Zotero — Review Citations, Not Generate Citations

I was introduced with Zotero in my writing seminar class that I took my freshman year. At that time, citations and bibliography were such unfamiliar terms to me. Every time when I had to write a paper, it was a big trouble for me to figure out how to write citations and list the reference in correct format such as MLA. Since our professor introduced Zotero to us in one of the class, I found it very useful and saved a lot of time when we are finishing up a paper.

How it works:

To get it start with Zotero, first you need to go to zotero.org to download it (zotero has been developing different versions, so it is now compatible with PC and Mac, chrome, firefox, etc). Then, it will be great if you create an account for yourself, because in this case, you will be able to synchronize all the sources you have been used if you change computers or re-download Zotero for some reasons. Then you will need to install an add-on to your browser, so that whenever you are on a webpage of a potential source, there will be a small icon showing on the right end of the address box, which you can click on it in order to save the source into your Zotero library. Lastly, you need to install a plug-in to your Microsoft. Therefore, when you are writing a paper, you can click a few icons in the Word document, then it will generate a in-text citation as well as a bibliography.

I think this YouTube tutorial video will help explain it a lot.

I like Zotero, because it saves me a lot of time to create the bibliography by using a citation book. It will generate a reference in any format you want, however, you definitely need to check it before you submit your work, because it is not always 100% correct. The good thing is, I think it is easier to check mistakes than create it from scratch. Hope you try it after reading my blog!