Zotero not working with Google Docs

lizcrous
edited October 30, 2018
Hello,

Whenever I try to use the new Zotero tab in Google Docs it works once, then gives me an error.

In other words: I type something, hit add citation, it brings up the red bar and I search for my citation, click on it, it gets inserted. I type more, hit add citation, the red bar shows for a moment, then the error "Zotero fields cannot be inserted here" pops up. Any ideas?
  • lizcrous
    Actually - think I fixed it. I removed the paperpile and F1000 extensions (which I don't use anyway) from chrome and now it works.
  • bwiernik
    Can you confirm that the plugin breaks if you reenable one or both of those? It might be good to add a warning of that is the case.
  • mmwaldrop
    edited November 1, 2018
    I've had the same problem. I deleted the Paperpile add-on, and was able to add one citation. Then I got the same 'cannot be inserted here' message when I tried to insert a bibliography, or to add any more citations.

    BTW -- when you insert a citation, Zotero's floating search bar doesn't appear in front of the Google Docs file, as you'd expect, but in a window BEHIND the browser. That is, you have to go looking for it. An annoyance.
  • adamsmith
    @mmwaldrop -- "I've had the same problem" meaning this is now fixed for you or not?
  • mmwaldrop
    Thanks for the quick response, Adam. I'm afraid it's NOT fixed.
  • adamsmith
    OK, could you do the following? -- disable all other browser add-ons, restart the browser, try again in a new document. If it fails again, provide a debug ID from the Zotero connector that includes a failed attempt to insert a citation:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output#zotero_connectors_firefox_chrome_and_safari

    As for the pop-up behind the browser window -- that's not the case for me; I've seen this for some other pop-ups in Chrome recently though, including Chrome's own permission requests.
  • adomasven
    You will in general get the cannot be inserted here error if you are attempting to insert citations/bibliography if your cursor is within a link. Both Paperpile and Zotero citations are encoded into the document as links and Paperpile's plugin might mess with Zotero's link detection code.
  • mmwaldrop
    Success! I deleted the Paperpile add-ins both in Docs (which I had deleted before) and in Chrome (which I had not previously deleted). Now it seems to work.

    BTW: a minor bug in the bibliography: when I use the Nature format, there is no space between the journal name and volume number.
  • adamsmith
    a minor bug in the bibliography: when I use the Nature format, there is no space between the journal name and volume number.
    @adomasven I can replicate this and it's not the style, which has this correct, so looks like specific to google docs integration (which also seems to do something weird with the article number in the bib).
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qca49CQMUrcUYQracPO0NQsoiQuv9QkA3Lwoqywm4bs/edit has the same reference from the same library inserted with Nature in google docs and copied from clipboard (lack of journal abbreviation in the latter because it's not in the data)
  • mmwaldrop
    Thanks @adamsmith!
  • Donna_V
    I have the same problem when trying to insert citations in google docs (in Firefox browser). In google docs, under the Zotero tab, after clicking "add/edit citation" sometimes the first time a Zotero progress bar pops up (always hidden behind the browser window, which makes it less ideal), but most of the time nothing happens. Right now I tried disabling the only other extension (LastPass) and restarting Firefox. But Zotero still isn't responsive.
  • adomasven
    @Donna_V Try restarting Zotero. If you minimize the Zotero window before citing in Google Docs (as opposed to simply switching to Firefox window) the citation dialog will fail to come up on top of the Google Docs window. This is a Windows issue and nothing we can do.

    As a general rule for Zotero forums it is better to start a new thread than post to an old one (especially something like this one, which is over half a year old) if you are unsure about whether the thread is about the same issue that you are experiencing.
  • Donna_V
    Thank you!
  • jjlica12
    Hi all,

    10.15.4 Mac OS Catalina running a chromium browser (Brave) with plug-in "Grammarly" returns a similar error as mentioned above.

    Simply disable Grammarly on docs.google.com from the extension icon. Allow the page to refresh. After, Zotero's functionality returns for adding in-text citations.

    ~Joseph
  • sdnnvs
    Not working for me. Report erros in Zotero's Google Chrome plugin:

    [JavaScript Error: "TypeError: Cannot read property '14' of undefined
    at Object.injectScripts (chrome-extension://ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc/background.js:329:45)
    at chrome-extension://ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc/background.js:268:36"]

    [JavaScript Error: "TypeError: Cannot read property '67' of undefined
    at Object.injectScripts (chrome-extension://ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc/background.js:329:45)
    at chrome-extension://ekhagklcjbdpajgpjgmbionohlpdbjgc/background.js:268:36"]
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