Zotero

Name: Zotero
Rating: 4.7 (378 reviews)
Author: Zotero

Your research assistant

Free

378 Ratings
Ages

4+
Years
Category

Productivity
Developer

Zotero
Language

EN
English
Size

154.4
MB

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use research tool that helps you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your work. COLLECT • Save journal articles, newspaper articles, books, webpages, and more via the Share button in Safari and other apps • Automatically download article PDFs to read • Quickly add physical books and articles to your Zotero library by scanning book barcodes or article DOIs with your iPhone or iPad camera ORGANIZE • Use collections and tags to organize your research • View and edit bibliographic information for your research items ANNOTATE • Read PDFs, EPUBs, and webpage snapshots and add highlights and notes, or use an Apple Pencil to make freehand annotations CITE • Instantly generate citations and bibliographies in over 10,000 formats and journal styles including APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA, Turabian, and Vancouver. SHARE • Collaboratively collect sources and mark up PDFs in group libraries with your colleagues • Synchronize your personal and group research libraries to access them via Zotero’s desktop app and the Zotero website • Use the Zotero desktop app to insert your annotations into Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs documents and automatically generate bibliographies from the sources you used Visit zotero.org to learn more about everything you can do with Zotero. Having trouble? Have an idea? Post bug reports and feature requests to the Zotero Forums at forums.zotero.org to talk directly to Zotero developers. ZOTERO AND PRIVACY Since 2006, the Zotero team has been committed to creating the best research software, and we believe that includes putting you in full control of your own work. We’re an independent, nonprofit organization, and we’ll never sell your data.

Ratings & Reviews

4.7

out of 5

378 Ratings

New to app, so far great but room for minor tweaks
01/31/2023

emart101
Zotero is exactly what every researcher needs, and few (if any) do it better than Zotero. However, on iPadOS, until a few basic tweaks are made, Zotero will not be better than a well-organized iPad files app. - Annotating with an Apple Pencil comes in a few colors, all of which are completely opaque. There is no sense in highlighting anything if you cannot see what has been highlighted. - While editing file information, leaving the app (not closing, leaving) erases all progress made. This is particularly frustrating when trying to fill in information needed for a citation. Forgot what year the article was published, so you went back to the database on safari to check? Too bad, when you come back the title, author, publisher, and everything else has been lost and needs to be entered again. - After a file has been made, you cannot add attachments. This would be useful for articles that come in two PDFs, text and examples.EDIT: The developers respond to comments and seem to genuinely want to improve the app. And with the number of bugs fixed recently, that is apparent. As bugs continued to be ironed out, this app will be indispensable.

Developer Response
- The ink annotation tool is for free-hand writing and drawing on the PDF, which is why it’s opaque. There’s a separate highlight annotation tool for highlighting.- We can reproduce the bug with edited fields when switching away from the app — we’ll fix.- You can add standalone attachments to existing items by dragging the attachments on top of the items. If you only have a standalone attachment, you need to add a parent item first, which you can do by holding down on the attachment item.If you have further questions or bug reports, please post to the Zotero Forums, where we’re best able to help and can fix bugs more quickly.
New to app, so far great but room for minor tweaks
01/31/2023

emart101

Zotero is exactly what every researcher needs, and few (if any) do it better than Zotero. However, on iPadOS, until a few basic tweaks are made, Zotero will not be better than a well-organized iPad files app. - Annotating with an Apple Pencil comes in a few colors, all of which are completely opaque. There is no sense in highlighting anything if you cannot see what has been highlighted. - While editing file information, leaving the app (not closing, leaving) erases all progress made. This is particularly frustrating when trying to fill in information needed for a citation. Forgot what year the article was published, so you went back to the database on safari to check? Too bad, when you come back the title, author, publisher, and everything else has been lost and needs to be entered again. - After a file has been made, you cannot add attachments. This would be useful for articles that come in two PDFs, text and examples.EDIT: The developers respond to comments and seem to genuinely want to improve the app. And with the number of bugs fixed recently, that is apparent. As bugs continued to be ironed out, this app will be indispensable.
Developer Response 01/31/2023
- The ink annotation tool is for free-hand writing and drawing on the PDF, which is why it’s opaque. There’s a separate highlight annotation tool for highlighting.- We can reproduce the bug with edited fields when switching away from the app — we’ll fix.- You can add standalone attachments to existing items by dragging the attachments on top of the items. If you only have a standalone attachment, you need to add a parent item first, which you can do by holding down on the attachment item.If you have further questions or bug reports, please post to the Zotero Forums, where we’re best able to help and can fix bugs more quickly.
About 90% as capable as the Windows / MacOS version
08/13/2024

