The Chrome extension is a new tool that allows you to reference different websites without having to open multiple tabs.
To install the extension, click on the Chrome web store link and then click “Add to Chrome” in the top-right corner of the screen.
When you’re using it, adding references is as simple as clicking on the small icon in the top-right corner of your page, which will bring up a small window where you can enter all of your references.
Chrome Extension For Referencing
From literature searches to collaborative online writing, a significant amount of the research process now takes place online. Andy Tattersall provides a list of useful Google Chrome extensions that can be added to the browser to help facilitate the daily academic workflow. Recommendations below cover tools for reference management, link saving, and finding quick access to academic articles.
Not everyone uses Google Chrome as their browser of choice, some can’t install it, others can’t get on with it and there are probably a few who still do not realise it exists. Whilst Chrome has a wealth of good reasons why you should use it, from syncing your accounts across devices to its search functionality; there are other reasons why you should consider Chrome. These are called extensions which you can install to improve your web experience even more. There are a growing number of useful extensions for the digital academic, of which I have picked 10 of the best below. I’ve also given the Chrome Store average review and how many copies of each extension has been installed, as a broad indicator of popularity and uptake.
Readability
Readability is a tool I’ve promoted on countless occasions thanks to ability to turn complicated, image and link-heavy web pages into simple, clean PDF type documents. By clicking this extension whilst viewing a webpage you can read the article free of distraction or save it later to read offline on your computer or tablet.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 /5 – 583k users
Evernote
Evernote is a bit of a Swiss Army Knife of an extension. Not only does it do something very similar to Readability and clean up web pages for later viewing but it also captures the web page in full with its Web Clipper tool. You can also take screenshots, save articles and bookmark pages to your Evernote scrapbook.
Chrome Web Store Rating 3 /5 76k users
bit.ly
If you are making a presentation, poster or writing something that requires a URL it’s important to make those links as easy to copy and access as possible. Very often presentations link to external artefacts, or give copyright attributions that have a URL so long and complicated that only the most eagle-eyed will be able to write it down before the presentation moves on. The Bit.ly button turns the long URL into something much more digestible, as well as make it useful for anyone Tweeting the link and wanting to save on character space.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 /5 343k users
Nimbus Screenshot
Taking screenshots can be a laborious task and often resulted in hitting the ‘Print Screen’ button followed by cropping the outer content in Paint (when you could find it), PowerPoint or some other tool. Nimbus Screenshot is one of many similar tools that allows capture and crop all directly from the browser. Cropped content can be edited and annotated before being saved locally to your computer.
Chrome Web Store Rating 41/2 / 5 – 257k users
Lazy Scholar
An interesting and inventive extension to say the least. Lazy Scholar gives users a snapshot of metrics relating to a piece of research. It can be hit and miss at times but is worth trying out to see what data it retrieves. By clicking on the extension in sites such as Pubmed the Lazy Scholar toolbar pops up giving information on Scholar Cites, Web of Science score, Altmetric score, Journal Impact Factor, as well as contact email and whether there have been any comments on the paper.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 /5 – 7k users
Google Scholar Button
This works with Google Scholar and turns search results into easy copy and paste references using the main styles of APA, MLA and Chicago. The extension also allows you to track down PDFs of the paper and export results in a variety of formats that can be used in reference management packages.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 ½ / 5 – 334k users
Image credit: Google Scholar Button
SilverBird
This is an extension for Twitter that mirrors your Twitter experience and allows you to follow your timelines, compose Tweets, share, delete and favourite them. It automatically creates short URLs within the extension and acts as a notifier for new Tweets.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4.5/5 – 280k users
PaperPile
Unlike the other extensions in this list, PaperPile isn’t free but comes with a 30 day free trial so at least you can decide whether it is useful. PaperPile is a reference management tool for researchers and students who rely on Google Apps to carry out their research. One of the flaws in the Google education model has been the lack of a good, solid reference management tool. Tools like Mendeley, Zotero and Endnote are quite comprehensive and rightly so as accurate and thorough referencing in academia is important. So whether this extension can match these established tools, only time will tell. Nevertheless it is worth investigation for Chrome based researchers.
Chrome Web Store Rating 5/5 – 2k users
Cite This For Me
Another citation tool to investigate alongside the excellent EasyBib and RefMe ones that are also worth looking at. Cite This For Me can create references in APA, Chicago, Harvard and MLA formats and provides a pop-up box containing the appropriately formatted reference for books, newspapers, journals and more. I tried it with a BBC football story and it worked fine, allowing me to switch between citation styles. It gives the option of adding to your Cite This For Me bibliography or exporting to a piece of research.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 ½ / 5 – 85k users
Image credit: XKCD (Wikimedia)
Extension Manager
After a while you might start to notice whilst having multiple Chrome tabs open that your computer struggles with performance. Obviously having multiple tabs open is going to use valuable computing resources. Having lots of extensions running can also be at the detriment of your computing experience. Therefore it becomes increasingly important to have an extension to manage your extensions, especially when you accrue so many, some of which you may have stopped using.
Chrome Web Store Rating 4 ½ / 5 – users 90k
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best citation chrome extension
Whether you are writing school assignments or academic papers, research work can get overwhelming in no time—especially when you have to curate your sources, cite them, add references and do so much more.
If not done right, incorrect or incomplete citations can be considered plagiarism. But what if your browser helps you properly cite your sources?
One of the reasons Google Chrome is so popular is that it has amazing extensions, and some of them let you create citations and bibliographies easily. Here are the best Chrome extensions that can help you create accurate citations automatically.
- Free APA and MLA Citation Generator
free-apa-mla-citation-generator
Creating citations manually is no easy feat, especially when you are in the middle of research. However, APA and MLA Citation Generator can make the process fast and free.
With this extremely easy-to-use Chrome extension, you can create in-text citations and work cited lists in MLA, APA, and Chicago style formats. Also, it shows you related sources you can research from and build collaborative bibliographies with peers and teachers. The extension is ad-free.
Download: Free APA and MLA Citation Generator (Free)
- BibItNow
bib-it-now-extension
Creating dynamic citations is no longer a nightmare. BibItNow is a lightweight citation tool that extracts your citation data and formats it in MLA, APA, Endnote, or other user-defined style formats of your choice. Moreover, every citation generated with this Chrome extension can be easily modified and adjusted with a few tweaks.
Once your citation is generated, you can copy it to your clipboard or download it in a file. Unfortunately, it does not come with a library system like the others.
Download: BibItNow (Free)
- Citationsy
Citationsy citation maker
Cite websites, books, songs, podcasts, videos, and pretty much everything effortlessly with Citationsy. But, that’s not all; there’s another thing Citationsy does extremely well. It helps you create the perfect references and footnotes almost every time.
To cite a website, you have to go to the website and click on the Citationsy Chrome extension. A small window will pop up on your screen. Find and choose a project, and add the newly generated citation to it. Besides, Citationsy is one of those fantastic and automatic citation apps widely available on several other platforms.
Download: Citationsy ($9.99/month)
- Lazy Scholar
lazy-scholar-extension-citing
Designed specifically for scientific articles and related research work, Lazy Scholar is a practical tool that helps you stay on top of your school assignments or academic work.
With the Lazy Scholar Chrome extension, you can find freely available full-text of books or journals the moment you open them. Do you want to create a distraction-free zone? You can do so easily by blocking all non-academic sites for an hour each time.
In addition, you can extract helpful information and other metrics about your paper while also confirming if a journal falls in Beall’s list of predatory journals. All with a single click!
Download: Lazy Scholar (Free)
- MyBib: Free Citation Generator
mybib-citation-generator-chrome-extension
MyBib is another citation tool that is extremely popular with digital researchers worldwide. The MyBib Chrome extension creates accurate and automatic citations in over 9000 style formats.
To use it, you simply have to browse through the journal article or website you want to cite and click on the Chrome extension. Your citation will be generated in a second. Now you can either copy-paste it directly to your paper or export it to other citation managers like Mendeley or Zotero or print it directly or save it as BibTex.
Not only that! With constant updates and zero ads, MyBib is a productivity tool that doubles your efficiency and your citation’s accuracy like no other.
Download: MyBib: Free Citation Generator (Free)
- Cite This For Me: Web Citer
cite-this-for-me-chrome-extension
If you are looking for a citation add-on trusted by millions of users worldwide, you should check out Cite This For Me. Being one of the most popular citation tools today, it is also one of the oldest ones.
The Chrome extension supports APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard style formats. Learning how to use it is really simple. Browse the website you want to cite, and click on the Chrome extension to copy-paste your citation into your assignment. In addition, you can build an online bibliography with Cite This For Me and have all your citations in one place.
Download: Cite This For Me: Web Citer (Free)
- Plagly
plagly-chrome-extension-film-citation
Whether you are working on your homework or a prestigious research assignment, avoiding plagiarism is of utmost importance. Plagly helps you steer clear of plagiarism by citing your sources well.
Compatible with MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and Turabian style formats, Plagly gives you the option to choose your preferred style format. Once done, you can select the category (for example, books, films, podcasts, and journals) and click on the Chrome extension. Your citation is ready! Now, you can either copy-paste it directly to your assignment or store it in your cloud project for later use.
Download: Plagly (Free)
- EasyBib Toolbar
easybib-extension-citation-reference
EasyBib Toolbar is the world’s largest bibliography maker and citation machine. What makes it the best is not its ability to cite websites with a single click but its feature to provide advice on the credibility of the website you are citing.
You can cite endless sources with this powerful Chrome extension. Besides, EasyBib Toolbar is a useful tool to build bibliographies that are fully formatted, Word-ready, and alphabetized.
Download: EasyBib Toolbar (Free)
- Bibcitation
bibcitation-extension-website-citing
Being one of the cleanest citation tools out there, Bibcitation lets you create automatic citations for books, journals, and websites with a single click. With this powerful Chrome extension, you can export citations in APA, MLA, and 9000 more style formats.
When you want to cite a journal article or a website, go to the website and activate the Chrome extension. Then, you can either copy the citations that have been automatically generated or form a cohesive and complete Work Cited List in Bibcitation.com.
Download: Bibcitation (Free)
- WebCite
webcite-extension-citing-journal
Using citation tools can get boring but not if you’re using WebCite. This Chrome extension is power-packed with features that can redefine the accuracy and efficiency of your citations.
You can automatically create accurate citations, check your source’s credibility, manually modify citations, and export them to Google Docs and Microsoft Word. WebCite supports MLA and APA citation style formats and can handle multiple bibliographies at once. Thus, it has the power to make your research life a lot easier!
Download: WebCite (Free)
Chrome Extensions Can Help You Save Hundreds of Hours
No longer do you need to spend hours and days curating resources and formatting your bibliographies manually. Automatic citation generators save a lot of your time that you can utilize for doing meaningful research.
While “to err is human,” academic research demands accuracy and precision that these Chrome extensions can help you achieve. But remember to stay up-to-date with citation style formats so that you know how to spot it if there’s an error.
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