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Getting Started with the PERRLA Chrome Browser Extension

Shane
Updated

PERRLA's 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

See Installing and Setting Up the PERRLA Browser Extension for Google Chrome for full instructions, including how to install the extension in 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 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 the Microsoft Word Add-in and PERRLA Online.

Here's how you can create a reference using the PERRLA 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.
    This is different from the puzzle piece icon, which opens Chrome's general Extensions menu.
  3. Select Create a New Reference. 
  4. Click Use Current Page. 
  5. Review the bibliographic information retrieved from the site. 
  6. Click Next at the bottom of the form. 
  7. Click Create. 

Clicking Use Current Page will scour the webpage behind the scenes for the information needed to build the reference.

You can also build references within the extension the same way you can in PERRLA Online and PERRLA for Word – by choosing a reference type and typing in the information yourself, or by choosing Look Up a Reference and supplying a DOI, ISBN, URL, or author and title to Auto-fill the information. See Creating References in APA 7 (Word Add-In) and Using Auto-fill Reference Search in APA, MLA, & Turabian (Online) to learn more.

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. Choose your paper's format from the format picker at the top right.
    You can choose APA 7, MLA 9, or Turabian 9.
  5. Under How should this citation read?, choose At the end of the sentence or In your sentence.
    Each choice shows a preview of the citation. Because the extension isn't connected to a paper, PERRLA can't read your sentence, so the choice is yours.
  6. If you're quoting the source, choose the location type next to Is it a direct quote? and type the value. 
  7. Click Copy. 

This copies the citation to your clipboard – exactly as you see it in the preview. If you chose In your sentence, the copied citation includes the author's name, like "Robbins and Robbins (2024)."

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 the 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.

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