How do I import a bibliography into Zotero from a plain text file?

Answer

You can use a tool called AnyStyle.

  1. Go to AnyStyle.
  2. Copy the citations from your plain text file and paste them into the field labeled "Paste your references here…"
  3. Make sure to remove line breaks within individual citations (if there are any).
  4. Click on "Parse [#] References."
  5. The parser will split each citation according to author, title, journal, issue, page numbers, etc.
  6. If any part of the information has not been parsed correctly, you can click on the part and select "Assign label."
  7. From here you will be able to select the appropriate label.
    • For example, if part of a journal title is listed as a volume or issue, choose "Journal" from the "Assign label" option and that part of the journal title will shift to the "Journal" field.
  8. Once you are satisfied that the parser has parsed your citations correctly, scroll down to save your references by clicking on BibTeX or CiteProc/JSON. Currently, Zotero does not support XML file imports.
  9. You should be prompted to save the file to your computer. 
  10. Once you’ve saved the file, open Zotero and go to File > Import, select your file, and Zotero will create a new collection (based on the filename) and begin importing your references.
    • When you import the file, always check that the volume and number fields are entered correctly. 
  • Last Updated Mar 27, 2023
  • Views 4245
  • Answered By Indira

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