Zotero saves research articles from your browser with one click and generates citations in any format.

Installation

brew install --cask zotero

Also install the Zotero Connector browser extension and the word processor plugin (Word/LibreOffice/Google Docs).

Collecting Sources

Browse to a paper, article, or book page. Click the Zotero Connector icon in your browser. Zotero saves the full citation metadata and, if available, the PDF. One click.

For paywalled papers, Zotero can often find open-access versions.

Organizing

Create collections (folders) for projects or papers. Items can be in multiple collections — like tags. Use tags, notes, and related-items linking to build your research web.

Citing in Papers

In Word or Google Docs, click “Add/Edit Citation.” Search for authors, titles, or keywords. Zotero inserts the citation and builds the bibliography automatically.

Switch citation styles instantly — APA to MLA to Chicago in one click.

Sync

300MB of free cloud storage syncs your library across devices. For larger libraries, you can use WebDAV or just sync the data directory with any file sync tool (Zotero stores everything as files on disk).