Zotero cannot read EPUB

iagogv · 2026-03-16T20:59:01+00:00

Zotero (8.0.4, 64-bits on Windows) cannot read the EPUB of the paper https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/1997/07000/energy_expenditure_of_swimmers_during_high_volume.15.aspx

I try to open it, but it does not happen anything

poettli · 2026-03-17T00:50:14+00:00

Isn't that epub file corrupted? The file size is 174 kB on my disk after downloading it.

RamonMi · 2026-03-17T01:22:49+00:00

I can't open it with any EPUB reader. Maybe it's better to add a hint when users try to open such broken ebook attachments.

aborel · 2026-03-17T05:02:27+00:00

This EPUB file appears to be invalid: its internal structure mixes slashes (correct) and backslashes (incorrect) in file paths. This should be reported to the publisher so that they can fix it.

iagogv · 2026-03-17T08:14:43+00:00

I can open it with Sumatra PDF

iagogv · 2026-03-17T08:18:34+00:00

@RamonMi I can open it with Calibre Viewer too.

iagogv · 2026-03-17T08:19:56+00:00

@poettli I do not know about if it is corrupted or not. Regarding its size, this is what appears to me in Windows:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6735168/vatby0wn26h2uv33pucv.png

**Update (see below comments)**:
Previous size are after openning it with Calibre Viewer. Previous sizes (just after downloading) are the next:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6735168/w7k7fii5dya71lmnyc0z.png

poettli · 2026-03-17T08:34:46+00:00

@iagogv Maybe not corrupted (bad wording) but this file does not open with Books (Version 8.1) on macOS 26.3.1. It also does not open with calibre on Ubuntu 22.04.5.

mjthoraval · 2026-03-17T08:44:00+00:00

It is opening for me in Zotero 9.0-beta.10+be1373dd3 (64-bit), Windows 11:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/jcd3ljs38qjulnhh90w5.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/z5zg6n06rweunwuntzd0.png

poettli · 2026-03-17T08:51:47+00:00

Interestingly, it does not open in Zotero 9.0-beta.10+be1373dd3 on macOS and Ubuntu.

mjthoraval · 2026-03-17T09:11:44+00:00

Actually, I could open the file in Zotero only after opening it in Calibre.
Opening it in Calibre modified the file.

Before:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/dm9wh7dzyzb2l2pgj4rj.png
After:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/6300qwoi4etqyfrd7t5g.png

I indeed cannot open the file in Zotero just after downloading it.

iagogv · 2026-03-17T09:18:58+00:00

:O
I confirm last post by @mjthoraval. After being opened by Calibre, Zotero opens it (Zotero 8.0.4, Windows 11)

aborel · 2026-03-17T09:19:28+00:00

My observation was based on the output of an actual EPUB validation tool https://www.w3.org/publishing/epubcheck/

The file is not corrupted, it is poorly built.

AbeJellinek · 2026-03-17T13:38:07+00:00

Yeah, this is a pretty poor-quality EPUB. We'll display a warning when the EPUB has no displayable sections (and also try to recover from some of the simple issues here) in a future version.