The PERRLA for Word Add-in and Word's built-in Track Changes feature can cause problems for each other when inserting citations or when your professor provides feedback.
Working in a paper with Track Changes
While working in a paper, Track Changes is less likely to interfere with PERRLA if the tracked changes are hidden while you're using PERRLA. If you encounter problems, follow these steps:
- Go to the Review ribbon tab.
- Select No Markup from the dropdown beside the Track Changes toggle.
This hides any tracked changes and stops Word from interfering with PERRLA. You can switch the view back to Simple Markup or All Markup when you're finished using PERRLA or before turning your paper in.
Removing Content Controls before submitting for review
PERRLA uses Word's built-in Content Controls to insert citations, references, and other important items. Content Controls are locked by default so their text always adheres to proper APA or MLA formatting, and so PERRLA can track where various parts of your paper are located.
Because Content Controls are locked, they can prevent your professor from commenting on or editing their content. You can remove them before submitting your paper, but there are two important things to know first:
1. Removing Citation Content Controls disconnects those citations from PERRLA.
If you try to edit or delete the citations through the PERRLA panel after removing Content Controls, nothing will happen – PERRLA will no longer update them.
2. Do not remove Content Controls from the entire paper.
When following the instructions below, do not remove any Content Controls from the Title Page or Reference Page. These Content Controls are critical for PERRLA to continue functioning correctly.
If you need to remove Content Controls from individual references, do so one at a time by right-clicking each reference and selecting Remove Content Control. If you remove all Content Controls from the Reference Page, PERRLA will create a new Reference Page at the end of your paper the next time you update or add a reference.
Instructions
- Create and write your paper with PERRLA as normal.
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Once finished, highlight just the body of the paper.
Do not highlight the Title Page, first page title, or Reference section. - Right-click the highlighted text and click Remove Content Control.
The citations will remain in your paper as plain text wherever you created them.
Note: Citations for references with a group author and abbreviation (e.g., American Psychological Association [APA]) may not show the correct citation after Content Controls are removed. Group authors with abbreviations have different first use and subsequent use citations – removing Content Controls can affect how these are displayed.