Streamlining Your Research Process
How to Connect Notion with Zotero
A Simple Guide to Using the Notero Add-on
Updated on 8 August 2024 to reflect recent changes with Zotero 7 release.
As a scientist, the Notion App has become one of my favorite methods for keeping organized and staying on-track with my research. It is like having a “second brain” — keeping all my thoughts and ideas accessible without having to sacrifice extra brainpower to remember them.
I use it every single day.
The only other software I use every day is my reference manager, Zotero (to keep track of all the papers I read). Naturally, I thought it would be powerful to integrate Zotero with Notion so I could access (and refer to) to my references from within Notion. Well, it turns out that I can do this using a plugin called Notero.
I’ve created the following guide to provide you with instructions (updated for August 2024) on how to set up Notero yourself. We will go step-by-step with plenty of screenshots.
As helpful bonus: Webpage screenshots are hyperlinked to the webpage; clicking on them will take you to that webpage!
This guide will help you setup Notero in less than 30 minutes!
Step 1: Download Desktop Notion App
If you use the desktop Notion app, skip to Step 2. Otherwise, download it from here. Install the app by opening the downloaded file. Once installed, you must create a (free) Notion account and then log into the app.
You can get an upgraded account if you register with an .edu email (I recommended this for all academics). You’ll also be able to upload an unlimited number of photos/documents to your Notion workspace.
Step 2: Download Desktop Zotero App
If you have the desktop Zotero 7 app already, skip to Step 3.
Otherwise, download it from here.
Once you install Zotero, create an account with Zotero here.
Now that you have installed Zotero and created an account, open Zotero on your desktop and select the “Edit” tab from the top toolbar menu. A drop-down menu will open and you should select “Settings” from the bottom. This will open a new window where you should click the “Sync” tab from the side bar. Enter your username and password to connect your Zotero account to the desktop app (see screenshot below).
At this point, I recommend that you also create a New Collection in Zotero that will hold your papers (I named mine “Literature_Notion”, but you can chose any name you want).
Step 3: Create a Notion Integration
Now you will create your “Notero” integration. This will help make a connection between Notion and Zotero later.
To get started, go to My Integrations. You should see something similar to the following screenshot. (Note: You may need to log into Notion first)
Unless you created a Notion integration previously, this page should be empty. Click + New Integration to start making an integration.
You can name your integration anything, but I suggest calling it “Notero” for simplicity.
Next, select the associated workspace you want to link to (there should be only one option for most users).
The type should be listed as “internal”. This just make it non-public.
You can optionally add a Logo.
Once you save the integration, click on the integration. The page that opens (see next screenshot) will have information about your integration and a corresponding internal integration token. Click “show”, copy the token, and paste it somewhere for later use (e.g. in a notepad file).
Step 4: Create Notion Database (for Zotero Syncing)
Now you will create a Notion database (Zotero will sync to this database and load references/papers here). The simplest option is to use an existing database template.
A popular option is Maya Gosztyla’s template. This was the template I first used to get started with Notero. Alternatively, you are welcome to use my personal template which is a derivation the Notero creator’s template.
When you follow the link to a template, click the icon in the upper right-hand corner that looks like two overlapping squares. This will duplicate the template to your Notion workspace where you can freely edit the template as your own.
Step 5: Connect the Notion Database to Notero
Now, you will connect your new database with the Notero integration you made in Step 3.
Open you Notero database page in your workspace and click on the ••• More menu in the top-right corner of the page. Click Connect to from the drop-down menu. Search for and select your Notero integration in the search bar the pops up. Once you select Notero, you will be asked if you wish to give access to the database. Select Confirm and Notero will be connected to your database!
Step 6: Download & Install the Notero Plugin
Now you will need to add the Notero Plugin to Zotero. To do this, download the latest version of the Notero Plugin (.xpi file).
Note for Firefox users: You’ll need to right-click the
.xpifile link and choose Save Link As... in order to properly download the file.
In your Zotero App:
Open the Plugins Manager via the Tools → Plugins menu and install the .xpi file by clicking on the gear menu in the top-right corner of the window and selecting “Install Plugin From File…”
A file window will open. Find the .xpi file (probably in your “Downloads” folder) and open it to install the plugin. Once installed, you should see Notero enabled in Zotero’s Plugins Manager (see screenshot below). You can close the Plugins Manger window now.
Next, open Tools → Notero Preferences…
In this new window you need to input the Integration Token you saved from Step 3 (starts with “secret_X…”)
Then, select your Notion database from the Database selection box.
Under the “Sync Preferences” section, double click on any Zotero collections that you want to connect to your Notion database. A green check-mark will appear when the sync is enabled (See screenshot below).
At this point, you have done everything you need to connect Zotero to Notion via Notero. Congrats!
Step 7: Adding a Reference
Now, I recommend that you check that Notero is functioning properly. To do this, open Zotero and add a reference into the collection(s) that you selected for Notion integration from Step 6 (in my case that is the “Literature_Notion” collection).
I highly recommend using the Zotero web connector app (Download here). It allows you to add papers directly from your web browser into Zotero.
After adding a paper to Zotero, the reference should automatically be added to your Notion database (see screenshot below).
In my template, the status of the newly added references defaults to “Unread”. Notion is super modular though, so you can change this to your liking in your own database.
That’s It!
Congrats! You are ready to go now! Everything is connected and running smoothly. I hope this will help ease (some of) your research frustrations and put you towards a path of productivity.
Questions/comments about the process are welcome. I will do my best to response as quickly as I can!
