From Citavi to Zotero in seven steps

Install or check Zotero

CiteMove is a plugin for Zotero 7 or newer. Check your version under Zotero → About Zotero (Mac) or Help → About Zotero (Windows). If it says 6 or lower, get the current version from zotero.org/download.

Zotero ships with the Word add-in. If there is no “Zotero” tab in Word, install it in Zotero under Settings → Cite → Word Processors.

Recommended: bring your Citavi library into Zotero first. Export the project from Citavi as Citavi XML and import that file in Zotero via File → Import…. CiteMove will then find most sources in your library. Without the import, CiteMove creates the sources from the data inside the document, which works too.

Install CiteMove

1. Download CiteMove: the file citemove-latest.xpi, version 0.3.0, free.
2. In Zotero: Tools → Plugins.
3. Click the gear icon at the top right and choose Install Plugin From File…
4. Pick the downloaded file and confirm Zotero's prompt.

The Tools menu now has an entry Convert Citavi document…. If it is missing, restart Zotero once.

Pick the document and read the free check

1. Close the file in Word.
2. In Zotero: Tools → Convert Citavi document…
3. Drop your Word file (.docx) into the window or click “choose”.

CiteMove reads the document and matches every source against your Zotero library. This takes a few seconds. The report shows you:

• Citations in the document – how many Citavi citations there are, in the text and in footnotes.
• Sources found in Zotero – they will be linked to the existing item. CiteMove never changes those items.
• Will be created – sources missing from Zotero. They go into the collection “Aus Citavi”.
• Please check – sources where several items could be the one. Click “Check now” and decide: Use this, Create new or Skip. Anything you do not check is created as new.
• Notes – whether a bibliography was found, which subheadings will disappear, which sources have no language and which citations will not be converted.

Up to here nothing costs anything. Take your time with the report: it shows you what will happen when you convert.

Buy a pass and enter the key

Click Convert → in the report. CiteMove asks for your pass.

1. No pass yet? Click “Buy pass”. The checkout opens in your browser at Lemon Squeezy, our payment provider. After paying you get an e-mail with your licence key and an order number. Thesis Pass 19 € (60 days, 1 computer) or Annual Pass 39 € per year (2 computers) – all details.
2. Enter the key. Copy the key from the e-mail into the field under “Already have a key?” and click “Activate”. This needs an internet connection once.

Afterwards the start screen shows “Pass valid until …” (Thesis Pass) or “Pass active” (Annual Pass) at the bottom left. For the next document CiteMove will not ask for the key again.

Convert

With an active pass the conversion starts right away. CiteMove creates the missing sources in Zotero, rewrites the citations, replaces the bibliography and saves a new file next to your original: Thesis.docx becomes Thesis_zotero.docx. Your original is never changed, and an existing file is never overwritten.

The “Done” screen shows how many citations are now Zotero citations. From there: Open in Word, Show in folder or Save report – a text file with all sources and notes, saved next to the new file.

Citations CiteMove could not convert stay as text and get a comment in Word with the reason. Nothing is lost.

Refresh in Word

1. Open the new file (…_zotero.docx) in Word.
2. In the Zotero tab, click Refresh. Zotero now re-reads every citation. For large documents this takes a few minutes – do not close Word.
3. Open Zotero → Document Preferences and pick your citation style. If your university's style is missing, find it in the Zotero Style Repository.
4. In the same window, set the Language. For a German thesis choose German, so that “Hrsg.”, “S.” and “und” come out in German.

Review the result

Zotero now formats everything afresh. Go through the document once:

• Footnotes. Citations in footnotes stay in footnotes. Spot-check a few page numbers and prefixes like “cf.”.
• Bibliography. Zotero sorts everything into one list. Subheadings such as “Sources” and “Literature” are gone; the “Bibliography” heading stays.
• Comments. If a citation carries a comment “CiteMove: not converted”, insert it by hand via Zotero → Add/Edit Citation and delete the comment.
• Titles. If a German title shows up in English title case (“Am Rande Der Fotografie”), the source in Zotero has no language – see below.
• New sources. Look at the collection “Aus Citavi” in Zotero and fill in whatever Citavi did not pass along.

Please review the result before you hand in. CiteMove transfers what the Citavi data contains. Completeness and your institution's citation rules are your responsibility.