Library Help

Zotero is capable of generating bibliographies in long documents, such as dissertations, theses, book or report but certain steps should be followed to ensure the process runs smoothly and efficiently.

Step 1: Preparation

1. When working on a lengthy document, it is advisable to manage each chapter as a separate MSWord document.
2. Before you save the chapter, make sure any previously modified changes to the citations have been accepted. To begin this process, click on the ‘Refresh’ option from the Zotero Tab in Word. Zotero will then prompt you to review previously modified citations and ask that you confirm whether the change should be preserved.
3. Once every chapter in the thesis/book/report is finalised, save the changes and make a backup copy. This is in case any of the files get corrupted in the process.
4. Then open a new document and begin to merge the chapters into a single file by selecting the ‘Insert, File’option in MSWord until all the files are added to this master document. You will need to create a section break after each chapter (using ‘Layout/NextPage’ in MSWord). 

Step 2: Generating the Bibliography

1. To generate the bibliography, go to the end of the new document with the complete text, and add a section break to begin a new page. Add the title, Bibliography/References.
2. Then, from the Zotero tab in Word, select ‘Add/Edit Bibliography’. Zotero will automatically scan the entire document and compile a bibliography based on all inserted citations. 
3. This process may take time depending on the number of references and the performance of your computer. 
4. In a test case carried out on a thesis of 400 pages with over 1,600 citations, it took Zotero approximately 15 minutes to create the list of references. If your computer is old and your operating system has not been updated, this will slow down the process. Some users have found it can take from 2-6 hours; others left their computers running overnight. 
5. If the computer crashes, you may need to seek help from UCL ISD. If you get a Zotero error message, either start the process again or contact the software developers on the Zotero Forum.

Step 3: Finalising the version

1. Once you have checked the document, including the consistency of the references, you can then add your Appendices to the document and generate a 'Table of Contents' (under ‘References/Table of Contents’ in MSWord).
2. It is recommended that you do not ‘Unlink Citations’ otherwise you will make the references uneditable through Zotero.
3. Now save and backup this file.