Zotero 9 brings Read Aloud, annotation integrations, recently read, and performance boosts

Zotero 9 has been released as the latest major version of this popular, open-source reference management software to organize bibliographic data and related research materials. This major update comes only two months after Zotero 8 was released.

This new version introduces Read Aloud, enabling users to listen to documents including PDFs, EPUBs, and webpage snapshots with high-quality, natural-sounding voices. Navigation within this mode allows listeners to skip by paragraph or sentence, annotate specific sentences quickly, and retain their last reading spot, which is automatically synced across devices. However, this feature is currently limited to the desktop application, with mobile support planned for the future.

Building on user workflow enhancements, Zotero adds a Recently Read collection at the top of each library to surface items with attachments accessed most recently. For academic writing, word processor plugins now include an Add Annotation button, permitting direct insertion of annotations with active Zotero citations that generate bibliography entries automatically.

These features are complemented by improvements for group library management. Users can display “Added by” and “Modified by” columns in item lists, while group administrators now have the ability to configure file-renaming settings per group. Performance has also been addressed, with startup memory requirements reduced by 20% and file syncing becoming less resource-intensive. On macOS, file copying now leverages Apple’s filesystem to avoid extra disk usage. Finally, Zotero's login process has been streamlined by utilizing the web browser, aiding those who rely on their password manager's auto-fill feature.