Skip to Main Content
London Metropolitan University
Library LibGuides
Skills Hub | Subject Guides | Library Search | E-Resources A-Z

Referencing, academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism: Zotero: reference management software

Referencing

Organising your references

Keeping track of your sources can be difficult, especially if you're working on a big piece of work that relies on a lot of references. 

Reference management software is really useful to organise your sources: you can group and tag sources, keep notes, and store PDFs online for easy access. You can even automatically cite your references as you write up your work. 

It allows you to:

  • Import references with a click from databases, websites or the library catalogue.

  • Search easily for a particular reference to which you need to refer using details such as ISBN or title.

  • Make and save your own notes about the sources you add.

  • Print or save a list of references.

  • Insert citations into your document and automatically produce a reference list / bibliography in whatever style you require.

Reference management applications

Key points:Zotero logo

  • It is free and open source so you can use beyond your time at the university.
  • It has a browser extension for collecting references from web pages or web pages themselves.
  • It can cite in MS Word, MS Word for Mac, Google Docs, and LibreOffice.
  • It has a built-in PDF annotation/editing.

Remember, you can export your references out of one reference management application and into another, if you change your mind, the features change, or you leave the University.

Introduction to Zotero - 2024

If you are an undergraduate, ZoteroBib is a great place to start to create a quick and easy bibliography for free, without the need to install any software or create an account. 

You may find ZoteroBib useful if you are working on one-off essays rather than a sustained research project.

Just like Zotero, Zotero Bib provides access to over 9000 referencing styles for your bibliography.

Add items to your bibliography using the ZoteroBib search box:

  • find items online and paste the URL
  • paste or type in an ISBN, DOI, PubMed ID, or arXiv ID
  • search by title.

ZoteroBib will find bibliographic information and add the item to your bibliography: 

  • if ZoteroBib does not find what you are looking for or the data is incomplete, enter the data with the manual editor
  • your bibliography will be stored automatically in your local browser
  • if you want to load your bibliography onto another device, create a "link to this version"
  • you can share your bibliography with others, though a regular Zotero account provides you with more tools for collaboration.

Exceptions to note

Exceptions to note with some references:

Zotero does not provide referencing templates for some sources:

  • academic posters
  • computer and digital resources
  • TV programmes
  • images and images generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) sites
  • text generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) sites

You will need to enter the information on a blank template on these referencing platforms.