Zotero automatically detects journal articles, library records, news items, and other objects you might like to save to your Zotero library. Zotero uses so-called “translators” to detect and import data from websites. There are currently more than 600 different translators, facilitating data import from countless sites.

You can see the translator Zotero is using on a given page by hovering over the Zotero save button in your browser.

Zotero imports records from many library cataloging systems, providing seamless import from hundreds of academic and non-academic libraries. Supported library catalogue systems include: Aleph, Amicus, BiblioCommons, Dynix, Encore, Mango, InnoPAC, Primo, SirsiDynix, TLC/YouSeeMore, Voyager, and WorldCat.

Zotero imports data, and in many cases full-text PDFs, from the most popular electronic databases, including EBSCO, IEEEXplore, JSTOR, Google Scholar, ProQuest, PubMed, and many more. It also works with most major journal publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Project MUSE, ScienceDirect (Elsevier), SpringerLink, Taylor and Francis, and many more.

Zotero has dedicated translators for hundreds of websites, ranging from Amazon (in various countries), The New York Times, and The Economist, to Mainichi Daily News (Japan), Kommersant (Russia), Spiegel Online (Germany), and many more from around the world.

Zotero detects and imports metadata embedded by an increasing number of websites and databases in open formats such as COinS, Embedded RDF, Google/HighWire meta tags, and unAPI.

You can see a list of the 600+ Zotero translators, along with their code, at the Zotero Translator GitHub repository.

If Zotero fails to import high-quality data from a site that you think should be supported, first check whether you're experiencing a general problem by trying to save an article from the New York Times or a book from Amazon. If that doesn't work either, see Troubleshooting Translator Issues. You're having trouble with a specific site, report it in the Zotero Forums along with the exact URL you're trying.