Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
May 4, 2024 16 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Zotero is the best citation management tool for academic writing.

And it's new version — Zotero 7 — is now available for use.

Here's how to automate your citations and references with Zotero 7.

You can learn this workflow in 15 min:
Go to this link below and download the version compatible with your computer.

Link: zotero(dot)org/support/beta_builds (replace the word "dot" with ".")

Install the app on your computer.

If you already use Zotero 6, it will get updated with Zotero 7 without any loss of data. A screenshot of the webpage Zotero Beta Builds. A yellow arrow points to different versions of Zotero 7 beta.
Open your Zotero desktop app after you have installed it.

This is how your Zotero 7 interface would look like. Your collections from Zotero 6 will remain unaffected.

If you are using Zotero for the first time, you won't see any items in your library. A screenshot of Mushtaq's Zotero library.
If you are starting out on Zotero, you would also need a Zotero account.

Go to zotero(dot)org. Click on "Log In" and then "Register for a free account." A yellow arrow points to "Register for a free account" in Zotero.
A Zotero account gives you an online backup of your library.

As you can see here, my whole Zotero library is available online.

If you change your computer, all you need to do is install Zotero, log in to your account, and your whole Zotero library will be available. A screenshot of Mushtaq's online Zotero library.
If you are a new Zotero user, you will also need to install a Zotero Connector for your browser.

Go to Chrome Web Store and look for Zotero Connector.

Add it to your browser and then pin it by.
Open your Zotero desktop app. Cclick on "File" and then select "New Collection."

Choose a name for your collection and click on "Create Collection."

You will now have a new collection with no items in it yet.
Go to Google Scholar and run a search using keywords related to your project.

You will get a list of papers/books.

Click on the Zotero Connector in the top-right corner. Zotero will open an Item Selector.

Select the items you find relevant and click on "OK."

Zotero will start saving them to your library. Select the collection you just created so Zotero saves these items there. This will help you keep things organized.
You can also do this with other academic databases like PubMed or JSTOR.

Run a search, open Zotero Item Selector, select relevant papers, and add them to your Zotero collection.
After you are done adding items, go to your Zotero desktop app and you will all the items in the relevant collection.

Zotero will also retrieve open-access PDFs of papers and add them to your collection.

For paywalled papers, you can use your university's llibrary.

To read a paper, simply double-click on it and Zotero will open it for you.

Now you can read the paper and highlight important parts of it.
Finding research gaps and crafting novel research questions takes a lot of time and labor.

Research Kick is an AI app that will help you craft compelling research questions and find research gaps — in minutes.

660+ academics are using it.

Tutorial 👇
You can also add items using their DOIs, ISBNs, and PMIDs.

Click on the magic wand-like button in the top bar and enter an item's DOI, ISBN, or PMID.

Zotero will add it to your collection.
To add a citation to your paper, place the cursor where you want to insert the citation.

Click on the Zotero tab and select "Add/Edit Citation."

Zotero will open a red search bar for you. Type in the name of the author you want to cite and any additional details like a page number.

Press Enter/Return and Zotero will add the citation.

Add all citations in this manner.
To add bibliography to your paper, place the cursor where you want to add it.

Then click on "Add/Edit Bibliography." Zotero may ask you to select a citation style. If it does, select the style relevant to your field.

And Zotero will add the properly formatted bibliography.
Zotero 7 also has dark mode.

To switch to dark mode, click on "Edit" and then "Settings."

In the "General" tab, select "Dark."
Found this thread on Zotero 7 helpful?

1. Scroll to the top and repost the first tweet to share it with your friends.

2. Follow me for more threads on Zotero and AI apps for academic writing.

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More from @MushtaqBilalPhD

Jan 5
How to build an academic writing habit (to write a lot and publish a lot):
In his book "Atomic Habits," James Clear writes about habits that are so small we don’t even notice them, but the power they have over us is immense.

He calls them atomic habits.

Although they are small, building atomic habits is VERY DIFFICULT.

