Essentially, there are three steps: install Zotero software; install Zotero connector plugin; and create an account in the Zotero online platform.
One can download Zotero from this link: https://www.zotero.org/download/.
The video guide below would be of help in installing and customizing Zotero.
Researchers and graduate students need to manage a large volume of references (journal articles; book chapters; conference papers; books; reports etc.) usually gathered during research period, particularly during the preparation of systematic literature reviews. Maintaining a structured record of references with annotations is important for researchers as it improves efficiency and saves time of researchers. To this end, researchers need to have a bibliographic data management plan and a reference management software.
There are many reference management software available. Zotero is one among them and it is available for free. Zotero was created at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Now it is a project of the Corporation for Digital Scholarship
If students and researchers learn to use Zotero well, it can be a perfect companion for them. It allows one to store, organize, and format bibliographic references and helps to create a personalized library (with search features) on a local drive and Zotero's online platform.
Zotero allows directly importing references from web browsers and bibliographic databases such as Scopus, PubMed, and Lens.org. Zotero can automatically extract metadata and store it. (See this video for help)
Also, one can enter bibliographic details into Zotero manually, and it allows the inclusion of full texts (e.g., PDF files).
Zotero helps one organize the references into collections. (See this video for help) References in the local library can then be indexed, tagged, and searched.
Through the Zotero online platform, you can share the references in your library with individuals and groups. (See here for more details)
Zotero will make one's referencing job - providing in-text citations in dissertations and research papers - easy. From the Zotero library, one can simply drag and drop references to documents. There are special plug-ins available to connect Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs with the Zotero library. Also, it helps one meet style guide requirements. (See this video for help)
