Connector Does Not Send Citations to App

RedSquirrel112
So this topic has probably been started before, but I have tried searching for fixes and spent to much time on it.

I use Google Scholar for sources and end them from Chrome to Zotero Desktop app through the connector extension. This used to work fine. Now, I click on "Cite" and it downloads citation detail instead of sending to Zotero.

I have tried removing extension and reinstalling it. I have tried using different browser, which worked at first, using Firefox instead, but now Firefox does the same thing.

So I have reinstalled, restarted PC, restarted app and browsers, searched for updates, looked ofr fix in forums. I'm out of ideas. Now I will start adding the sources manually until I complete this project report, and then sadly will switch to Mendeley as that seems to be my last resort.
  • dstillman
    That's never been the correct way to save to Zotero from Google Scholar or any other supported site, and it's no longer possible due to changes in Chrome:

    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/466053/#Comment_466053
  • DWL-SDCA
    edited July 15, 2024
    Know that (unless you are capturing a GS listening of a citation where GS does not link to a publisher); you will almost always get more complete and accurate metadata by visiting the publisher's site and importing the metadata from there. GS is better now than it was a year or two ago but the metadata directly from GS frequently has missing authors -- particularly so for the final author. Citing the GS metadata might suggest that you haven't read the article you cited. Having errors in your citations will frustrate reviewers (like me) and can have implications for lower grades from professors. Linking from GS to the publisher and getting the best metadata is the right thing to do. I'm not disparaging GS. I use it every day for work but it is an index not an authority.
  • RedSquirrel112
    Thanks for the replies. Yes I had noticed that the data isn't complete. So far, my lecturers havent had any problem with this.

    So, looking at the information in the other discussions, I cannot find the connector save button, or any other icons as displayed in the screenshots. That is on both Chrome and Firefox.

    I had previously tried clicking "cite" in sources such as Science DIrect and that used to result in it downloading the data (and still does result in that on Chrome), which is why I resorted to the Cite button on GS, which would previously send it to Zotero.

    However, I have just tried the Cite button on Science Direct in Firefox browser and it did succesfully send data to Zotero, but in exactly the same format as GS would when it was working (which I don't mind because my lecturers have no issues with). I don't know how long this will last for though. It used to work on GS for Chrome. It inititially worked for GS on Firefox. So I am guessing this (cite button in publisher's website) could stop working at any point, and at which point, i'll just manually type it in. It will take more time, but that's how it is.

    If I could access these icons you're referring to, maybe that would fix, but they just aren't there on either browser, and pretty sure they never have been. (for Firefox I have a "save to pocket", but that's it.

    ** It no longer works on Science Direct either (through Firefox). So I cannot use Cite button and cannot access any icons in the browser
  • dstillman
    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/no_toolbar_button

    It sounds like you've been using Zotero incorrectly, so you should read through
    Adding Items to Zotero     to understand this better.
  • RedSquirrel112
    Thanks. I hadn't pinned it. Now it works
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