Show last author in Zotero thanks to ‘Zotero Better Authors’ plugin

In academic research, the order of the authors plays a crucial role. However, by default, Zotero only displays the first author. With the help of the Zotero plugin ‘Zotero Better Authors’, you can now display the last author of a paper in your Zotero library and search specifically for particular labs and research groups.

What does ‘Zotero Better Authors’ do?

Particularly in the natural sciences, the last auth or of a paper usually is of particular importance, as this is usually the person in charge, the Principal Investigator (PI). This person often represents the labfrom which the publication originates, and provides important insights into the origin and the key areas of a research paper.

The ‘Zotero Better Authors’ plugin adds an extra column to your Zotero library, displaying the last author(s) of each entry. This feature is particularly useful if you are searching your literature database for publications from a specific laboratory or wish to identify connections between the work of a research group.

Installation and use of “Zotero Better Authors”

Installation and use of “Zotero Better Authors”

1. Download the plugin from the GitHub page Zotero Better Authors .
2. Open Zotero and select “Plugins” from the “Tools” menu.
3. Click on the gear icon in the top right corner and select “Install Plugin from File” and add the downloaded plugin file.

After installation, you can now view and change the Zotero Better Authors settings in the Zotero settings (Edit > Settings), which are very self-explanatory. Under "Display content settings" you have the important setting "Last Author".

To enable the column in your library, right-click on the column headers in Zotero and select ‘Last Author’.

Summary

With the plugin “Zotero Better Authors” you get important information about the origin of a scientific work at a glance – and thus bring a little more order and clarity to your library! Together with other useful Zotero plugins make your source management even more flexible.

If you want to further optimise and customise your Zotero experience, you can find customised citation styles on  citationstyler.com and many other customisation tips in my blog.