Association for Biology Laboratory Education

Using Zotero Online Citation Manager for a Group Literature Review Assignment
 

Susanne Altermann

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2017, Volume 38

Abstract

Free online reference software Zotero can be used to help students build a skill set in scientific writing. Workshop participants learn how to use Zotero in such a way that students can keep track of many papers, share their annotations of the primary literature with other students, and benefit from other students’ tags and notes. This writing-intensive activity is not grading-intensive, it promotes sharing work with peers, and provides students valuable practice using citation software. This activity is appropriate for any instructor who wants to add a scaffolded writing assignment to a lab or lecture class or who wants to build on written work from past academic terms. The workshop will be especially valuable to faculty in programs requiring written senior theses.

Keywords:  writing, zotero, literature review, citation software, reference software

University of Houston (2016)