[Item] Reference Note—Enhance your research by creating reference chains

[Calorion]

Description

Function

I’ve often been frustrated, when looking at a reference, by not knowing where I originally found it, what chain of research led me to this item. Zotero has a built-in “Related” function—but it’s non-directional. You can’t tell why these items are related.

This template aims to solve that problem, by allowing you to form reference chains, where you can discover what research path led you to whatever document you’re viewing, and easily walk up and down the reference chain.

Features

• Custom bibliography citation as note title for ease of identification, especially when linked to other notes
  • Allows you to more easily identify the reference on mobile, where note links do not work
• Brief metadata section for more info about your item
• Sections designed for linking to related notes
• Create reference notes automatically with the “Auto-run Better Notes template when opening an item” script.

Instructions

Installation

1. Install this template.
2. Install the Reference Note citation style.
   1. Open the zip file downloaded by clicking the link above.
   2. Double-click “reference-note.csl” to install it in Zotero.
3. Ensure the Actions and Tags Zotero plugin is installed.
4. Install the “Auto-run Better Notes template when opening an item” script.

Use

1. After importing a new item, or at another time when you wish to create a reference link, open (double-click) the item in Zotero.
2. When you open it, a new Reference Note will be created within the item.
   1. The first time you do this, you’ll be asked to choose the template to use. Choose “Reference Note.”
   2. Some Zotero items don’t open in Zotero. For those, you’ll have to select the item, invoke the Note menu, choose “New Item Note from Template,” then select “Reference Note” and then “Use selected items in library.”
3. Select the new note. If the new item is referenced in an existing item:
   1. Ensure the referencing item has a reference note attached (Steps 1 & 2).
   2. Click the “Link creator” icon in the note pane.
   3. Go to the “Link to” pane.
   4. Scroll left, and find the item that references this one. Select its reference note (it will have the same name as the item).
   5. In the center pane, select “Referred from” and click OK.
   6. Click the “Link creator” icon again.
   7. Ensure the same note is selected as before, and go to the “Mention in” pane.
   8. Select “References,” and click OK.
   9. Add any additional information to either note. You can click back and forth between them using the links in the notes.
   10. If the items are merely related to each other rather than referenced, substitute “Related to” for “Referred from” and “References” above.
4. If the new note is not related to an existing item, make a note of where you found the item under Source Notes. This is not intended for general notes on the item, just for notes on provenance and references. Instead, use a separate note for general notes on the item.
5. (Optional) Create a Zotero relationship as well, using the “Related” section of the right pane. I’ve been doing this, but it may not be worthwhile, as it’s a mostly-inferior version of the above.
6. (Optional) Add “reference” and “referenced” tags as appropriate. I’ve been forgetting to do this, and I don’t know whether it’s worthwhile.

Screenshots

Mouse over links to see more details, and click on the link in the mouseover to go straight to the item!

Test on Zotero version

7.0.12-beta.1

Test on Better Notes version

2.2.3-beta-4

Template Type

Item

Template Share Code

# This template is specifically for importing/sharing, using better 
# notes 'import from clipboard': copy the content and
# goto Zotero menu bar, click Tools->New Template from Clipboard.  
# Do not copy-paste this to better notes template editor directly.
name: "[item]Reference Note"
zoteroVersion: "7.0.12-beta.1+31bbf2acf"
pluginVersion: "2.2.3-beta.4"
savedAt: "2025-01-09T04:57:21.443Z"
content: |-
  <!-- Based on [Paper Notes](https://github.com/windingwind/zotero-better-notes/discussions/1099) -->
  <!-- Title -->
  	<header>
  	<h1>
        <a href="zotero://select/items/1_${topItem.key}">
  	  ${Zotero.QuickCopy.getContentFromItems([topItem],'bibliography=1312348e-7e30-40e8-ae0a-20b3d3f030b6').html}
  	  </a>
      </h1>
  <p><i>Reference notes</i></p>
  </header>
    <!-- Meta Data -->
    <h2>Metadata</h2>
  <ul>
  <li><b>Item Type:</b>
      ${topItem.itemType}
  </li>
  <li><b>Date Added:</b>
      ${new Date().toLocaleString()}
      </li>
  <li>    ${(() => {
              const doi = topItem.getField("DOI");
              if (doi) {
                return `<b>DOI: </b> <a href="https://doi.org/${topItem.getField('DOI')}">${topItem.getField('DOI')}</a>`;
              } else {
                return `<b>URL: </b><a href="${topItem.getField('url')}">${topItem.getField('url')}</a>`;
              }
            })()}
   </li>
    <li><b>Attachments: </b>
      ${(() => {
              const attachments = Zotero.Items.get(topItem.getAttachments());
              const pdf = attachments.filter((i) => i.isPDFAttachment());
              if (pdf && pdf.length > 0) {
                return `<a href="zotero://open-pdf/library/items/${pdf[0].key}">${pdf[0].getFilename()}</a>`;
              } else if (attachments && attachments.length > 0) {
                return `<a href="zotero://open-pdf/library/items/${attachments[0].key}">${attachments[0].getFilename()}</a>`;
              } else {
                return ``;
              }
            })()}
  	</li>
  	</ul>	
  <h2>↑Referred from</h2>
  <h2>↓References</h2>
  <h2>↔︎Related to</h2>
  <h2>Source notes</h2><br />

Anything else

Helpful tip: When you mouseover a reference, you can click on the link in the mouseover popup to go straight to the item!

I’m updating the template and (especially) style regularly, so make sure to subscribe to this discussion to be notified of future changes.

Caveats

• The “Date Added” is the date the note was created, not the item. If anyone knows how to programmatically get the Date Added of the item, let me know.
• The sequence of actions in Step 3 is pretty cumbersome. It would be great to automate it. If you can figure out how to do so (presumably with Actions and Tags), leave a comment!
• “References” is a bit unclear—at least less clear than “Referred from.” Let me know if you have a suggestion for improvement.
• Better Notes has a 120-character limit on link titles, so some text may be cut off for longer entries.