using Zotero to manage citations for bibtex

Installing & configuring zotero + betterbibtex + zotfile

You can use Zotero to manage citations, including export of bibtex files. For this to work well, I recommend using both Zotero and the Better Bibtex extension.

Zotero Connector lets you download citations (and pdfs!) automatically from your browser with a click. It works well with google scholar for automatically adding citations to your Zotero library. But be careful about using it's automated mass-download feature, as it can get you temporarily blocked from google scholar for using automated requests.

You can also use Zotero to keep track of associated pdfs. For this, I strongly recommend the Zotfile extension for Zotero.

• install zotero desktop app and browser connector
• install better bibtex extension for zotero
• install zotfile pdf management extension for zotero

You can also read more in this guide (which I shamelessly copied from):
https://richardzach.org/2019/02/09/bibtex-friendly-pdf-management-with-zotero/

Configure zotero+betterbibtex

Additionally, I strongly recommend for better bibtex

In Zotero select
preferences -> better bibtex -> export
    bibtex
        Export unicode as plain-text latex commands: make sure checked as yes

And, if you want to use the same bibtex key format as I do, use

In Zotero select
preferences -> better bibtex -> citation keys
    citation key format:  [authors10:abbr][shortyear]
    force citation key to plain text: check yes

Configure zotero+zotfile

NOTE: this is NOT in the usual "preferences".

To save pdfs locally, use:

In Zotero select
tools -> zotfile preferences -> general settings
    Source folder for attaching new files: /Users/yourusername/Dropbox/papers 
    Location of files: custom location: /Users/yourusername/Dropbox/papers 

In order to use the bibtex key as file name, use:

In Zotero select
tools -> zotfile preferences -> general settings
    renaming format: format for all items except patents: {%b}

Tip: this works great in combination with spotlight search on mac (cmd+space), just type in the key and press enter to quickly open the pdf.

using it!

You probably just want to export your whole library to a .bib file.

In Zotero select
file -> export library 
    Select Better Bibtex as the format from the dropdown menu 

NOTE:
I recommend that you add the following package to latex documents that use this setup, as I've sometimes had the bibliography include \mathscr{l}, which with pdflatex requires the mathrsfs package.
Alternatively, you can switch to luatex, but this is not arxiv-compatible, AFAIK.

\usepackage{mathrsfs}