Is it possible to prevent the automatic downloading of open-access PDFs?

chayaninw

In my usage, whenever an open-access alternative is retrieved in place of the "official" PDF on the site, it is almost always unintended (e.g. because I forgot to accept the condition on JSTOR, forgot to use VPN/proxy, etc.). I would prefer that it does not download anything in that case. Is it possible for me to disable this feature?

adamsmith

I don't believe this can be separately disabled, no.

dstillman

It can't. We considered adding this as a separate option when we implemented OA-PDF retrieval but decided against it, and I believe this is the first request for this we've gotten in the couple years since. We have a general goal of relying on data from more sources than just the site you're currently on — e.g., if Zotero detects a DOI on the page, some or all of the data might come from Crossref, not from the site you're on — and this fits in somewhat with that.

wattenc

I wish disabling automatic pdf downloads were an option, like in Mendeley. I prefer to download the pdfs manually using my own naming and organization schema. Zotero's automatic downloads are taking unnecessary storage space on my computer.

adamsmith

You can disable PDF download in the general tab of the preferences. The above question was about separately disabling PDF download of files from Unpaywall, i.e. typically not the "official" copy.

wattenc

Thank you! I was having a hard time finding this option.

adrianadermon

I found this old discussion while searching for a solution for the same problem. I would also very much like the option to turn off automatic downloading of PDFs from alternate sources.

The reason is that, at least for economics papers, the alternate version is often an earlier working paper version, and there's no way to tell how different it is from the published version. This means that every time this happens, I have to manually delete the automatically downloaded PDF, and then go back to the journal page to download the correct version. Additionally, I often don't notice this until I sit down to read the paper after I've transferred it to my e-reader. This has been breaking up my workflow quite a lot recently.

dstillman

@adrianadermon: If you have access to the PDF on the journal page, it should be downloaded automatically by Zotero. You should start new separate threads for URLs where that's not happening for you.

adrianadermon

Yes, I know. But my problem is exactly the same as the original poster - sometimes I forget to "accept conditions" on JSTOR before saving, and sometimes it fails erratically for other reasons.

My point is, I would much prefer if I could disable the option to get the PDF from other sources, since most of the time I get the wrong PDF that way (i.e., an earlier version of the paper). I commented here simply to support the original poster's suggestion.

That said, I'd like to thank you for the tremendous work you've put into Zotero, which is a crucial part of my work flow!

vmarinkov

I also attest that older inferior versions are papers are more often than not silently downloaded when I have access to the published version but it requires clicking on "View pdf", pdf icon, accepting terms, etc. It would be great to at least get a notification that it downloaded the paper from elsewhere, so I don't have to manually check every single addition to my library.

dstillman

@vmarinkov: There is a notification. It should say “Open-Access PDF” in the save popup.

gavinbrooks

I would also like to request this feature. Having to delete and redownload a paper just adds friction by adding an extra step to my workflow. Sometimes Zotero downloads the open-access version even when I am on the journal page and the actual PDF is available without having to log in. It is good that this feature is available, but I almost never want this version of the paper.

dstillman

Sometimes Zotero downloads the open-access version even when I am on the journal page and the actual PDF is available without having to log in.

Separate from any pref, you should obviously report any examples of this in new threads.

gkarandinos

Here is another vote for the same thing. In my case I usually get the open access PDF from the NIH which I then need to manually replace. I'd prefer Zotero to fail retrieving the PDF than trying to get an alternate source and returning the open access version.

yahord

I've encountered the same problem: instead of an article, an ancient draft is downloaded.
This behavior makes the Zotero useless, because open-access articles are already available on the Internet.
Оnly copies of closed-access articles really need cataloging!

dvoprm

I cannot find the option "You can disable PDF download in the general tab of the preferences.".

I use 6.0.36 version.


https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6236166/av4y96ujunq6crod6dcy.jpg

My problem is:
1, I import serveral papers using BibTex file from IEEE.
2, I want to read the pdf when I need it. I can click "Find available PDF" in zotero to download the IEEE "official" pdf at that time.
3, But later I found some papers were automatic downloaded. Some papers are "official", some papers are Arxiv version which I don't want.

So, I read this post, and want to know where's the option about disable PDF (automatic) download.

dstillman

@dvoprm: This is all explained above. You can't currently disable downloading of open-access files specifically.

You can disable PDF downloading in general when saving from the web — that's "Automatically attach associated PDF and other files when saving items" — but that doesn't have anything to do with Find Available PDF.

b0c5

I would also like a way to disable automatic downloading of open-access PDF variant, when it differs from the "official" published version (e.g., when a version of a published paper is also posted on arXiv).

Perhaps this option can be added in Zotero 7?

rlcook.unm

I too would like to request a way to disable the silent download of an open source version of the paper. Often the open source Arxiv version lacks the revisions implemented in the peer-review process. It is most irritating when I have to manually replace the automatic download with the official pdf.

The root cause appears to be a failure of Zotero to detect that I do indeed have access to the official version. Perhaps this is due to a CAPTCHA test or an embedded pdf viewer, or maybe interference from an aggressive adblocker.

The simplest fix I can think of is a confirmation dialog box that would ask if you want to download the open source alternative with the possible answers of: yes/ yes (always) / no / no (do not ask me again)

smo7psych

+1 to rlcook.unm's suggestion. Either a confirmation box or when we save from browser add-on, we can check whether we want the PDFs or not.