Using Source Metadata in Roam Research

The fastest way to turn Zotero libraries into a living reference graph inside Roam Research is to import source metadata with a dedicated Roam translator, then use Roam’s query-driven “citation graph” to automatically surface who cites what. Once set up, the workflow becomes a near one-keystroke operation: select a source in Zotero, copy its metadata, paste it into Roam, and get structured fields like the paper’s title, authors’ year, a link back to the Zotero item, topics, and reading status.

Setup matters because Roam can’t read Zotero metadata directly without a small bridge. The process starts by downloading a file named roam metadata export and copying roam metadataexport.js into Zotero’s translators folder. That folder location is found in Zotero Preferences → Advanced → Data directory location, where the translators folder sits. After restarting Zotero, the export settings are updated: under Preferences → Export, the default format is switched to “Roam metadata export.” With that in place, selecting a source in Zotero and using Command+Shift+C on macOS (Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows/Linux) prepares the metadata for Roam.

In Roam, pasting that exported content (Command+V) creates a top block that carries the source’s key details. The page name is tied to the paper’s site key, and the block includes a link to the paper’s site, the authors’ year, the title, and a link back to the Zotero item. It also includes fields for topics the source covers and the reading status, defaulting to “to read.” A key addition is an element called “citation graph,” which becomes useful once citations are represented in Roam.

The citation graph relies on Roam’s advanced query feature. The practical payoff is that citations become navigable: when other Roam pages contain quotes from a paper and each quote includes a “citing” attribute that links to the cited paper, Roam can automatically collect those quotes and display them on the cited paper’s page. In other words, the literature review context stays attached to the source itself. The transcript’s example uses multiple papers that cite a shared work on a topic (like totalitarianism). After the citing attributes and links are added under each quote, the cited paper’s page shows all those quoting blocks under the citation graph query—making it easy to see who is writing about the same core idea and how they frame it.

This also supports commentary. When a comment or indented note is placed under a citing block, it appears alongside the citation results, letting readers track how different sources treat the same work as they read. The recommended first action is simple: pick one paper, add the citing attribute with links to the cited sources under a couple of extracted quotes, and let the system accumulate over time so the reference network becomes more useful with every new citation you add.