I tend to agree. As the amount of work that can go in this plugin is limited, I think that leaving the referencing to a software such as Zotero would be best.
I still understand @franzperdido 's view, as I'm not a fan of the Zotero note system either, but I still like to make notes on what I read. But I'd hate to have to re-invent the wheel when Zotero is open-source, manages all kind of meta-data or documents, have plugins, integrates with word processors, and have amazing plugins like better bibtex or the navigator integration. It seems pretty obvious that it will be impossible to replicate all of these features, making Joplin half-complete in comparison whatever is done from my point of view.
Maybe a compromise can be found, though ! If the BibTeX plugin is capable of reading a CSL JSON or a .bib file to take it into account as a database of references, maybe it would be possible to make an option like "Create a note for every reference in the database" ?
For example, if I have 3 references in my database, choosing this option would make it so that the BibTeX plugin would create 3 new joplin notes in the notebook of my choice. Each note would be titled with the tittle of the paper and the authors names (or something else, like the citekey), and the keywords associated to the references in the database could even be passed on to the notes. Since the plugin will certainly have to watch for changes in the CLS JSON or .bib file, maybe those changes could automatically result in new notes being created for references that are added to it.
It's just a suggestion, though; and I think that @xUser5000 already has a lot of work on their shoulder : ). It will still be absolutely amazing to have a tool that allows for reading a database of references, cite then in text flexibly, and parse it properly. Thank you for your work !