Import citation from Downloads folder

drjpayne

This is a simple feature request:

Q: When you save a citation from pretty much any online publication using your browser, guess where the .RIS file goes?

A: It does NOT go to the clipboard. It goes to a "Downloads" folder (at least on my Mac with Firefox or Safari, but I'm guessing it does the same on other OS's and browsers, too).

Unfortunately, the Zotero "File-->Import" menu offers "Import from clipboard" as a shortcut, but does not offer "Import from Downloads," which would save everyone a step each time we had to use the menu. Please add the shortcut item to the menu, if possible!

Thanks,

John

bwiernik

You can also just double click the item in your downloads folder to import into Zotero.

But generally, you shouldn’t need to download RIS files at all. Using the Zotero browser button will generally yield the best data for a website.
https://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library

dstillman

(And in addition to double-clicking, if a RIS file is served properly by the website and Zotero is open, the Zotero Connector will offer to import it straight into Zotero without your needing to save it at all. But as bwiernik says, the Save to Zotero button will give you better results on most sites.)

drjpayne

Thanks for both suggestions. That helps a bit (I hadn't focused on the browser button as much as I should have, probably). The whole import system sorta-kinda works, but the high variability in publisher websites is clearly challenging.

bwiernik

If you run into issues with particular publishers, post in these forums and we can see what we can do.