A research desk for Zotero in Obsidian.

Browse your Zotero library in Obsidian, read your papers beside your notes, cite sources as you draft, and compare collections in live tables.

Start the tutorialInstall ZotLit

Obsidian 1.15.1 or later · Zotero 9 or 10 · Windows, macOS and Linux

From Zotero to finished chapter.

Five steps you already take, now in one place beside your notes.

  1. The Zotero library in an Obsidian tab with collections on the left, papers in the middle, and paper details on the right.

    Find a paper.

    Browse your collections, filter for unread papers, and see any paper at a glance.

    • Your whole library. Every Zotero collection and group library is in an Obsidian tab.
    • Zotero can stay closed. ZotLit reads your library on your computer, so Zotero does not need to run.
    Open the Zotero connection lesson
  2. A Zotero PDF open in Obsidian, showing coloured highlights and a list of highlights and comments beside it.

    Read and highlight.

    Read your Zotero PDFs in Obsidian beside your notes.

    • Original colours. Your Zotero highlights appear in the colours you gave them.
    • Everything in one list. All of a paper's highlights and comments are listed beside the PDF.
    Open the PDF annotation lesson
  3. A literature note created in Obsidian, showing the paper's details and highlights.

    Write the literature note.

    Pick a paper and ZotLit writes its literature note.

    • Ready to think with. The note opens with the paper's details and your highlights.
    • Your own layout. Design the note layout that fits your research and your field.
    Open the literature note lesson
  4. Typing [@ in an Obsidian draft to pick a paper, showing the formatted citation in APA style.

    Cite as you draft.

    Type [@ to pick a paper from your library as you write.

    • In your style. Citations appear formatted in APA or any style installed in Zotero.
    • Check a source in place. Hover a citation to see the full reference and open the paper beside your draft.

    Citing as you write needs the free Better BibTeX add-on for Zotero.

    Open the citation lesson
  5. A chapter exported to Word, displaying formatted in-text citations and a generated reference list.

    Export your chapter to Word.

    In-text citations and your bibliography match your journal's style.

    • A correct reference list. Every paper you cited appears in the reference list at the end.
    • The journal's style. Select Word and your journal's citation style when you export.
    Open the Word export lesson

Compare your papers side by side.

Turn any Zotero collection into a live table with year, journal, authors, and your own ratings.

Open the literature table lesson
In the Zotero library tab in Obsidian, the Reproducibility collection is saved as a table. Columns show literature note, year, publication, and creators from Zotero, sorted by year from 2005 to 2017. Ratings show 5 for Ioannidis and 5 for Sandve. Wilson and Munafò have no literature note yet, so their rating reads "No note" and their note column offers Create.
  • What Zotero knows. Year, journal, and authors stay up to date each time you open the table.
  • What you decided. Show your rating or any other field of the literature note.
  • What you have not read yet. Papers without a note keep their row, so you can select Create whenever you are ready.

  • Private, on your computer.

    ZotLit reads your Zotero library on your own computer. It needs no account and no cloud service.

  • Free and open source.

    Published under the AGPL-3.0 license, free to use and inspect.

  • Works with Zotero 9 and 10.

    Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with Obsidian 1.15.1 or later.

Start your next chapter with ZotLit.

Start the tutorialInstall ZotLit

Already using another Zotero plugin? Compare ZotLit with Zotero Integration and Citations, or see what to check when Zotero Integration stops working.