You can use Zotero to add citations and a bibliography (or reference list) to documents in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and LibreOffice. To learn more, see the Zotero documentation page for Word Processor Plugins.
You may want to edit a document on multiple devices or share a document with a collaborator who will be adding their own citations. This works smoothly as long as everyone is consistently using Zotero on all devices. If a collaborator is not adding or changing citations, it doesn't matter whether they are using Zotero.
Here are some things we've noticed in testing (as of September 2025):
- If the document is moving from one word processor to another, you will need to follow these instructions to keep your citations connected to Zotero.
- If you are using Zotero to create and auto-update your bibliography/reference list, you should not manually add citations to your bibliography as well. These citations will disappear when Zotero updates your bibliography. Use Zotero for all of your citations within the same document.
- Multiple users can add citations from their Zotero accounts to the same paper.
- If you need to update or correct a citation, the best place to do it is in Zotero. However, you can change a citation by hand within your paper and Zotero will give you the option to keep those manual updates.
There is also a documentation page for Zotero Word Processor Plugin Troubleshooting.
If you discover other neat tricks, best practices, or issues to watch out for, please let us know! You can e-mail reference@upei.ca.