Every source and every manuscript, in one place.
PERRLA is a research library and a writing platform in one. Bring your Zotero library and your PDFs, read and annotate them in PERRLA, and write the dissertation, the article, or the chapter with every citation and reference formatted for you.
For doctoral writers, faculty, and researchers who write in APA 7, MLA 9, or Turabian 9.
Already have PERRLA? Log in, then connect Zotero under Settings, Integrations.
Find and save. Add to PERRLA appears on 85+ research sites, beside every Google Scholar result. A source you already saved says Open in PERRLA. A DOI lookup or a Zotero import works too.
Reference Annotator. Read the PDF inside PERRLA, highlight a passage, and pin a note to it with #tags and links to your other sources. The page number comes along when you cite it.
Collections and tags. Collections nest the way your project is built, and one source can sit in two chapters at once. Tags cut across all of them.
Research Notes. Insert a note while you write and the quote lands at your cursor with its citation and page number. The source joins your references page.
Professional Paper. APA 7's version for journal submission, a separate paper type from the student paper.
Dissertation. Contents, List of Tables, and List of Figures build from your headings and captions, and keep their page numbers current.
Turabian 9. Footnotes on the page they belong to, numbered and renumbered for you, with the bibliography built alongside.
Annotated Bibliography. Each reference from your library, then your annotation, indented the way the format expects.
One real article, from a search result to a manuscript. The pages are formatted the way PERRLA does it.
Before you write: bring the library you already have.
Years of sources come with you, with their files and your notes, and every new one arrives already formatted.
From Zotero
Connect Zotero under Settings, Integrations. References, attached files, research notes, PDF highlights and annotations, tags, and collections come across. Re-import any time; it links to what's there instead of duplicating it.
From a .bib file
Import a .bib file in PERRLA Online or the Word add-in, or a zipped export with the PDFs inside. Keywords become tags, notes become Research Notes, and abstracts become descriptions.
From the database
The extension for Chrome and Edge puts Add to PERRLA on 85+ research sites, including Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, and ScienceDirect, and saves the PDF or a snapshot of the page with the reference.
From a DOI, ISBN, or link
Paste one and PERRLA fills the reference from the published record, attaching the open-access PDF when it finds one. If it can't find a match, it doesn't guess, and it never invents a reference.
While you read: four things PERRLA does with your sources.
Your reading, your notes, and your manuscript share one library, so nothing you marked gets lost between them.
References and attached PDFs
Notes, tags, and collections
Highlights keep their colors and page positions
Connect once, re-import whenever you like. If the library is bigger than your plan's storage, the references and notes still come across.
…we nonetheless suspect that many Bigfoot sightings are, in fact, of black bears… p. 1626
#black-bears Sykes et al., 2014
Read the PDF inside PERRLA, pin a note to the passage, and tag it. The page number travels into the citation when you use it.
Hair and footprints · Sightings · The legend
Papers, references, and files together
One source in Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 at once
Collections nest however your project is built, and a new paper can start from a Collection with its references loaded.
…such as a black bear or a cow (Sykes et al., 2014).
Type an opening parenthesis in APA or MLA, or # in Turabian, and pick the source. The references page or bibliography builds itself.
The reader and Collections are in PERRLA Online; the library and citing work in Word and Google Docs too.
While you write: the manuscript formatted as you go.
The parts that make a long manuscript long are the parts PERRLA Online builds for you.
- APA 7, student or professional paper, MLA 9, or Turabian 9 notes and bibliography.
- Table of Contents, List of Tables, and List of Figures built from your headings and captions, and rebuilt as the chapters move.
- Custom title pages and sections for Acknowledgments, Dedication, and Signatures.
- Footnotes on the page they belong to in Turabian, numbered and renumbered for you.
- Landscape pages for a wide table or figure, with the rest of the chapter in portrait.
- A LaTeX equation editor and code blocks, pre-formatted tables and figures, and appendices after the references.
Example contents page.
