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Food Science & Agricultural Chemistry

Resources for Food Science students and researchers

Introduction

Zotero is a free, open-source reference management tool that helps you collect, organize, cite, and share research sources. It’s especially popular with students and researchers for its ease of use, web browser integration, and ability to store full-text PDFs and web snapshots. This guide is designed to help McGill students, faculty, and researchers get started with Zotero and make the most of its features.

Please see the "Download and Installation" section below for details on downloading the software to your own device. For help, feel free to check out our Citation Management FAQ or contact us directly.

Zotero

Zotero logo

 

 

  1. Go to www.zotero.org

  2. Download Zotero 7.0

  3. Make sure to download the connector for your internet browser.

Organizing Your References

 

  • Use the folders icon to create collections. This will enable you to organize your research by topic, course number, assignment, etc.

  • Make sure that you select a folder before starting your research, this way all the references that you send to Zotero will be sent to the selected folder. No need to sort after doing the research.

 

Transferring References

 

  • Search the library catalogue or an article database. When you find items that interest you, click on the folder icon in the top right corner of the page. Select the items that you want and click on “Ok”.

  • You can also transfer only one item by clicking on it and reaching the page about it. Once you are on the page dedicated to the item, click on the icon in the top right corner. The icon will be shaped like a book if the item is a book, an article if that is what the item is, etc.

  • If there is a PDF available, Zotero will automatically grab it and include it in your library.

There are two ways to create a bibliography from Zotero:

  • If you used all the items in a folder:

    • Select the folder and right click. Then click on “create bibliography from collection”. You will be prompted to pick your citation style. Click on copy. You can now paste your complete bibliography in your document.

  • If you used only some items in a folder:

    • Select the items used by holding the control button (command on a Mac). Then click on “create bibliography from items”. You will be prompted to pick your citation style. Click on copy. You can now paste your bibliography in your document.

Inserting References in Documents

 

The Zotero feature for Word should have been downloaded at the same time as the software.

  1. Click on the Zotero tab in Word.

  2. Click on “Insert/edit citation”

  3. When you insert the first citation, it will ask you to select your style.

  4. A search bar will appear, you can search for the item that you want to cite.

  5. For more citation options, click on classic view in the search bar.

  6. A mini version of your Zotero library will appear. Select the resource you want to cite.

  7. You can also include a page number or range.

 

Creating a Bibliography in Word

 

  • Make sure that you inserted all the citations using the Zotero “insert” option.

  • Click on insert bibliography.

  • Choose your style.

  • Your bibliography is now in your document. Don’t forget to click the refresh button if you add more citations.

Zotero Workshops

Training Materials

For more information and support, please visit Zotero's documentation page, including their Quick Start Guide
 

Training Videos from McGill Libraries

You can view the full McGill Libraries Zotero playlist on YouTube

 

Librarian

Profile Photo
Jennie Fallis
she/her
Contact:
Macdonald Campus Library
Barton Building
21111 Lakeshore Rd, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9
Subjects: Human nutrition

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