PERRLA/Product/PERRLA for Word

PERRLA for Word. Cite your sources without leaving Word.

An add-in for Microsoft Word on desktop and the web. Look up a source by DOI, ISBN, or link in the PERRLA panel, click Add Citation, and the citation lands at your cursor while the references page fills itself in. Before you turn the paper in, I'm Finished checks it against the format's rules.

Buy now Try PERRLA free for 7 days

The add-in is free to install (here's how). Using it takes a PERRLA subscription, and one account works in Word, Google Docs, and PERRLA Online at once.

Look up a source in the PERRLA panel and click Add Citation. The citation lands at your cursor, formatted, and the references page keeps itself up to date.

From a blank document to a submitted paper.

Four steps. PERRLA already did the formatting.

  1. First:
    open the PERRLA tab

    PERRLA has its own tab in Word's ribbon, with Home, Insert, and the rest. Sign in once.

  2. Before you write:
    create your paper

    Pick APA, MLA, or Turabian and the paper type. Word opens with the title page, margins, spacing, and page numbers already set.

  3. Mid-sentence:
    cite as you write

    Look up a source by DOI, ISBN, or link in the side panel. Click Add Citation to put the citation at your cursor; the references page builds itself.

  4. Before you submit:
    click I'm Finished

    Click Check my paper and PERRLA reads the whole paper against the format's rules, with a one-click fix for most of what it finds.

Before you turn it in, one last read against the rules.

Open I'm Finished and click Check my paper. PERRLA reads the whole paper the way a careful grader would.

Each finding comes with Go to, which takes you straight to the spot, and most come with Fix, which corrects it in one click. The check never stops you from finishing.

Check
I'm Finished reads the whole paper

Citation typed by handGo to

Citation after the periodFix

Quote needs a page numberGo to

Quote long enough for a block quoteFix

Reference never citedGo to

Reference title needs sentence caseGo to

Also contractions and ampersands in your prose, numbers that should be words, and Turabian footnote markers.

Works where your Word works.

The same add-in and the same account, in APA 7, MLA 9, and Turabian 9.

Word for Windows with the PERRLA tab open: Title Page, Abstract, References & Citations, Research Notes, Insert Table, Save to PERRLA, and I'm Finished, above an APA paper with Table 1, Bigfoot Sightings by State.

Word for Windows

The full add-in: create papers, cite, footnotes, I'm Finished, and Add PERRLA to this paper for an APA document you already started. Microsoft 365, or Word 2016 or later.

Word for Mac with the PERRLA tab and the Refs & Citations panel open beside the paper Bigfoot: The Truth Revealed, listing Aitken (2003), Baliga et al. (2023), and Henderson (1998), each with Add Citation.

Word for Mac

The same PERRLA tab and side panel as on Windows, with the same tools: create papers, cite, footnotes, I'm Finished, and Add PERRLA to this paper. Your account and library come with you.

Word for the web in the browser with the PERRLA panel open on Refs & Citations beside the paper Bigfoot: The Truth Revealed.

Word for the web

Open Word in your browser and the PERRLA add-in comes with you, on a Chromebook too. Turabian footnotes display with one cosmetic limitation in the browser's editing view; the downloaded paper is right.

The same library as PERRLA Online and Google Docs.

A source you save in Word is in your library in PERRLA Online tonight and in Google Docs tomorrow. References, notes, and PDFs live on your account, not in one file.

  • Papers written in Word back up to your PERRLA account as you work
  • Your Writing Timeline covers papers written with the Word add-in
  • The Reference Annotator and Collections are in PERRLA Online, working from the same library
Word for Mac with a paper's References page on the left and, on the right, PERRLA's Journal form after a lookup: Review and edit the information we found to make sure it's correct, with Journal article selected.
A lookup in Word: PERRLA fills in the journal article and asks you to check it, beside the paper's References page.

Questions about PERRLA for Word

Is the Word add-in really free?
The add-in is free to install. Using it takes a PERRLA subscription, $79.95 a year after a free 7-day trial, and it works in Word, Google Docs, and PERRLA Online with one library.
Can I use PERRLA on a paper I already started in Word?
Yes, for the APA format. From the PERRLA tab, choose Add PERRLA to this paper and PERRLA sets up the document and lets you add references and citations. MLA and Turabian papers should be started from PERRLA.
Does it work on a Mac?
Yes. The PERRLA add-in runs in Word for Mac, with the same tab and side panel as on Windows. On any Mac you can also use PERRLA in Word for the web or in PERRLA Online, with the same account.
Does PERRLA send my paper anywhere?
Papers back up to your own PERRLA account. They are never sent to an AI service and never used to train anything.

Install the add-in and your next paper starts formatted.

Try PERRLA free for 7 days