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Notero Setup Guide

Automatic one-way sync from Zotero to your Notion Research Papers database.

Notero is a Zotero plugin that automatically syncs your Zotero library items to a Notion database. It's the recommended way to keep your citation manager and research workspace in sync.

What Notero Syncs

Notero maps 25+ Zotero fields to Notion properties:

Zotero Field Notion Property Notes
Title Title Paper title
Authors Authors Formatted author names
DOI DOI As URL
Abstract Abstract Full text (in page body)
Publication Journal Journal/venue name
Date Publication Date, Year Publication date and year
Item Type Item Type journal-article, preprint, etc.
Citation Key Citation Key Better BibTeX key
Tags Topics / Domain Tags Zotero tags map to Notion multi-select
Attachments PDF URL Link to stored PDF

Prerequisites

  • Zotero Desktop (version 6 or 7)
  • Better BibTeX plugin (recommended for citation keys)
  • Notion account with the Research Papers database

Step 1: Install Notero

  1. Download the latest .xpi file from Notero releases
  2. In Zotero: Tools -> Add-ons -> Install Add-on From File -> select the .xpi
  3. Restart Zotero

Step 2: Connect to Notion

  1. In Zotero: Edit -> Preferences -> Notero (or Tools -> Notero Preferences)
  2. Click "Connect to Notion" — this opens a Notion OAuth flow
  3. Grant access to your workspace
  4. Select your Research Papers database as the sync target

Step 3: Map Properties

Notero auto-maps most fields. Verify these key mappings:

Notero Setting Notion Property
Title property Title
URL property DOI
Date property Publication Date

For custom properties (Evidence Level, Domain Tags, Read Progress), you'll need to update these manually in Notion or via Claude.

Step 4: Configure Sync

  • Sync trigger: Choose between "on modify" (sync when you edit an item) or "manual" (sync on demand)
  • Collection filter: Optionally limit sync to specific Zotero collections
  • Tag mapping: Zotero tags become Notion multi-select options

Step 5: Test

  1. Add or modify a paper in Zotero
  2. Check your Notion Research Papers database — the item should appear within seconds
  3. Verify that Title, Authors, DOI, Journal, Year, and Citation Key are populated

Integration with the Research Workspace

Notero handles the Zotero -> Notion direction. For the reverse (discovering papers in Claude -> adding to Zotero), you can:

  1. Use the Cowork /research skill to discover papers and add to Notion
  2. Manually add papers to Zotero (Notero doesn't sync Notion -> Zotero)
  3. Papers added via both paths are deduplicated by DOI or title match

Workflow

Zotero                           Notion
  |                                |
  |--- Notero (automatic) ------->|  Research Papers DB
  |                                |    |
  |  (read & annotate in Zotero)   |    |-- Reading Lists DB
  |                                |    |-- Essay Projects DB
  |                                |    |-- Research Findings DB
  |                                |
  |<-- Manual add (DOI/search) ----|  (from Claude or Web Clipper)

Troubleshooting

  • Sync not working: Check Notero preferences -> ensure "Sync enabled" is checked
  • Missing properties: Verify property mapping in Notero settings
  • Duplicates: Notero uses Notion page ID for dedup. If you delete a page in Notion, re-syncing the same Zotero item creates a new page
  • Rate limits: Notion API has rate limits. Large initial syncs (100+ items) may take a few minutes.