Turn Zotero annotations into a cited literature note

Your reading history includes your own questions and disagreements. Zoteus can index child notes and PDF annotations under their parent items. These are included by default when the index is built; check coverage first.

Find your own words

Search my selected Zotero library for my notes and annotations about "[topic]". Separate my comments from highlighted author text. Include the parent paper and item key for each hit. Show any missing annotation coverage.

Check the original passage

For each relevant objection or decision, retrieve the surrounding passage from the original paper. Include its quotation and page locator. Keep my interpretation separate from the author's claim. Label anything supported only by an abstract or note.

Use the first-passage checklist to verify the results. A highlight proves what you selected, not that your later interpretation is correct.

Draft a cited note

Draft a literature note with the research question, what these sources say, where I agree or disagree, and unresolved questions. Attach a quotation and locator to factual claims. End with formatted references. Show the draft and intended Zotero parent item or collection before saving anything.

Expected structure, not a generated research finding:

• Research question
• Author's claim, source quotation and locator
• My comment or objection, clearly attributed to me
• Synthesis, with evidence gaps and uncertainty
• References from the selected library

After reviewing it, ask the assistant to save the approved text as a Zotero note using the existing write tools. Cloud writes need the appropriate key or OAuth permissions; group writes also require permission to edit that group. Refresh the index with action:"update" if the new note does not appear in indexed search.

Connect a client · Research prompts · Citations and bibliography styles