Zotero is a free bibliographic software tool that can be added as a browser plugin to easily insert citations into documents. It allows users to search for references on sites like Google Scholar, import citations into Zotero with one click, and organize references with tags and notes. When research is complete, Zotero can export selected citations into a file in a format like Wikipedia citation templates, so those references can be copy and pasted into a Wikipedia article with reference tags.
2. Zotero is an free bibliographic software utility
It adds to your browser as a plugin, you can also add the standalone
software with plugins that allow you to insert citations into documents.
3. Let us say our task is to look for research reviews on a
book.
We now search for references to this book on Google Scholar
Zotero
toolbar
7. Zotero may prompt once for permission to be your
reference manager
Accept this and continue – you should see a little status message while
the citation is imported
8. Click on Z to get the Zotero pane
You can add research notes and classify your bibliography – you can also
keep links to downloaded PDF files. Search by keyword and tags.
9. You can keep notes on the reference
You can also tag, create directories and organize your references as they
grow.
10. Once you have completed your research
You may want to export the citations to enhance our target Wikipedia
article. Choose the references of interest (multi select by mouse clicking
while holding Ctrl key) and then right click – choose the Export item
12. Choose a file to save to
We have chosen just a single reference
13. Open the file in a text editor to find the citation
Copy and paste between reference tags as needed –
use the <ref name=“X” > … </ref> if you are citing it at multiple locations.
14. What if I wanted to research a
good Wikipedia article?
Examine the scholarly references
mentioned in a Wikipedia article
15. Zotero can extract all the references cited in an article
Magic done using COinS metadata hidden into the citation templates
18. Click Z to open up the Zotero pane
If the references are properly entered using Wikipedia citation
templates. All the details of the references should show up in the details
pane.
Hinweis der Redaktion
Wikipedia is the ideal distributed research environment. If you are a researcher, Wikipedia should be your friend. If Wikipedia is not leading you to the best research that is available, then you have some work cut out for you. It is not a waste of your time, you may not get credit for the time you spend here, but it is going to help a whole lot more people than most other secondary research venues.
Even if you do not use Wikipedia, Zotero should be on every researcher’s computer.
Once you install Zotero, you should see a Z icon on your tool bar.
Google Scholar shows up some book reviews – you can judge them by looking at the citations and by the quality and relevance of the journal.
We pick our selected reference and export the citation to Zotero for keeping further notes or reminders.
There are a number of bibliographic formats – mostly defined by proprietary software. The formats however are understood by Zotero and was the subject of a legal dispute – fortunately Zotero and open-source won this case. http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2009/06/thomson-reuters-suit-against-zotero-software-dismissed/
You can choose Zotero to handle citation exports for various journal websites that you choose.
Zotero can even be used to organize your library of PDF files.
