Zotero

Instructions on how to download, install, and use Zotero, a free open source citation management program.

Zotero Groups

Zotero's Groups feature allows you to share references with other Zotero users online. It's a great way to work on collaborative research projects.

  • First, set up Zotero sync and synchronize your library - like we did on the previous page of this guide.
  • To create a shared library, click the Create Groups button near the top left of your Zotero window (small blue/green button with two “people” icons, second from the left).
  • To join an existing Zotero library, search for it at zotero.org/groups or be invited by the group’s owner.
  • You must log in to the zotero.org website to create or join a group

You now have two sections in your Zotero collections pane: My Library and Group Libraries.

Personal and group libraries are entirely separate, and changes made to items in one library do not affect the other. You can drag items back and forth libraries to copy items.

image of creating a new group in Zotero

Search for existing public groups or create a new group. Groups may be public (searchable, and anyone can join) or private (users can only join if invited).