Bibliographic Management with Zotero

With Zotero you can add annotations to references and then create an annotated bibliography with both citations and your annotations.

Zotero has only two citation styles that allow you to create an annotated bibliography:

• American Psychological Association 7th edition (annotated bibliography)
• Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (note, annotated bibliography) 

If you use either of these, be sure to check your citations carefully to see if they conform to the requirements for your course!

How to Create an Annotated Bibliography in Zotero

Step 1: Install the annotated bibliography citation style of your choice.

1. In Zotero, go to the Edit menu (located at the top left of your screen) and select Settings

2. On the Cite tab, click on "Get additional styles..."

3. The Zotero style repository opens. In the search box type in "annotated" to view the two styles.

4. Click on the link to the style you wish to install. You should now see the style listed in your Zotero styles list. 

Step 2: Add annotations to your references in Zotero

• For the APA style: Add an annotation to the Abstract field of a reference. (You may wish to copy/cut the abstract text and put it into a note field of the reference first.) 

• For Chicago style: Add an annotation to the Extra field of a reference:

Step 3: Create the Annotated Bibliography

You create an annotated bibliography using the right-click method. See the Creating Bibliographies guide for more information.

1. Select a folder, item, or items you wish to include
2. Right-click (or control-click on Macs) to select “Create Bibliography from Selected Item(s)…”.
3. Select the annotated citation style you added in Step 1
4. Copy to clipboard or save the annotated bibliography