for both Zotero 6 and Zotero 7. Youtube video on New Updates in Zotero 7

Zotero free cloud storage for files is 300 MB (about 100 PDFs). Zotero cloud storage for bibliographic metadata and notes is unlimited. 

Temple does not provide cloud storage for Zotero, but you can use your own cloud storage, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and iCloud. For other options, view this guide's section on Cloud Storage Options.

Caution: Zotfile does not work with Zotero 7. Read discussion on the forum about plug-ins that may no longer work with Zotero, and the alternative ZotMoov, to decide whether to switch and for other options.

Benefits of using Zotero

• Automatic download of a PDF or webpage snapshot with citation information.
  • Automatically proxy urls for easy off-campus access to resources
• Annotate a PDF, EPUB, or webpage and add notes to any source
• Easier to cite sources consistently
  • Cite as you write with Google Docs, MS Word and LibreOffice word processors
  • Cite in APA, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, and other styles and switch instantly among styles.
  • Automatically generates list of references from citations
  • Drag a citation into an email or other web page
• Organize and find faster with collections and sub-collections (folders), tags, and linked notes.
  • Dynamic drag and drop interface
  • Full-text searching and "smart" searches
  • Collect and organize many file types, including text, ebooks, images, audio, videos, interviews, and data.
• Collaborate on shared libraries with Groups
• Save time and money. It's Free!