Item: Zotero
Rating: 10
Author: Joshua Welsh

Overall Satisfaction with Zotero

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Zotero myself as a citation management system. The problem it solves is to keep track of vast numbers of academic sources. Instead of the old-fashioned way of printing out articles, putting them in a file cabinet, and never reading them again, with Zotero, I can easily find sources that I've read and marked up, and figure out how to use them in whatever I am currently working on.

Pros and Cons

Pros

PDF Management
Library organization
Automatic import of Books

Cons

Libre office integration was iffy
Using different word processors (i.e, Word, then Google Docs on the same file) can "break" embedded citations.

Most Important Features

Source Managemnet
In-text Citation Creation
Bibliography Creation

Return on Investment

Much easier to integrate sources into scholarly writing
Much easier to keep track of source library
Much easier to switch citation styles when necessary

Alternatives Considered

For a brief time I tried Mendalay, since at the time Zotero didn't have a Google Docs plug in. Mendalay is not as intuitive as Zotero and if I recall correctly, was more expensive. Zotero works very well, and ultimately I found myself back in Zotero because it's easier to use and does a great job of managing my library of academic articles.

Key Insights

Do you think Zotero delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Zotero's feature set?

Yes

Did Zotero live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Zotero go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Zotero again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), OBS Studio, Zoom

Likelihood to Recommend

Zotero is great for managing a large number of academic sources and easily using them in an article or other scholarly work. When the Word Processor plug-in is enabled, adding a citation is just a keystroke away. Even better Zotero automatically generates Works Cited pages. And if you need to switch citation styles, Zotero can do most of the work with just a few clicks of the mouse.

It's less good at collecting day-to-day recourses such as websites you want to visit later. It's really aimed at producing academic writing, and it does that amazingly well.

Comments

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Zotero--great citation management for academic writers