PERRLA/Product/Chrome Extension

Find it. Annotate it. Write it.

The PERRLA research side panel for Chrome and Edge puts an Add to PERRLA button on 85+ research databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, and the CDC. One click captures the source and formats the reference in APA, MLA, and Turabian. Then PERRLA saves the article with it: the PDF when there is one, and a snapshot of the page when there isn't.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days Add to Chrome

Also in Microsoft Edge. The extension is included in every PERRLA plan and the free trial.

Add to PERRLA on a PubMed article. The reference fills itself in, and when there's no PDF on the page, PERRLA saves a snapshot of the page with it.

From a search result to a cited source.

The reference form fills itself. You check it and click Create.

  1. Once:
    install the extension

    Add the PERRLA extension to Chrome or Edge and sign in to your PERRLA account. The side panel opens from the toolbar.

  2. While you research:
    search where you already search

    Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, the CDC, and 85+ more. The Add to PERRLA button appears beside each result, or under the title on an article page.

  3. On a result:
    click Add to PERRLA

    The panel looks up the source and fills in the authors, title, journal, and date. Review it, click Next, then Create. The reference goes into your library with the PDF, or with a snapshot of the page when there is no PDF.

  4. When you write:
    the source is already there

    Open PERRLA Online, Word, or Google Docs. The reference, its PDF or snapshot, and your notes are already there, ready to cite in APA, MLA, or Turabian.

The side panel finds the source, keeps your notes, and hands you your paper.

The Add to PERRLA button appears on 85+ research databases and sites, including Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, the CDC, and Mayo Clinic.

Find it
Add to PERRLA, beside each result

Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primatesAdd to PERRLA

Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modellingOpen in PERRLA

One click opens the panel with the reference form already filled in.

On Google Scholar and similar databases the button sits beside each search result. On an article or web page it sits under the title.

Annotate it
Right-click, save the quote

Right-click any passageSave quote to PERRLA

…we nonetheless suspect that many Bigfoot sightings are, in fact, of black bears…

Open the saved PDF or snapshot in the Reference Annotator, highlight what matters, and pin notes to the exact passage. Everything lands in Research Notes, organized by source, and the page number travels into the citation when you use it.

Write it
Every paper, in the Papers panel

Bigfoot: The Truth RevealedDownload

Week 2 discussion postDownload

The latest version, as a Word document or PDF.

The Papers panel lists every paper in your account, to download from a writing lab, a friend's laptop, or the library before class. The panel also imports .bib and PDF files straight into your library.

Already in your library? The button turns green and reads Open in PERRLA, so you never add a source twice.

Search results and the quote come from real articles.

Weeks later, the article is still there.

Links break, database access ends with the semester, and web pages change. PERRLA saves the source itself alongside the reference.

When you sit down to write, the article is in your library: read it, highlight it, and pull passages into your Research Notes without leaving PERRLA. Files count toward your plan's storage. Papers never do.

How much storage you need

What gets savedWith every reference
Article with a PDF
The PDF, attached to the reference and ready to open in the Reference Annotator
Article without one
A snapshot of the page: a readable copy of its text, without the site's menus and ads, ready to open in the Reference Annotator too
Web page
A snapshot, so the CDC page you cited in March still reads the same in May
In the panel
Under File, before you click Create: PDF attached to this reference or Snapshot of this webpage
Quotes
Saved to Research Notes with the source attached
Where it lives
Your PERRLA account, in PERRLA Online, Word, and Google Docs

Questions about the Chrome extension

Does the PERRLA extension work in Microsoft Edge?
Yes. The PERRLA extension runs in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, with the same side panel, the same Add to PERRLA button, and the same account.
Does the extension cost extra?
No. The extension is included in every PERRLA plan and in the free 7-day trial. Your PERRLA account is the subscription; the extension, the Word add-in, and the Google Docs add-on all come with it.
Which databases have the Add to PERRLA button?
85+ research databases and sites, including Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, the CDC, and Mayo Clinic. On other sites, open the side panel and look the source up by DOI, ISBN, link, or author and title.
What if there is no PDF on the page?
PERRLA saves a snapshot of the page instead: a readable copy of the page's text, attached to the reference. The panel shows it under File as Snapshot of this webpage, and it opens in the Reference Annotator, so you can highlight it like a PDF. Either way, the source is in your library with the reference, so you can read it later even if the link breaks or your database access ends.
Can the extension import my .bib file?
Yes. The side panel imports .bib and PDF files into your library. Zipped exports that include PDFs import in PERRLA Online or the Word add-in.
Does the extension use AI?
AI reads, never writes. When PERRLA saves a PDF, AI may read its first pages to help fill in the reference form. It never writes anything in your paper, and your paper is never sent to it. When you look a source up by DOI, the reference comes from the published record.

One click in the database saves the source and formats the reference.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days