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.
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”
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’.
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.
Learn how to install a custom .csl citation style in Zotero - whether received from a publisher or purchased from my shop. Step-by-step instructions including verification in Word's document preferences!
Zoplicate is a powerful Zotero plugin that efficiently recognises and merges duplicate entries. It offers advanced duplicate detection and saves time when managing large literature databases.
Do you need to remove all traces of Zotero to submit a paper or thesis? Here's how.
With the update to Zotero 7, the popular ZotFile add-on is no longer compatible. But don't worry! There are 2 promising alternatives that fill the ZotFile gap. In this blog post, you can find out what has changed in Zotero 7 and which add-ons will help you to continue managing your PDFs efficiently.
