How to manage books, journals and conference papers through Zotero?

Zotero efficiently manages academic books, journal articles, and conference papers by centralizing their bibliographic metadata and associated files. This free, open-source software can automatically import reference details and organize full-text PDFs, streamlining citation and reference list creation. Effective management requires accurate metadata capture, primarily achieved using unique identifiers (ISBN, DOI, PubMed ID) entered manually or via Zotero's browser connector. Manual entry supplements items lacking identifiers. Full-text PDFs can be attached to items for centralized access. Organizational structure is implemented through Collections (folders) and tags. Crucially, users must verify automatically retrieved metadata for accuracy and maintain consistent file attachment practices. Zotero's scope covers standard reference types and associated files like supplementary materials. Begin by adding items using their identifiers via the "Add Item by Identifier" function or capturing them directly from library websites using the Zotero Connector browser extension. Manually input details if necessary. Attach relevant full-text PDFs or supplementary files to each reference item. Organize items logically using Collections for projects or themes and apply descriptive tags for flexible retrieval. Leverage Zotero's word processor plugins to seamlessly insert citations and automatically generate bibliographies in required styles, significantly enhancing research writing efficiency.