Skip to main content
Buy Now

Getting Started with the PERRLA Chrome Browser Extension

Shane
Updated

PERRLA's new Google Chrome extension makes it easy to create new references while you're doing your research, access your full Reference Library from anywhere, and create perfectly formatted citations on the fly.

Installing the Chrome Extension

We have a full article with instructions on how you can install our Chrome Extension here. It also includes instructions for how you can install the Chrome Extension in Microsoft Edge – a neat trick with the latest versions of Microsoft Edge.

Creating a Reference

In the past, if you found an article or webpage on the internet that you wanted to use for your research, you'd have to leave the browser window and go to a PERRLA paper in order to create your reference.

Using the PERRLA Chrome extension, you can create references in your PERRLA database from the page you're looking at. As soon as you create the reference, it's available in both our Microsoft Word Add-in and PERRLA Online.

Here's how you can create a reference using our Chrome extension:

  1. Make sure you're on the webpage that you need to reference. 
  2. Click the PERRLA extension icon in Chrome's toolbar in the top right corner.
    It looks like a puzzle piece.
  3. Select Create a New Reference. 
  4. Click Use Current Page. 
  5. Review the bibliographic information we retrieved from the site. 
  6. Click Next at the bottom of the form. 
  7. Click Create. 

That's all you have to do! Clicking "Use Current Page" will scour the webpage behind the scenes for the information needed to build the reference.

You may notice that within the PERRLA extension you also have the ability to build references just as you can in PERRLA Online and PERRLA for Word: by choosing a reference type and manually typing in the information or by choosing Look Up a Reference and supplying a DOI, ISBN, URL, or author & title to "Auto-fill" the information.

Creating a Citation

The PERRLA Chrome extension lets you create citations for any of the references you've made using PERRLA. Here's how:

  1. Click the PERRLA extension icon in Chrome's toolbar in the top right corner. 
  2. Search for the reference you'd like to use for the citation.
    You can scroll to the reference or you can search for it using the search bar at the top.
  3. Click Create Citation underneath the reference. 
  4. Check the parts to include in the citation and the location. 
  5. Review the Live Preview of your citation at the top of the window. 
  6. Click Copy. 

This copies the citation to your clipboard – exactly as you see it in the Live Preview.

Now, you can paste this citation anywhere you're writing.

Copying a Reference

You also have the ability to copy entire references from your PERRLA Reference Library. This is a great way to use PERRLA when working outside of Microsoft Word or our paper editor in PERRLA Online.

Here's how you can copy a reference to your clipboard:

  1. Click the PERRLA extension icon in Chrome's toolbar in the top right corner. 
  2. Search for the reference you'd like to use for the citation.
    You can scroll to the reference or you can search for it using the search bar at the top.
  3. Click Copy Reference underneath the reference. 

This places a copy of the entire reference on your clipboard - with all the correct formatting. You can paste this reference anywhere you'd like.

When you paste this reference into another editor (like Google Docs), it will retain the proper italicization, but the other styling will change to match the document. For instance, if you paste the reference into a section of text that doesn't have a hanging indent - the pasted reference won't add a hanging indent to it. You will need to format the text yourself afterward.

Related articles