Let chance pick your next paper.

A Zotero plugin that picks one unread item, files it in ~In Progress~ and marks it To Read.

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One click does three things.

Pick

One random item from My Library that you have not started yet.

File

Adds it to your ~In Progress~ collection and selects it there.

Mark

Sets its read status to To Read, in the format the Reading List plugin uses.

Install it in a minute.

  1. Download random-read.xpi from the latest release.
  2. In Zotero, open Tools → Plugins.
  3. Click the gear, choose Install Plugin From File, and select the file.
  4. Click the dice in the items toolbar, or use Tools → Pick a Random Item to Read.

What it needs

  • Zotero 7 or later.
  • A collection named exactly ~In Progress~.
  • Optional: Zotero Reading List, to see the status in its column.

It skips what you already handled.

Notes, attachments, items in the trash and items already in ~In Progress~ are never picked. Neither are items with one of these statuses:

To Read In Progress Read Not Reading