Introduction to Zotero – Educational resources for teaching Open Research to novices

Introduction to Zotero

---
title: "Introduction to Zotero"
---

> Citing like a pro and more time for your writing.

[Click here to see the materials in full screen](zotero-slides.qmd)

```{=html}
<iframe class="slide-deck" src="zotero-slides.html" height="420" width="747" style="border: 1px solid #2e3846;"></iframe>
```

## About these materials

::: {.callout-warning collapse="true"}
## Citation statement
Please cite these materials as: Sharma, T., & Von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn, S. (2026). *Introduction to Zotero* [Quarto slides]. [LMU Open Science Center](https://www.osc.lmu.de/). [https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/zotero](https://lmu-osc.github.io/teaching-material-for-novices/open-research-tools/zotero)
:::

**Welcome!** This workshop is intended to provide learners with the theoretical background and the hands-on experience with **using free citation tools** such as **Zotero** to **organize research materials**, **add and manage references**, and **create formatted bibliographies** across different writing environments. They will also learn **how Zotero integrates** with **Quarto and RStudio** to support reproducible workflows and streamline the process of adding and formatting citations in academic documents.

### Who are these materials for?

- **Educators** in higher education with or without familiarity with open research planning to **teach open research** to **novices**
- **Self-learners** with no or limited familiarity with open research planning to **develop and build** up on their open research skills

### Prerequisites

<div style="font-size: 0.8em;"> 
| Prerequisite   |  Description  | Link/Where to find it   |
|------------|------------|------------|
| R and RStudio installed | Latest versions of both R and RStudio | [Download RStudio](https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/) |
| Zotero and Zotero Connector | Citation tool and extension | [Download Link](https://www.zotero.org/download/) |
</div>

### Learning objectives

At the end of this session, you or your learners will be able to ...

- **Explain** the importance of citing scientific literature and citation tools
- **Familiarize yourself** with different citation formats (CSL)
- **Set up and organize** a personal Zotero library
- **Apply and develop** a referencing workflow in Quarto and RStudio
- **Apply and develop** a referencing workflow in MS Word

## Access and download materials

You can access the self-paced tutorial via this link: [https://lmu-osc.github.io/introduction-to-zotero/](https://lmu-osc.github.io/introduction-to-zotero/).

### Export slides

You can export these slides as MS PowerPoint (.pptx - *in progress*) or pdf by clicking below. Note that basic formatting will be applied to the PowerPoint file.

<!-- download as pdf button -->
<a href="zotero-slides.pdf"
   download="zotero-slides.pdf"
   class="btn btn-primary">
  Download slides as PDF
</a>

## Contributors and licence details

**Creator**: Sharma, Tejaswini (![](images/ORCID-iD_icon_16x16.png){fig-alt="orcid logo"}
[00009-0000-0305-9751](https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0305-9751))

**Reviewer**: Von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn, Sarah (![](images/ORCID-iD_icon_16x16.png){fig-alt="orcid logo"}
[0000-0002-6413-3895](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6413-3895))

<br>

<p style="text-align:center;">
  <img src="images/cc-by-sa.png" 
  alt="Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 SA"
  style="width:160px;" />
</p>

<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; padding: 0.05em; border-radius: 2px; font-size: 0.8em;">
This work was originally created by Pat Callahan and Dejana Damjanovic under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) (CC-BY 4.0) and a [Creative Commons Universal License](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0 1.0) for code snippets. It was subsequently adapted and revised by [Sarah von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6413-3895). This current work by [Tejaswini Sharma](https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0305 9751) and Sarah von Grebmer zu Wolfsthurn is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International SA License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) (CC-BY-SA 4.0). Code snippets are dedicated to the public domain and licensed under a [Creative Commons Universal Licence](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0 1.0)
</div>