Prefer Word or Google Docs? The same library and the same citations work there. Everything in the PERRLA Online editor
It's not just a citation tool – it's a full writing system that makes drafting manuscripts that are APA & MLA compliant so easy!
Before it goes out: a checked draft for every reader.
Your chair reads every page. A co-author wants a Word file. An editor wants the format right the first time. PERRLA checks each draft against the rules before it goes to any of them.
When you click I'm Finished, PERRLA first reads the whole draft against the format's rules. It catches what a chair or reviewer would otherwise circle: a quote without its page number, a reference you never cited, a citation that landed after the period. Fix them in a click where PERRLA can, or go straight to each one. The check never stops you from finishing, and it never changes a word you didn't ask it to.
Then send the paper itself, as a Word document or a PDF, the way your chair or the journal asks for it. After each round of revisions, run the check again before the draft goes back out.
- Your draft
- Formatted as you write, with the references page building itself
- The checks
- The whole draft, read first: quotes missing a page number, references you never cited, citations after the period, quotes long enough for a block, titles in the wrong case
- The fixes
- One click where PERRLA can fix it, and a jump straight to the spot where it can't
- What you send
- The paper itself, as a Word document or PDF
- Next round
- Revise, click I'm Finished again, and send the new draft
For faculty: when your program licenses PERRLA, your account is free.
Write your own articles in the same PERRLA your students use for their papers, and open a student's Writing Timeline from the paper's title page when your school turns it on, at no extra cost.
…PERRLA is essential to my workflow as both a student and a teacher. I'm always writing papers and homework assignments or scholarly literature for publication. PERRLA helps me do all of it, so I can format and cite my work accurately and efficiently…
- Per student
- $9.95 a year, 10-seat minimum
- Faculty and staff
- Free, for life, and the account stays yours even if the program's license ends
- Writing Timeline
- Included at no extra cost, for schools that turn it on
- Pilot
- A free semester in exchange for a two-page case study
For years: room for a library that grows.
Every plan includes every feature. The plans differ in room for the files on your references and Collections, and Pro and Unlimited add Priority Support. Years of scanned chapters, image-heavy PDFs, and interview recordings need the room.
- Storage
- 2 GB, files up to 10 MB each
- Room for
- A few hundred article PDFs
- Storage
- 10 GB, files up to 50 MB each
- Room for
- Scanned chapters and image-heavy PDFs, plus Priority Support
- Storage
- Unlimited, files up to 100 MB each
- Room for
- Dissertations and interview recordings, plus Priority Support
Not ready to buy? Try PERRLA free for 7 days, no credit card. Papers never count toward storage, only the files attached to references and Collections. Full pricing and plan details
Already paying for storage somewhere else?
Zotero's paid plans are online storage alone, for syncing your files. PERRLA's include the whole writing platform, and your Zotero library comes across in one step.
| Zotero plan | Zotero price | With PERRLA | What that costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free, 300 MB | $0 a year | 2 GB in every PERRLA plan, nearly 7x the room | Included |
| 2 GB | $20 a year | 2 GB in every PERRLA plan | Included. Save $20. |
| 6 GB | $60 a year | 10 GB with PERRLA Pro | $19.95 a year more than PERRLA. Save $40. |
| Unlimited | $120 a year | Unlimited with PERRLA Unlimited | $44.95 a year more than PERRLA. Save $75. |
Zotero prices from zotero.org, September 2026. PERRLA improves the accuracy of your references on the way in. PERRLA vs Zotero, in detail
Questions from researchers and doctoral writers
Is PERRLA only for students?
Does PERRLA format the APA 7 professional paper?
What comes across when I import from Zotero?
I don't use Zotero. Can I bring my library another way?
How much storage does a dissertation need?
How do I send a draft to my chair, a co-author, or an editor?
Does PERRLA format the table of contents, footnotes, and appendices?
What happens to my library if my subscription ends?
Your library can grow for years and every source in it stays ready to cite.
Try PERRLA free for 7 days