Why? A photo of James Clear's book "Atomic Habits."
Clear calls the time between the point we start a habit to the point we start seeing its first results "the plateau of latent potential."

Most people remain stuck within this plateau.

To see the results of any habit, we must cross the plateau of latent potential. A photo of "The Plateau of Latent Potential" from James Clear's book "Atomic Habits."
Read 21 tweets
Dec 25, 2025
Don't use Sci-Hub — it's a "controversial" website with 84M+ research papers freely available.

We should all try to make billion-dollar academic publishers richer.

Anyway, here's a thread on how to integrate Sci-Hub with Zotero to get free papers.

🚨DO NOT DO IT!
1. Don't go to this link:
github(dot)com/syt2/zotero-scipdf

But if you do, replace the word "dot" with an actual [.]

Don't scroll down and click on "latest release xpi file."

This will download an "xpi" file to your computer.
2. Don't open your Zotero. But if you do, click on "Tools."

In "Tools," click on "Plugins." This will open Zotero's Plugin Manager.

In the Plugin Manager, click on the gear-like icon and select "Install Plugin From File."

Navigate to the XPI file you downloaded and add it.
Read 6 tweets
Dec 24, 2025
10 books to help you become a better academic writer so you can write a lot and publish a lot:

1. Academic Writing as if the Reader Matters by Leonard Cassuto

Practical tips on how to make your academic writing more engaging and readable. Examples from the arts and sciences. Academic Writing as if the Reader Matters by Leonard Cassuto
2. The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel

Helpful advice on how to organize your writing process in terms of time.

A-Time: for writing new material (deep work)
B-Time: for shallow work like compiling bibliography, etc.
C-Time: for house chores The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel
3. Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker

Excellent tips on how and why you should write zero drafts.

Teaches you how to understand different stages of the writing process from ideation to drafting to revision. Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker
Read 11 tweets
Dec 15, 2025
Dr Ally Louks's viral PhD thesis (130M views) on the politics of smell redefined the way people talk about smell.

Everyone wants to read her thesis, but it's unavailable until 2028

Here are 10 books on the politics of smell that you can read right now:

1. The Smell of Slavery A photo of Dr Ally Louks with her PhD thesis titled, "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Literature."
The Smell of Slavery: Olfactory Racism and the Atlantic World by Andrew Kettler
1. The Smell of Slavery by Andrew Kettler

Shows how white slave owners defined Black, African bodies as noxious and deserving of enslavement.

Smell was used to dehumanize Black folks who were equated with animals by white slave owners. The Smell of Slavery: Olfactory Racism and the Atlantic World by Andew Kettler
2. The Foul and the Fragrant by Alain Corbin

Considered a foundational text in smell studies.

Shows how the bourgeois nose associated bad smells with the poor and how deodorization became a tool for state control in 18th and 19th century France. The Foul and the Fragrant by Alain Corbin
Read 11 tweets
Dec 2, 2025
Getting past peer review is a challenge every researcher faces.

Stanford researchers recently launched a free AI-powered Agentic Review that can help you with it.

It gives you a human-level mock peer review so you can polish your paper before submitting it.

Check it out 👇
1. Go to paperreview[.]ai and upload your manuscript.

Enter your email and specify your target venue (conference or journal).

You may also want to copy the "Review Token" in case you don't receive an email.
2. A few minutes later you will receive an email with a link to the review report.

Go through the review report and revise your paper according to the suggestions you think are most relevant.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 6, 2025
Libgen, Sci-Hub, and Z-library had millions of pirated academic books and papers.

So, they were shut down. We shouldn't use them anyway.

We should help billion-dollar academic publishers get richer.

Anyway, here's how to access these libraries:

Don't do this!
1. Don't go to open-slum[.]org.

Because there you will see links to LibGen, Anna's Archive, Z-Library, and Sci-Hub.
2. Don't click any link because that will open your desired library.

Don't type the title of a book you want to read because it might show up.

Look at this, someone has pirated my own book. I'm livid!
Read 5 tweets

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