diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3a32cd29..01702d93 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,5 @@ aaa\.Rmd*
 *.o
 *.so
 docs
+deposits.code-workspace
+.vscode/settings.json
diff --git a/R/tokens.R b/R/tokens.R
index 6d14277f..5bdd44ff 100644
--- a/R/tokens.R
+++ b/R/tokens.R
@@ -1,14 +1,19 @@
 #' Retrieve a token for a specified deposits service.
 #'
 #' Tokens should be stored as local environment variables, optionally defined in
-#' a `~/.Renviron` file, and should contain the name of the desired deposits
-#' service.
+#' a `~/.Renviron` file. Tokens can be defined by using the pattern 
+#' `SERVICE_TOKEN`, where `SERVICE` is the name of the service in capital letters
+#' followed by `_SANDBOX` if the sandbox from e.g. zotero should be used. An example
+#' would be `ZOTERO_SANDBOX_TOKEN` for the sandbox of zotero.
+#' If these are not found, an heuristic algorythm is used to find the token name
+#' which should contain the name of the desired deposits service.
 #'
 #' @param service Name of desired service; must be a value in the "name" column
 #' of \link{deposits_services}.
 #' @param sandbox If `TRUE`, retrieve token for sandbox, rather than actual API.
 #' @return API token for nominated service.
-#'
+#' 
+#' @md
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
 #' token <- get_deposits_token (service = "figshare")
@@ -20,14 +25,30 @@ get_deposits_token <- function (service = NULL, sandbox = FALSE) {
     checkmate::assert_character (service, len = 1L)
 
     service <- gsub ("\\-", ".*", service)
-    e <- Sys.getenv ()
-    e <- e [grep (service, names (e), ignore.case = TRUE)]
-    if (length (e) != 1L) {
-        if (grepl ("^zenodo$", service, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
-            if (sandbox && any (grepl ("sandbox", names (e), ignore.case = TRUE))) {
-                e <- e [grep ("sandbox", names (e), ignore.case = TRUE)]
-            } else {
-                e <- e [which (!grepl ("sandbox", names (e), ignore.case = TRUE))]
+
+    # Check for fixed environmental variables ZENODO_TOKEN and ZENODO_SANDBOX_TOKEN
+
+    e <- ""
+    if (grepl("^zenodo$", service, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+        if (sandbox) {
+            e <- Sys.getenv("ZENODO_SANDBOX_TOKEN")
+        } else {
+            e <- Sys.getenv("ZENODO_TOKEN")
+        }
+    } else if (grepl("^figshare$", service, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+        e <- Sys.getenv("FIGSHARE_TOKEN")
+    }
+
+    if (e == "") {
+        e <- Sys.getenv()
+        e <- e[grep(service, names(e), ignore.case = TRUE)]
+        if (length(e) != 1L) {
+            if (grepl("^zenodo$", service, ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+                if (sandbox && any(grepl("sandbox", names(e), ignore.case = TRUE))) {
+                    e <- e[grep("sandbox", names(e), ignore.case = TRUE)]
+                } else {
+                    e <- e[which(!grepl("sandbox", names(e), ignore.case = TRUE))]
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/man/get_deposits_token.Rd b/man/get_deposits_token.Rd
index 446e1eb9..585cfa18 100644
--- a/man/get_deposits_token.Rd
+++ b/man/get_deposits_token.Rd
@@ -17,8 +17,12 @@ API token for nominated service.
 }
 \description{
 Tokens should be stored as local environment variables, optionally defined in
-a \verb{~/.Renviron} file, and should contain the name of the desired deposits
-service.
+a \verb{~/.Renviron} file. Tokens can be defined by using the pattern
+\code{SERVICE_TOKEN}, where \code{SERVICE} is the name of the service in capital letters
+followed by \verb{_SANDBOX} if the sandbox from e.g. zotero should be used. An example
+would be \code{ZOTERO_SANDBOX_TOKEN} for the sandbox of zotero.
+If these are not found, an heuristic algorythm is used to find the token name
+which should contain the name of the desired deposits service.
 }
 \examples{
 \dontrun{
diff --git a/vignettes/install-setup.Rmd b/vignettes/install-setup.Rmd
index 873bced3..8c25f21c 100644
--- a/vignettes/install-setup.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/install-setup.Rmd
@@ -59,8 +59,18 @@ settings:
 - [figshare/account/applications](https://figshare.com/account/applications).
 
 It is not necessary to create or register applications on any of these
-services; this package uses personal tokens only. The tokens need to be 
-stored as local environment variables the names of which must include the names
+services; this package uses personal tokens only. 
+
+The tokens need to be 
+stored as local environment variables the names of which must be
+
+- ZENOODO_TOKEN
+- ZENODO_SANDBOX_TOKEN
+- FIGSHARE_TOKEN
+
+in which case the tokens are read from these environmental variables. If the respective one (responding
+to the `service` and `sandbox` arguments of `deposits_service()`) is not found,
+a heuristic algorytm is used to find environmental variables which include the names
 of the respective services, as defined by the "name" column returned from
 `deposits_service()`, as shown above. This can be done as in the following
 example: