Update metadata

mamta_ruparel
Hi

I am new to zotero. I have imported citations from mendelay, and imported some new ones using the import zotero tool. However some of the papers are appearing in my library incorrectly- eg missing author data, missing pdf. How do I update to correct the metadata, and import pdf simultaneously?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited May 1, 2025
    Metadata updating is coming. For now, you can add a new item with Add Item by Identifier or by saving from the web (which should download the PDF if you have access), select both items, right-click, and merge them.

    If you have direct (on-campus) or VPN-based access to PDFs, you can download PDFs for items without PDFs via right-click → Find Full Text. (Otherwise you'd have to save from the web.)
  • omentic
    Hi @dstillman, could you point me to what metadata updating is going to look like / when we can expect it in Desktop Zotero? I just made a post about this feature as I couldn't find anything in search (these forums are quite hard to use! cool they are so active, but shame that things are not indexed in ex. a zulip or something) but then I changed my keywords and this popped up.
  • aborel
    edited 6 days ago
    In the Zotero context, "XXX is coming" or "YYY is planned" usually only means that the feature is accepted in the development roadmap. In general, there is no preview other than the betas - and this functionality isn't there yet.

    Regarding "when": the Zotero team doesn't communicate on timelines as a general policy (because they can be very difficult to predict reliably).
  • aghoury
    We hope this update happens, it because many times I find an old reference with "preprint" that I added long time ago. Regards
  • adamsmith
    (Note that the Linter for Zotero plugin has pretty good metadata updating)
  • tim820
    edited 3 days ago
    Linter's metadata operations are complex (perhaps "comprehensive" would be a more accurate term), and sometimes somewhat obscure. See under its Settings, and also the list linked below. It makes automatic corrections, but it's not always obvious when it has done so (AFAIK ... I currently have a lof of its options turned off).
    https://github.com/northword/zotero-format-metadata/blob/main/docs/features.md

    If you go to Zotero's Config Editor and search for formatmetadata, you can see how Linter's many flags are set. Show Only Modified Preferences shows you which you have changed from their default.
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