# Zotero Literature Visualizer > Build evidence-aware bilingual literature reviews and interactive dashboards from a local Zotero library or a new topic search. Use for Zotero PDF analysis, paper classification, bilingual research cards, journal-quality verification, citation networks, reading-state dashboards, or Zotero write-back. - Skill: `xuezheng627/zotero-literature-visualizer` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 24 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add xuezheng627/zotero-literature-visualizer` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/xuezheng627/zotero-literature-visualizer/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: xuezheng627 (https://skillmd.com/u/xuezheng627) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/xuezheng627/zotero-literature-visualizer --- # Zotero Literature Visualizer ## Purpose Turn either a local Zotero library or a research topic into a reproducible literature workspace containing normalized metadata, evidence-aware paper notes, a bilingual synthesis, and an offline interactive dashboard. Bundled scripts perform deterministic collection, Zotero snapshot reading, metadata normalization, dashboard rendering, citation-network enrichment, and optional Zotero API writes. The agent remains responsible for scholarly judgment: relevance screening, evidence verification, full-text interpretation, taxonomy design, and paper-specific bilingual summaries. ## Choose the workflow | User intent | Workflow | Read first | |---|---|---| | Analyze an existing Zotero library | Local Zotero mode | `references/zotero-workflows.md` | | Add papers, tags, notes, or reading state to Zotero | Zotero API/write-back mode | `references/zotero-workflows.md` | | Search and review a new topic | Discovery mode | `references/discovery-workflow.md` | | Verify Impact Factor or CAS partition claims | Quality evidence | `references/quality-and-evidence.md` | | Build or refine the interactive dashboard | Dashboard mode | `references/dashboard-workflow.md` and `references/dashboard-spec.md` | Do not combine modes automatically. In particular, do not apply the discovery workflow's journal or date defaults to a user's existing Zotero library unless requested. ## Non-negotiable rules ### Privacy and portability - Never place names, email addresses, institutional accounts, API keys, cookies, browser profiles, Zotero databases, PDFs, or local absolute paths inside this skill or a shareable archive. - Keep run data outside the skill directory. Treat `examples/demo-review` as synthetic demonstration data only. - Read Zotero through a temporary SQLite snapshot. Never edit `zotero.sqlite` directly. - Read API keys only from `ZOTERO_API_KEY` or a user-supplied file outside the skill directory. Never print or commit them. - Do not copy or upload a user's Zotero PDFs unless the user explicitly requests an authorized import or upload workflow. ### Evidence integrity - Never invent bibliographic fields, Impact Factors, CAS partitions, findings, methods, datasets, limitations, or citations. - Distinguish `full_text`, `abstract_only`, and `metadata_only` evidence states. - For a paper with a readable local PDF, derive the detailed card from the full text. - Without a readable PDF, summarize only the abstract and label the evidence level clearly. - If neither PDF text nor abstract is available, provide metadata only and state that no substantive summary was possible. - Do not present search snippets, inferred labels, or generic templates as paper findings. ### Access and selection - Relevance and quality determine selection; open-access status must not affect ranking. - Analyze PDFs already available locally to the user. This skill does not claim to download subscription PDFs or control authenticated browser sessions. - Verify journal metrics from an official journal, publisher, Clarivate, or CAS source before displaying them as official. ## Common output contract Use a run directory outside the skill, normally `/literature-reviews//`. Expected core files: - `metadata/papers.json` and `metadata/papers.csv`: normalized paper records. - `texts/`: extracted PDF text when locally available. - `review-bilingual.md`: Chinese-English synthesis grounded in the available evidence. - `relationship-map.md`: theme-method relationships and research gaps. - `dashboard-spec.json`: editable bilingual taxonomy and paper-card semantics. - `.html`: offline interactive dashboard. Optional files include `metadata/citation-network.json`, `metadata/journal-if-evidence.csv`, `metadata/papers-to-zotero.json`, `update-digest.md`, and Zotero write-back logs. ## Paper-card contract Each card should be paper-specific and bilingual. Include only claims supported by the available evidence: 1. Research question or purpose / 研究问题或目的 2. Method and study design / 方法与研究设计 3. Data, sample, case, or setting / 数据、样本、案例或场景 4. Main findings / 主要发现 5. Limitations / 局限 6. Relevance to the review / 与综述主题的关系 7. Evidence level / 证据层级 Do not mechanically translate the English abstract into every field. With a PDF, inspect the abstract, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion; with abstract-only evidence, use cautious language such as “the abstract reports”. ## Minimal command patterns Resolve `` to a real Python 3.10+ interpreter and `` to this skill directory. ### Local Zotero library ```powershell & '' '\scripts\systematic_literature_review.py' zotero-import ` --output-dir '\literature-reviews\zotero-library' ` --topic 'My Zotero Library' ` --dashboard-name 'zotero-literature-dashboard' ``` Omit `--limit` for a final full-library run. Use `--zotero-dir` only when auto-discovery or `ZOTERO_DATA_DIR` does not locate the library. ### Topic discovery ```powershell & '' '\scripts\systematic_literature_review.py' init-config ` --topic '' --years 1 --min-if 5 ` --output '\review-config.json' & '' '\scripts\systematic_literature_review.py' collect ` --config '\review-config.json' ` --output-dir '' --max-results 120 ``` Verify journal evidence before finalizing. See `references/discovery-workflow.md`. ### Dashboard ```powershell & '' '\scripts\build_literature_dashboard.py' init-spec ` --papers '\metadata\papers.json' ` --output '\dashboard-spec.json' & '' '\scripts\build_literature_dashboard.py' build ` --papers '\metadata\papers.json' ` --spec '\dashboard-spec.json' ` --output-dir '' --dashboard-name 'literature-dashboard' ``` Use `--inline` for a single-file dashboard. Large libraries automatically use the scalable layout. ## Completion checks Before reporting completion: - Confirm the intended library or search scope and final paper count. - Spot-check titles, DOI values, authors, years, and resolved PDF paths. - Confirm each detailed card's evidence level matches its source. - Confirm Chinese and English content is meaningful, not duplicated placeholder text. - Open the dashboard and test search, filters, paper details, PDF/Zotero links, reading status, stars, and notes. - Verify no mojibake, broken assets, personal paths, credentials, or user data entered the skill directory. - For Zotero writes, run a dry-run first and retain the write log. ## Bundled resources - `scripts/systematic_literature_review.py`: topic discovery, Zotero snapshot import, metadata normalization, queues, and exports. - `scripts/build_literature_dashboard.py`: dashboard spec creation and rendering. - `scripts/large_library_dashboard.py`: scalable layout for large libraries. - `scripts/dashboard_common.py`: shared dashboard UI, bilingual controls, reading state, stars, notes, and exports. - `scripts/citation_network.py`: OpenAlex-based in-collection citation enrichment. - `scripts/zotero_api_import.py`: Zotero Web API import and dashboard write-back. - `scripts/zotero_link_items.py`: local DOI/title matching to Zotero item keys. - `scripts/quick_validate.py`: offline portability and smoke validation. - `references/reporting-template.md`: final reporting structure. - `examples/demo-review/`: synthetic sample data; never cite it as real research. ## Validate this skill ```powershell & '' '\scripts\quick_validate.py' '' ``` Run this before creating a release archive.