ZoteroBib is free and stand-alone. It helps you build a reference list from any computer or device (and yes, it does work on a mobile phone), without having to create an account or install any software. It’s best to start ZoteroBib on a desktop or laptop and then create and copy a permalink which you can paste into your phone’s browser. If you need to reuse sources across multiple projects or build a shared research library, we recommend using Zotero instead.
Step 1: Set Up the Work Space
- Grab a URL, an ISBN, or a DOI and paste it into the search box and hit CITE. We found that ISBN’s and DOI’s work best, URLs were hit or miss.
- There is always the option of tweaking what ZoteroBib returns via Manual Entry.
- Make sure you select American Psychological Association 7th edition
- Now, watch how ZoteroBib organizes your reference list and sorts according to alphabetical order! We did not have to do much reformatting; ZoteroBib seemed to know what had to be italicized, and what should be sentence case.
Step 2: Let ZoteroBib Do the Work
There are three small icons on the right of each entry: speech marks, two pieces of paper, and an X.
Step 3: Copy & Paste
The speech marks allow you to create a perfect APA7 in-text citation, i.e., something you can insert into an assignment! In the example above I am citing page 7 of an article by Arksey and O’Malley. If I have already used the authors’ names and just want to use the year and page number I can check the Omit Author checkbox. Now, all I need to do is copy and paste.
- Copy individual items by clicking the two pieces of paper.
- Copy the entire reference list by click Copy to Clipboard.
- Or keep working on it at a later date by making a permalink through the Create button
This is the permalink to the reference list I am working on https://zbib.org/bba24d30fd2d4f23b890d9944cab855c
Conclusion
Finding the perfect citation tool is like searching for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We think ZoteroBib is a very easy tool to use for creating a reference list on the fly or for an IMP. We did have to manually edit some items as ZoteroBib was keen on including a retrieval date. One piece of advice is that whatever you do make a copy as you go, and keep it in a safe place (creating a Zotero account is a very good idea). Finally, we’re sorry but you still need to know APA7.