Skip to Main Content

Citation Style Guide

A introductory guide to citation styles and reference management tools.

What is Zotero?

Zotero is a free reference management software, which can: collect and organize your sources, store pdfs of your sources (allows you to highlight and take notes), and insert formatted citations and bibliographies into documents.

Canvas Modules

Canvas logo

 

The library has a Canvas module for Citation Management Tools, where you can learn about Mendeley and Zotero. While this research guide gives you a broad understanding of these tools. The Canvas modules will give you an in-depth tutorial on how to use the tools.

Click here to enroll in the course.

Getting Started

Create an Account and Getting Started 

  1. Create a free Zotero account.
  2. Download and install Zotero. This is the desktop application that syncs with the online library and works with the Citation plugin. The program must be downloaded if you want to use Zotero to insert citations into MS Word.
  3. Install a Browser Extension. An optional but very useful tool that helps you import PDFs and webpages into your Zotero library. The Zotero Connector download is necessary if you want to use Zotero to insert citations into Google Docs.
  4. The citation plugins that allow you to insert references and bibliographies into Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, or Google Docs should download automatically with your software. If they don't or you are having issues, see the troubleshooting links on this page.

Video Tutorials

Watch this video for a brief overview on Zotero.

Video Credit: "Zotero Introduction" by the University of LaVerne.

Watch this video to learn how to add new references to Zotero.

Video Credit: "How to Zotero: Adding Items to Your Library" courtesy of the University of Alabama Library licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

Watch this video to learn how to insert formatted citations into MS Word using Zotero.

Video Credit: "Using Zotero to Cite in Microsoft Word" courtesy of the Albert S. Cook Library licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

Watch this video to learn how to insert formatted citations into Google Docs using Zotero.

Video Credit: "Zotero 6: Writing with Google Docs" courtesy of the Albert S Cook Library licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

Watch this video to learn how to insert formatted bibliographies into MS Word using Zotero.

Video Credit: "Using Zotero to Create a Standalone Bibliography" courtesy of the Albert S. Cook Library licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

Watch this video to learn how to use Zotero to take notes.

Video Credit: "Zotero and PDF Markup" courtesy of the Albert S Cook Library licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

More Resources