Referencing Apparatus

Hi all,
I am trying to reference specialised scientific equipment/ apparatus (eg an MS machine), and I am unable to find any "Item type" which corresponds to this. Is there any way of making a custom item type or of adding an apparatus (maybe through an add-on...)?

Thanks
  • Is there a particular reference style that you use?

    How would you want the citation to appear?
  • I tend to use Vancouver (so just like numbers in-text).

    What I have found online about the format it should appear in the bibliography is as follows: Manufacturer. (date). Name of instrument. [Apparatus and software]. Web address.
  • edited January 30, 2024
    Zotero is obviously primarily focused on written works (although it also covers other media commonly referenced in academic work, such as video and audio).

    There is an item type for Web Page, so you can save an equipment manufacturer's product page, and cite that when writing.

    It is not uncommon to store reference, user or service manuals for equipment in Zotero. There is no specific item type for those, but Document is kind of the catch-all item type for such written works that don't have a more specific item type. Citing such a document is a relatively common way to refer to equipment in academic writing.

    There is no current way for the user to add custom item types, as that would require modifying the database structure (or perhaps building a generic item type with user-specifiable attributes into a future database structure). Zotero developers add new item types quite rarely, for item types that get lots of requests.

  • I don't know if our Vancouver style handles it well (yet), but I think even though an apparatus is obviously hardware in the literal sense of the term, software as an item type fits quite well with what you want a citation to include.
  • Sounds like a good solution.
    Thank you!
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