ytr eewqasdfghjkllZxcvb
I use a 12.9” IPad Pro as my sole computer while working through another masters’s degree. As most know, it is as powerful as most laptops, but is occasionally restricted because some apps, like Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, and Zotero, are designed for phones an are thus more limited in capability. For Zotero, the initial challenge: none of the popular tutorials cover Zotero for IOS. Some of my learning curve was simply from my recent switch from lifelong Microsoft use to Apple across the board. However, once I poked around enough to figure out how it works, I’ve discovered Zotero for iOS will do everything EXCEPT directly connect to Word iOS for automatic citation entry. Still, inserting a footnote and copying the automatically-generated citation isn’t bad at all. Overall, I’m very happy with Zotero for iOS!
About 90% as capable as the Windows / MacOS version
08/13/2024

ytr eewqasdfghjkllZxcvb

I use a 12.9” IPad Pro as my sole computer while working through another masters’s degree. As most know, it is as powerful as most laptops, but is occasionally restricted because some apps, like Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, and Zotero, are designed for phones an are thus more limited in capability. For Zotero, the initial challenge: none of the popular tutorials cover Zotero for IOS. Some of my learning curve was simply from my recent switch from lifelong Microsoft use to Apple across the board. However, once I poked around enough to figure out how it works, I’ve discovered Zotero for iOS will do everything EXCEPT directly connect to Word iOS for automatic citation entry. Still, inserting a footnote and copying the automatically-generated citation isn’t bad at all. Overall, I’m very happy with Zotero for iOS!
A failure to make basic functionality work
11/12/2022

eejd
I am a scientist, a Zotero beta tester, and a past user of almost all the major reference manager systems. I am providing this one star review because, while I am a firm supporter of Zotero (and open source and open science/academia models), this app has failed to improve basic, core functionality during the entire time I have used it from pre-launch betas to the current version. Basic things like being able to reliably import a reference from a webpage works differently across iOS browsers, often failing completely. Downloading a PDF from a publishers site and uploading is often the last resort solution—but one that fails when you don’t have accesses to the PDF from your current network (i.e. when you have institutional access only via VPN or being on the institutional network). Further, basic problems that are reported to the developers, specific improvements that are technically easy to implement and feature requests simply do not get responded to or integrated. I will continue to use the app as I want to support the Zotero ecosystem (and pay for a plan). But I cannot understand how the most basic aspects of a researchers workflow continue to fail constantly or take forever…

Developer Response
We’ve responded to you in the forums — we’re not seeing any of the saving problems that you reported other than with ScienceDirect, which unfortunately uses extreme anti-bot measures that make it harder to support than any other site. We’ll see what we can do.As for the rest, the app has been under constant development since we launched it. We’ve added all of the most commonly requested features — Add by Identifier, barcode scanning, an eraser tool, a PDF outline view, zotero:// link support — and fixed countless bugs. If there are other things you’d like to see, you should let us know in the forums, but development takes time, and the idea that we haven’t been adding features in response to feedback is just false.
A failure to make basic functionality work
11/12/2022

