Cannot pull authors from new ScienceDirect site

nomarie
Elsevier recently updated the ScienceDirect site. Now when trying to save citations from ScienceDirect, I get a "An error occurred saving with ScienceDirect. Attempting to save using Embedded Metadata instead." message, and the citation is saved without any authors.
  • mjthoraval
    Here is an example of an open access article:
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957417424010339

    Zotero Connector: 5.0.196beta2
    The Debug ID is D1697791347.

    Zotero Desktop: 9.0-beta.10+be1373dd3 (64-bit)
    The Debug ID is D93871287.

    Firefox 149.0b8 (64-bit)
    Windows 11
  • warguelles
    It works perfect to me... including the attached PDF!

    The only differences with your configuration are Zotero conector: 5.0.195 and Firefox no beta (148.0.2)
  • mjthoraval
    edited 22 days ago
    It is probably a partial release of the new website.

    Here is the old design, that I can get from a VPN in Firefox:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/b6nghsqy206wug8kz30g.png
    Importing in Zotero works fine.

    And the new design from the same browser from my university network:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u265723/wlrz07ibpzn6oh8r1uzi.png
  • mjthoraval
    I have cleared the cookies of the page, and I am now back to the first design where the import to Zotero is working. I don't know how to get back to the second design.
  • nomarie
    First design works when I hit it, but most ScienceDirect references are opening in the second design for me.
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Anyone who's getting the new design, please save the page as HTML (in your browser, File → Save Page As...) and email it to support@zotero.org, along with a link to this thread!
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @nomarie: Can you try again after clicking the Cite button to open the citation popup?
  • nomarie
    @dstillman no change
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    That is, send an HTML file you save with the Cite popup open.
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    @nomarie, @mjthoraval: Pushed a fix. Your Zotero Connector should auto-update within a few minutes, or you can update translators manually from the Advanced pane of the Zotero settings.

    Please let me know if you continue having issues with the new design; I'm still not actually getting it on my end.
  • nomarie
    seems to work now, thanks!
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    OK, great!
  • johnbarrett
    I am seeing the same error as reported in this thread, even with the latest versions of Zotero (8.0.4) and Zotero Connector (5.0.198, last updated March 23, 2026), and after resetting translators. I have created a debug log with debug ID D968032231. I will send HTML versions of the website that is giving me issues to support@zotero.org
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Your ScienceDirect translator hasn't been updated since last year. Did you reset translators from the Connector? If so, try again from the Advanced pane of the Zotero (desktop, not Connector) settings.
  • johnbarrett
    edited 15 days ago
    Are you referring to the "Update" button next to Zotero (desktop) Settings -> Advanced -> Miscellaneous -> Automatically check for updated translators and styles? I clicked that just now (and it changed to "Updated"), went back to the ScienceDirect website and tried again, and got the same error. Resetting the translators again in the Connector also did not fix it. Do I need to restart Zotero, the connector, or the browser before the new translators take effect?
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    No, in Zotero (desktop) settings, go to Advanced → Database Maintenance → Reset Translators...

    If that doesn't do it, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the Connector. See these steps: https://www.zotero.org/support/troubleshooting_translator_issues
  • johnbarrett
    The error persists after resetting translators via Zotero (desktop) Settings -> Advanced -> Database Maintenance -> Reset Translators..., resetting translators via Zotero Connect Preferences -> Advanced -> Translators -> Reset Translators (again), and after uninstalling and reinstalling Zotero connector. Should I go ahead and send the HTML versions of the offending website?
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    Another Connector Debug ID first - if you're still on the old version of the translator, that's the issue.
  • johnbarrett
    Here is the new debug ID: D1160277486
  • AbeJellinek Zotero Team
    A server-side issue was causing translators not to update - sorry about that! You should be able to get the new version now. If it doesn't work, try Zotero (desktop) settings, Advanced → Database Maintenance → Reset Translators... once more.
  • johnbarrett
    Thanks for the update. I tried that option, but got an error message. I clicked on the More Info button on the error message, which took me to the Zotero website. Clicking that button unfortunately dismissed the error message before I could take a screenshot or press the Report Error button. Now I can't remember what the message said.

    Subsequent attempts to reset translators via Database Maintenance appear to work, in that no error message appears and the Reset Translators... button is briefly greyed out. However, the error attempting to save articles from ScienceDirect website persists.

    Uninstalling and reinstalling the Zotero Connector and the Zotero desktop app also does not fix the issue.

    I have made a new debug log, debug ID: D1357332072
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you go to Tools → Developer → Run JavaScript and run this, and let us know the result?

    return (await Zotero.Translators.get("b6d0a7a-d076-48ae-b2f0-b6de28b194e")).lastUpdated;
  • johnbarrett
    This is the result

    2026-04-01 05:25:00
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    OK, and another Debug ID from the Zotero Connector for reloading the ScienceDirect page and trying to save?
  • johnbarrett
    Okay somehow after running that it's fixed
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 8 days ago
    That wouldn't have fixed anything. You likely just needed to reload the page after the translator updated.
  • johnbarrett
    Pretty sure I did, but maybe I was too fast and did it before the translators finished updating, or something. Regardless, seems to be working now.
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