Better BibTeX for Zotero Guide

Overview

Better BibTeX (BBT) is an essential Zotero plugin for any researcher who uses LaTeX, BibTeX, or BibLaTeX for academic writing. With over 6,000 GitHub stars, it bridges the gap between Zotero's powerful reference management and the precise citation requirements of LaTeX-based document preparation systems.

The core problem BBT solves is citation key management. Standard Zotero export generates citation keys that can change unpredictably when library items are modified, breaking references in LaTeX documents. Better BibTeX provides stable, customizable citation keys that remain consistent across exports, ensuring your LaTeX documents always compile correctly with up-to-date bibliographic data.

Beyond citation keys, BBT offers superior BibTeX and BibLaTeX export with fine-grained control over field mapping, character encoding, and format compliance. It supports automatic export that keeps your .bib files synchronized with your Zotero library in real time, eliminating the manual export step from the writing workflow entirely.

Installation and Setup

Install Better BibTeX through Zotero's add-on mechanism:

1. Download the latest .xpi file from https://github.com/retorquere/zotero-better-bibtex/releases
2. In Zotero, go to Tools > Add-ons > gear icon > Install Add-on From File
3. Select the downloaded .xpi file and restart Zotero
4. On first launch after installation, BBT will scan your library and generate citation keys