eejd

I am a scientist, a Zotero beta tester, and a past user of almost all the major reference manager systems. I am providing this one star review because, while I am a firm supporter of Zotero (and open source and open science/academia models), this app has failed to improve basic, core functionality during the entire time I have used it from pre-launch betas to the current version. Basic things like being able to reliably import a reference from a webpage works differently across iOS browsers, often failing completely. Downloading a PDF from a publishers site and uploading is often the last resort solution—but one that fails when you don’t have accesses to the PDF from your current network (i.e. when you have institutional access only via VPN or being on the institutional network). Further, basic problems that are reported to the developers, specific improvements that are technically easy to implement and feature requests simply do not get responded to or integrated. I will continue to use the app as I want to support the Zotero ecosystem (and pay for a plan). But I cannot understand how the most basic aspects of a researchers workflow continue to fail constantly or take forever…
Developer Response 11/13/2022
We’ve responded to you in the forums — we’re not seeing any of the saving problems that you reported other than with ScienceDirect, which unfortunately uses extreme anti-bot measures that make it harder to support than any other site. We’ll see what we can do.As for the rest, the app has been under constant development since we launched it. We’ve added all of the most commonly requested features — Add by Identifier, barcode scanning, an eraser tool, a PDF outline view, zotero:// link support — and fixed countless bugs. If there are other things you’d like to see, you should let us know in the forums, but development takes time, and the idea that we haven’t been adding features in response to feedback is just false.
Lots of potential but a bit annoying
09/07/2023

frankl246&
I switched to a different reference manager for a year but came back to Zotero once I discovered it’s improvements. One of the key things was the mobile app. I use my iPad a lot and having Zotero on my iPad helps me read like a physical document. I like how I can use my apple pencil which is a huge deal for me. However, there’s no setting for palm rejection. I wear a ipad drawing glove but still the Zotero is so sensitive that sometimes when I am annotating on a document, it takes me back to a different page. This is especially annoying and frustrating when I am reading a page of a 300 page ebook. I also think it’ll be nice if I can erase my handwritten annotation when I view the document on my laptop. The pencil and erase function are not available on the desktop app. I’d say the lack of palm rejection setting could be a deal breaker for people who read their dox on the ipad app because they are just better with active (not passive) reading of jotting notes.
Lots of potential but a bit annoying
09/07/2023

frankl246&

I switched to a different reference manager for a year but came back to Zotero once I discovered it’s improvements. One of the key things was the mobile app. I use my iPad a lot and having Zotero on my iPad helps me read like a physical document. I like how I can use my apple pencil which is a huge deal for me. However, there’s no setting for palm rejection. I wear a ipad drawing glove but still the Zotero is so sensitive that sometimes when I am annotating on a document, it takes me back to a different page. This is especially annoying and frustrating when I am reading a page of a 300 page ebook. I also think it’ll be nice if I can erase my handwritten annotation when I view the document on my laptop. The pencil and erase function are not available on the desktop app. I’d say the lack of palm rejection setting could be a deal breaker for people who read their dox on the ipad app because they are just better with active (not passive) reading of jotting notes.

- View and annotate EPUBs and webpage snapshots - Automatically retrieve bibliographic details for standalone PDFs - Miscellaneous bug fixes

Version 2.0.0

6d ago

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- User Content
- Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- User Content
- Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Accessibility

Information

Seller
Size
Category
Compatibility
Languages
Age Rating
Copyright

Developer Website

Privacy Policy

You Might Also Like

EndNote

Productivity
LiquidText

Annotate & review documents
Obsidian - Connected Notes

Your second brain on the go
MarginNote 3

E-reader Redefine your Study
Forest: Focus for Productivity

Stay focused by Pomodoro timer
Logseq

Productivity
Xmind - Mind Map & Brainstorm

Mind Mapping, Organize Ideas
FocusPomo · Pomodoro Timer

Productivity｜for Work & Study
Bear - Markdown Notes

Write naturally
MarginNote 4: AI Notes·MindMap

PDF>Mind Maps>Flashcards + OCR

Zotero

Your research assistant

Ratings & Reviews

What’s New

Version 2.0.0

App Privacy

Data Linked to You

Data Not Linked to You

Accessibility

Information

You Might Also Like