Upgrade StorageFeature Request: One-Click Conversion of Citation Placeholders into Zotero Citations in Word
Hello Zotero team,
I am a PhD researcher at the University of Turin, Italy, and I would like to propose a feature that could significantly improve our department's academic writing workflow.
My colleagues and I use Zotero daily, and manually inserting or reconnecting dozens or hundreds of citations in Microsoft Word is extremely time-consuming, particularly when working on collaborative papers and literature reviews.
PROPOSED FEATURE
We would like to convert short citation placeholders, such as `[[Z:06937]]`, directly into fully editable Zotero citations with a single click in Word.
Ideally, Zotero would automatically identify the references, link them to the corresponding library items, generate the bibliography, and report any unresolved citations.
WORKING PROTOTYPE
To address this need, I have developed a free, open-source prototype called Zotero AutoCite:
https://github.com/Animenio/zotero-autocite
The current version supports DOI-based identification through OpenAlex and Crossref, compact citation codes, automatic Zotero library integration, conversion into editable Word citations, bibliography generation, and error reporting.
We have successfully tested the core workflow with Zotero and Microsoft Word. Our next goal is to eliminate the external conversion step and integrate this functionality directly into Word.
REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK
I know that Zotero already offers RTF Scan and that similar solutions have been discussed. However, a streamlined, one-click workflow for converting citation placeholders in an open Word document would be extremely valuable for researchers like us.
Would the Zotero team consider integrating such functionality into the official Word plugin? Alternatively, could you recommend the most appropriate architecture for developing it as an independent extension?
I would be happy to share our code, documentation, and test results, and contribute to a solution that could benefit the wider Zotero community.
Thank you for your time and for your work on Zotero.
I am a PhD researcher at the University of Turin, Italy, and I would like to propose a feature that could significantly improve our department's academic writing workflow.
My colleagues and I use Zotero daily, and manually inserting or reconnecting dozens or hundreds of citations in Microsoft Word is extremely time-consuming, particularly when working on collaborative papers and literature reviews.
PROPOSED FEATURE
We would like to convert short citation placeholders, such as `[[Z:06937]]`, directly into fully editable Zotero citations with a single click in Word.
Ideally, Zotero would automatically identify the references, link them to the corresponding library items, generate the bibliography, and report any unresolved citations.
WORKING PROTOTYPE
To address this need, I have developed a free, open-source prototype called Zotero AutoCite:
https://github.com/Animenio/zotero-autocite
The current version supports DOI-based identification through OpenAlex and Crossref, compact citation codes, automatic Zotero library integration, conversion into editable Word citations, bibliography generation, and error reporting.
We have successfully tested the core workflow with Zotero and Microsoft Word. Our next goal is to eliminate the external conversion step and integrate this functionality directly into Word.
REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK
I know that Zotero already offers RTF Scan and that similar solutions have been discussed. However, a streamlined, one-click workflow for converting citation placeholders in an open Word document would be extremely valuable for researchers like us.
Would the Zotero team consider integrating such functionality into the official Word plugin? Alternatively, could you recommend the most appropriate architecture for developing it as an independent extension?
I would be happy to share our code, documentation, and test results, and contribute to a solution that could benefit the wider Zotero community.
Thank you for your time and for your work on Zotero.