Possible to let Zotero download publisher's PDFs if available?

haiboyu
If it is possible to let zotero first try to download PDF from the publisher's website?

thanks!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Could you say more? How are you saving to Zotero?

    Zotero will try to automatically download the PDF if you save from the publisher page via the Zotero Connector's "Save to Zotero" button, and it will also check for open-access versions of the PDF if that fails. It will also check for OA copies and check the publisher site if you use Find Available PDF on an item after the fact or if you save via Add Item by Identifier.
  • haiboyu
    Thanks for your quick reply. The approach you mentioned works.

    When I mannually add doi and then use "Find Available PDF", it gets the OA copies. Maybe I did not set up the proxy properly?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you share the DOI you're trying?

    Adding via "Add Item by Identifier" should trigger the same PDF-finding process as "Find Available PDF", and if it's OA a proxy shouldn't matter (but note that, as explained in that blog post, the only sort of proxy that would matter here would be a system-level proxy or VPN connection, not a web-based proxy that you use in your browser with the Zotero Connector).
  • haiboyu
    for instance this paper: 10.1021/acschembio.6b00922

    it always downloads the PMC copy.

    thanks!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited September 27, 2019
    Oh, you're saying it's getting the OA copy rather than the publisher copy?

    Do you have direct (IP- or VPN-based) access to the PDF on the ACS site? Or do you need to be connected through a web-based proxy to access it? Only the former will work for Add Item by Identifier and Find Available PDF. But if you just save from the publisher site, it should download the PDF as long as you have access to it in your browser.
  • haiboyu
    It's a proxy based. Thanks. I will save them from the publisher website then.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited September 27, 2019
    Just to clarify, "proxy-based" is a little ambiguous. A system-wide proxy setup (even limited to specific domains) would count as IP-based. But a web-based proxy would not, because that's just changing the domains that you're actually connecting to in your browser (e.g., pubs-acs-org.ezproxy.school.edu) and wouldn't affect other programs like Zotero on the system.

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