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Literature Note Template (Zotero + Obsidian)

A Templater-based Obsidian template that auto-fills literature note metadata from Zotero. Title, authors, year, DOI, abstract — pulled in automatically.

What's Included

Full YAML frontmatter (title, authors, year, DOI, journal, tags)
Templater auto-fill from Zotero via BetterBibTeX
Structured sections: Abstract, Key Arguments, Methods, My Notes, Connections
Linked mentions block for finding related notes
Citation block pre-formatted for copy-paste

Who This Is For

Researchers who want structured, consistent literature notes
Anyone using Zotero + Obsidian together
PhD students building a reading log for their literature review

How the Template Works

When you trigger the template in Obsidian, Templater runs a script that reads your frontmatter and optionally queries the Zotero API (if you supply the citekey). In the simplest version, you fill in the citekey manually and the template structures everything else.

The resulting note looks like this:

# Smith (2023) — Title of the Paper

## Abstract
[paste or auto-fill]

## Key Arguments
-

## Methods
-

## My Reading Notes
-

## Connections
- [[related-concept]]
- [[another-paper]]

Quick Setup

Copy the template file to your vault’s _Templates/ folder
Open Templater settings → set your templates folder
Assign a hotkey (e.g. Cmd+Shift+L) for triggering this template
Create a new note, trigger the template, and enter the citekey from Zotero

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