By 苏剑林 | August 25, 2025
Long ago, some readers suggested adding a feature to import papers into Zotero for Cool Papers. However, since I don't use Zotero and I was being a bit lazy, I hadn't put it on the schedule. This weekend, I happened to have some spare time, so I researched it and made a simple integration.
Single Paper Import
First, we need to install Zotero (obviously), and then install the Zotero Connector plugin for your browser. Once installed, visit a single paper page on Cool Papers, such as https://papers.cool/arxiv/2104.09864 or https://papers.cool/venue/2024.naacl-long.431@ACL, and then click the Zotero Connector icon. It will automatically import the paper, including the PDF file.
Single paper import to Zotero
The saved information includes the paper title, authors, abstract, date, primary category (arXiv), or the corresponding conference (for conference papers). This is implemented by embedding Metadata in the webpage header. It requires no extra configuration from the user. The disadvantage is that it only supports importing one paper at a time per page.
Batch Import
To support batch importing, it must be implemented through a Translator, which is a requirement for complex imports. When we visit the official arXiv website, the Zotero Connector can automatically identify multiple papers for us to choose and import; this is done via a Translator. However, while arXiv's Translator is built into Zotero, the one for Cool Papers naturally has to be written by ourselves.
A Translator is essentially a piece of JS code. I have written it and placed it on GitHub (Link). Readers only need to save it and place it in Zotero's translators directory (on MacOS, it is "User/Zotero/translators"), then restart Zotero for it to take effect. (Note: The Translator is configured in Zotero itself, not in the Zotero Connector extension.)
Now, when we visit a list page, such as https://papers.cool/arxiv/cs.AI or https://papers.cool/venue/ACL.2025, the Zotero Connector icon should normally change to a folder shape. Clicking it will bring up the following multi-selection box:
Batch import to Zotero
The papers displayed here are not all papers on the current list page, but rather the papers on that page for which we have previously clicked "[PDF]" or "[Kimi]". This implies that we might be interested in these papers and might want to further collect them in Zotero. This is the logic of Cool Papers' Zotero adaptation.
Summary
Some simple adjustments were made to Cool Papers, and a Translator was written so that it can work with the Zotero Connector to import papers from Cool Papers into Zotero.
Reproduction Note: When reproducing this article, please include the original address: https://kexue.fm/archives/11250
,
author={Su Jianlin},
year={2025},
month={Aug},
url={\url{https://kexue.fm/archives/11250}},
}