Sure.
It starts with me searching for journal articles using Google Scholar or my DEVONagent search sets. When I find an article I want, I clip it to Zotero using that browser plug-in. Now I have the PDF and all the metadata needed to cite the article in a manuscript:
In the background, two things happen:
- Hazel recognizes that a new PDF was added to Zotero and runs Zowie on it to add the Zotero link to the PDF.
- My Zotero database is indexed in DEVONthink, so the PDF shows up over there in my smart group to read.
I then read and annotate the article in DEVONthink. Those markups show up for me whether I am in DT or Zotero, since it’s the same file. I can create collections of references in Zotero, or use DT’s AI and search features to find connections between articles.
When I am ready to write, I used LibreOffice with Zotero’s citation tools installed (I can do the same in Word, but prefer LO):
Screen Shot 2022-01-02 at 10.13.21 AM
I can write something, quickly add the citation which is automatically formatted and added to the works cited page:
As I edit and rewrite, Zotero manages the citations, making sure that everything is formatted correctly and if I add or remove an in-text citation the works cited is automatically updated. And if I need to submit to a journal that requires a different style, Modern Humanities Research Association, for example, it’s three clicks:
I get to use each app for what it’s best at, but all using the same PDF.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh, and I can be at work on a Windows machine, find an article I need, clip it to Zotero there and it syncs to my Mac at home and all this just happens…