Newbie - help me save time by importing citations!

marigoldey
1) What are your favorite tricks for finding importable citations? It doesn't really save me much time to type a citation in manually into zotero.......many of the databases out there give an APA citation you can copy/paste, so why would I type it all into zotero manually......

2) What are the best file types to "connect" with zotero chrome extension for importing citation directly into zotero?

3) What databases are the best for having the correct file type to import direct into zotero? (e.g. pub med allows downloading of a .nbib file or "send to citation manager" (but still only creates a .nbib) but this doesn't not seem to be recognized by zotero extension).

4) I see some databases (e.g. Science Direct) allow citation download as BibTex, RefWorks, RIS or text. Which can work with zotero? Is there more than one way to bring into zotero without doing so manually?

Thank you so much!
  • adamsmith
    1) Zotero works with most large academic databases (including Sciencedirect and PubMed/Pubmed Central, EBSCO, Proquest), all other major journal publishers, most large library catalogs, and meta-searches such as google scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. It will also import anything with a DOI. You'll almost never have to manually enter academic sources.
    2) Don't think of file types -- you use the Save to Zotero button on webpages, most commonly the search or abstract pages of the relevant databases https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero#via_your_web_browser
    3) See 2-- use the Save to Zotero button (though Zotero will import .nbib but I think you have to download & import it)
    4) RIS, BibTeX, and everything that says Endnote or Procite will work, but, again, you'd rarely use it, see 2)
  • marigoldey
    Thank you @adamsmith! I've been doing it all wrong. I've been finding my journal article, then searching for something that says "export citation" or "citation", then looking for a .ris file type that seems to be "synched" with my "zotero connector" and google chrome.......

    I found what you are referring to.....the "save to zotero". I see there can be multiple options once there.....if I'm simply looking to import metadata for purpose of in-text citation and biblio, what do choice do you recommend? (e.g. on NCBI article, have options of Save to Zotero as pubmed central, DOI, embedded metadata, webpage with snapshot, webpage without snapshot? ). On a different example, offers to "Save to Zotero, then lists the journal publisher (i.e. Lippincott). Thank you Adam!
  • adamsmith
    The bit in parentheses just tells you what data source Zotero is using to import; it's mainly to facilitate troubleshooting, not something you need to worry about. You should typically assume that the default (i.e. what it uses when you just click the icon) is the best option.
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