Advanced Zotero add‑on to search and batch‑replace bibliographic metadata with regex support, previews, collection scoping, and many built‑in data‑quality patterns.
- Search: Search across multiple fields (title, creators, abstract, tags, DOI, etc.)
- Pattern Types: Regular expressions, exact match, or SQL LIKE patterns
- Replace: Batch replace with capture group support ($1, $2, etc.)
- Preloaded Patterns: 18 data quality patterns for common bibliographic errors
- Preview: Preview replacements before applying
- Collections: Create collections from search results
- Collection Scope: Automatically scopes searches to the currently selected collection in Zotero's main window (when a collection is selected)
- Download the latest
.xpifile from the releases page - In Zotero, go to Tools → Add-ons
- Click the gear icon → Install Add-on From File
- Select the downloaded
.xpifile - Restart Zotero
- Open the dialog via Edit → Search & Replace... or Tools → Search & Replace...
- Select the field(s) to search in
- Choose the pattern type (Regex, Exact, or SQL LIKE)
- Enter your search pattern and (optionally) replacement text
- Click Search to find matching items
- Select items to replace, preview changes, and click Replace in Selected
When a collection is selected in Zotero's main window, the Search & Replace dialog automatically scopes searches to that collection. This is useful when:
- Working with group libraries where different groups may have different naming conventions
- Targeting specific projects within your library
- Batch editing items in a focused collection
To use: simply select a collection in Zotero's left sidebar before opening Search & Replace. The search will automatically be limited to items in that collection. If you want to search the entire library, select "My Library" (or the library root) instead of a specific collection.
The plugin includes 18 preloaded data quality patterns for common bibliographic errors:
- Author Names: Fix comma spacing, lowercase "van/de/etc.", Jr./Sr. suffixes
- Dates: Standardize date formats, fix month names
- Titles: Capitalization fixes, remove extra spaces
- URLs/DOI: Fix URL protocols, standardize DOI format, remove spurious Google Books URLs for printed books
- Publications: Clean up conference names, journal abbreviations
npm installnpm run buildnpm run test:zoteroGPL-3.0 - See LICENSE file for details.
Marcin Miłkowski