Need a easy way to update metadata

It is not easy to update metadata for items in zotero. In EndNote, I can use "Find reference update" in the right click menu. In mendeley, I can simply click "Lookup" on the DOI, ArXiv ID, ISBN and so on.

It is very useful especially for some forthcoming papers. Also when the metadata of PDF is not right or missing, I can enter the right one and update all the other metadata. But it is very complicated in zotero.

Can the developer consider add a lookup button beside the DOI or other ways to easily update metadata?
  • it's planned. It's not going to happen super quickly, though.
    https://www.zotero.org/support/requested_features
  • I see the request named "Re-fetch metadata for an item". It is really more important than "Batch Editing".

    As zotero can retrieve metadata for PDF, adding another function to update these metadata through google scholar or other search engine is reasonable.

    It seems that zotero has a big plan for improving retrieve metadata feature. Maybe this update feature should be planned at first. Hope it would come true.
  • See also
    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/52352/wrong-year-of-publication-in-citation/#Item_7

    Sometimes updates introduce errors.

    While the fetch updates in EndNote and Mendeley often work, they can introduce errors making the metadata a faulty combination of old incomplete information and newer incorrect data.

    Patience will be needed while Zotero gets this right.

    Trust me, getting the update process done right is not easy. Just because something changes at a publisher's website or in an article database doesn't mean that there is _improved_ data available. From what I gather (I don't have inside information) Zotero developers are working to establish a robust, reliable system.

    Even with my SafetyLit licenses for api access to CrossRef and PubMed/Medline it isn't as simple as going to the database sites and fetching updated metadata. The metadata on both of those providers can have been updated more than once by the publishers. I have CRON scripts that recognize records with incomplete metadata and check the databases and publisher sites several times over a period of 36 months. Only when my system detects complete metadata AND after 24 months and 3 repeat tests with the metadata unchanged is the metadata judged to likely be correct and complete. There are other tests that must be done. We test for a proper correspondence between year and volume number. There are still other tests. for example, although not a frequent problem there are late updates to correct author names and other errors.

    There are limits to my license to fetch NLM NCBI data. There are cost concerns with the CrossRef and OCLC licenses. This means that the update requests will almost certainly need to be initiated through your personal Zotero client. Repeated requests from a Zotero server for updates to tens of thousands of users are not likely to be accepted. (Witness the Google Scholar Captcha roadblock. I'm unsure of the current status of personal users repeated access to CrossRef databases but I am sure that there are limits to WorldCat access.
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