Importing files into Zotero into correct folder?

erinwatson

Hi,

Is there a way to import a file from a database instead of using Zotero Save and have the citations put into a particular collection? When I go to File -- Import from within the desktop app, the imported citations always end up in a new collection. Is there a way to avoid this?
Thanks.

adamsmith

Typically you'd use the "Save to Zotero" button in your browser, which saves into the currently selected collection.
If that's not an option (why not?), the only way is to open the file your importing in a text editor, select all, and "Import from clipboard" with the desired collection selected.

erinwatson

Thanks. I read in the documentation that if you are importing a large number of citations, you might not be able to use the save to zotero button (https://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library under "large-scale imports from databases).

adamsmith

It's more a question of convenience. Some databases (e.g. pubmed) allow you to export thousands of records at once. You _can_ use the save to Zotero button to do the same, it just takes a lot more steps.

erinwatson

Right. I'm thinking about people doing large searches, possibly systematic reviews -- and was wondering how to do this. Thanks very much again.

adamsmith

I think in that cases it may actually be desirable for new imports to go into new collections. Items are easy enough to move, but it's probably good to initially have outputs from different databases and search strategies separate.

erinwatson

That's true, actually. Okay, thanks again for your help.

DWL-SDCA

To echo what @adamsmith said-- importsfrom different databases should go into different collections.

This makes it much easier to do repetitive edits because all like records are in one place. For example, PubMed uses 3-character language abbreviations, ScienceDirect doesn't provide language abbreviations, etc.

bwiernik

Besides being faster to export items in batches from databases for systematic reviews, doing so also prevents you from getting locked out for repetitive database queries (e.g., Google Scholar and PubMed are both fairly aggressive about locking out users who look like they are bots.