Quote from Donna Cox Baker on July 28, 2023, 3:03 am

Recently, some professors are changing what was a rule for academic writing when I was in graduate school. We used to turn in our papers on paper and were required to unlink URLs, so they printed as plain text. Now, papers are often turned in digitally, and professors might (wisely) want you to convert your URLs to clickable links.

The bad news first. Zotero's add-on for word processors does not activate the URL, though it will create the text. You'll have to take the last step of making it clickable.

The good news now. First, if this is going to be the academic standard, Zotero will create a way. Second, Zotero will do most of the work of this for you, regardless.  Here's what needs to happen:

1. Make certain you entered the URLs into the URL field in Zotero's citation information. If you use the Zotero Connector to grab citation information, it has probably done this for you.
2. Set Zotero's preferences to include URLs. You'll find the flag by accessing Edit--Preferences--Citation on your Zotero menu.
3. When you add the citations in Zotero, you might see the same flag again. Make sure you opt to include URLS.
4. Finish your paper and get everything ready, except for the clickable links.
5. Make a copy of the paper--the original stays with you. This one will keep your Zotero connections intact. The copy will be for your professor.
6. Break the Zotero links in your word processor add-on. Choose "Unlink Zotero." It will ask you if you're OK with removing your Zotero connection. You have a copy, so you can answer yes.
7. Go to your bibliography (and citations, too, if your professor requires it). Everywhere you have a URL, select it. Then do whatever your word processing software requires to create a link. In Word, you right-click on the URL and choose "Link," then press Enter. Google Docs works the same, except the option is "Insert Link."
8. Add the clickable links for all your URLs, and you're done.

Good luck with your writing!