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Zotero

Import Libraries from Other Citation Managers into Zotero

Importing from Other Tools*

You might want to migrate to Zotero but already have an extensive library stored in other reference management software (e.g., Endnote, Reference Manager, Citavi, RefWorks, Mendeley, Papers). To import such libraries into Zotero, start by exporting the bibliographic data from your other software program. Then, in Zotero, choose the “Import…” option from the File menu. Browse to your exported file, select it, and click the “Open” button. This should import the exported items into your Zotero library in a date-stamped collection.

For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Mendeley to Zotero, see Importing Records From Mendeley.

For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Endnote to Zotero, see Importing Records From EndNote.

For detailed instructions on how to make the switch from Citavi to Zotero, see Importing Records From Citavi.

Importing from other tools follows similar steps, so long as they can export a standardized format.

Zotero can import, among others, the following bibliographic file formats:

  • Zotero RDF

  • CSL JSON

  • MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema)

  • BibTeX

  • RIS

  • Refer/BibIX

  • Unqualified Dublin Core RDF

  • Endnote XML

  • XML ContextObject

  • Web of Science Tagged

  • MEDLINE/nbib

Note that import/export is generally not recommended for transferring entire Zotero libraries between different computers or Zotero installations. Import/export usually does not give you an exact copy of your Zotero library, and, if you use Zotero's word processor plugins, any links to Zotero items from existing word processor documents will be lost after recreating a Zotero library via export/import. Instead, you can use Zotero's sync features or manually copy the Zotero data directory. See Transferring a Library for detailed instructions.

Bibliographic data stored directly in Word documents using Word's bibliography feature cannot be directly imported by Zotero or other reference management tools. However, it is possible to import Word bibliographies by first formatting them as BibTeX, then using Zotero to import the BibTeX data. See Citations inserted using Microsoft Word's built-in citation feature.

If you have Word documents with embedded Zotero or Mendeley citations, you can extract these and import them into your Zotero library using the Reference Extractor tool.

*The information on this page comes directly from https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero.