Paperpile in Word, Google Docs, and the Browser: How the Citations Actually Work

Paperpile runs across three different surfaces — a Chrome browser extension, a native Google Docs add-on, and a Microsoft Word add-in — and they are not three equal doors into the same room. The browser extension is the part of Paperpile that actually exists first: your account is created and signed in through Chrome, and your library lives in a Google-authenticated cloud service, not inside any one document editor. Google Docs support was Paperpile’s original, signature feature. The Word add-in is newer, still labelled beta by Paperpile itself, and works on a structurally different mechanism — which matters a great deal if your lab drafts in Google Docs and has to submit to a journal that only accepts Word.

This page is about that mechanism, not a general “how to use Paperpile” walkthrough. For a broader tool comparison, see Zotero vs. EndNote vs. Mendeley vs. RefWorks vs. Paperpile; for the equivalent Google-Docs-mechanism question on a different tool, see Using Zotero with Google Docs.

The three surfaces, and what each one actually is

• Chrome extension (the browser). This is the capture and account layer. Paperpile accounts are created and signed in through Chrome, and the extension is what lets you save a paper’s metadata and PDF to your library with one click while browsing Google Scholar, a publisher’s site, or a database — the same one-click mechanism confirmed for Paperpile’s Connected Papers integration, which pulls a paper (including its listed Prior Works and Derivative Works) straight into a Paperpile library from a citation graph.
• Google Docs add-on. Native, first-party, and the feature Paperpile is originally built around — insert and format citations and a bibliography directly inside a Google Doc without leaving the browser.
• Word add-in. A separate, newer plugin, downloadable for Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel builds both exist). As of this check, Paperpile still labels it Beta on its own site, with the caveat: “We are still polishing some parts of the app and working on the support pages in our new Help Center. That’s why we still call it Beta — but it’s ready to use.” It is not a toy beta, though — Paperpile describes it as already used by thousands of users.

None of these three is optional infrastructure for the others. You cannot set up Paperpile without a Chrome-authenticated account, even if every document you ever cite in is a Word file — the library, sync, and account layer runs through the same Google-authenticated service regardless of which word processor you’re formatting citations in.

The real technical difference: Word form fields vs. Google Docs links

This is the detail that actually explains what breaks and what doesn’t when a manuscript moves between the two editors, and it comes directly from Paperpile’s own documentation: Word and Google Docs do not store a Paperpile citation the same way.

• In Word, Paperpile encodes each citation as a native Word form field. Form fields stay editable inside the .docx file, but — and this is the load-bearing fact for journal submission — they do not show up when you export the document to PDF. A reviewer or production editor opening the exported PDF sees only clean, formatted citation text; the underlying field codes are invisible.
• In Google Docs, Paperpile has no equivalent container to write into, so each citation is stored as a link — ordinary-looking citation text carrying a URL that maps back to the item in your library, plus document metadata connecting the two. The citation is only “live” as long as that link survives; anything that strips it (copy-pasting into a different app, some export paths, an editor who doesn’t have the add-on) leaves behind text that looks like a citation but no longer updates.

Paperpile’s own FAQ documentation states that its Word plugin supports converting citations that originated in Google Docs format into Word’s native form fields when a document moves into Word — which is the direct answer to “can a Docs-first lab submit to a Word-only journal”: yes, by finishing the move to Word (rather than only pasting text out of Google Docs) and letting the Word add-in convert citations into form fields before final formatting and PDF export. Doing that swap late, after most editing is already done, is more reliable than trying to draft the whole manuscript by pasting between the two editors repeatedly.

Practical workflow: drafting in Google Docs, submitting to a Word-only journal

1. Draft and cite normally in Google Docs using Paperpile’s native add-on — this is the fastest surface for early-stage writing since it needs no separate install beyond the Chrome extension already running your account.
2. Once the manuscript is stable, open or paste the content into Word and use Paperpile’s Word add-in (not a plain copy-paste of already-formatted text) so citations convert into Word’s own form-field format rather than staying as inert, unlinked text.
3. In Word, set the target journal’s citation style from the Paperpile tab and let the add-in regenerate the formatted bibliography against Word’s field codes.
4. Export to PDF for submission. Because form fields don’t render in PDF output, the exported file shows clean citation text with no visible codes or links — the same clean result an EndNote or Mendeley Cite for Word document would produce, even though Paperpile’s Google Docs citations started out on a completely different, link-based mechanism.

The failure mode to watch for is skipping step 2 — pasting a Google-Docs-formatted manuscript straight into Word without going through the add-in’s own conversion leaves the old link-based citation text behind as dead, unlinked strings that will not regenerate correctly if the citation style or reference list changes afterward.

The browser extension is doing more than “save this page”

Because the Chrome extension is also the account and sync layer, it is worth treating as more than a bookmarklet. It performs one-click capture of a paper’s metadata and PDF from Google Scholar, publisher pages, and academic databases directly into your library, and the same mechanism powers integrations with adjacent discovery tools — for example, Paperpile’s Connected Papers integration lets you pull a paper directly out of a citation-mapping graph (including papers listed under Prior Works or Derivative Works) into your library with one click, rather than exporting and re-importing a file.

Cost, since it affects which surface a lab actually standardizes on

Unlike Zotero (free) or a library-licensed EndNote/RefWorks seat, Paperpile is a paid, individually priced subscription: as of Paperpile’s own pricing page, the academic rate is $4.15/month with a 50% academic discount applied (the non-academic rate is $8.30/month). That single per-user cost covers all three surfaces — browser, Google Docs, and Word — there is no separate charge for using the Word add-in once you have an account.

Common questions

Does Paperpile have an actual Microsoft Word plugin, or only Google Docs?

Both. Google Docs support is Paperpile’s original, native integration; the Word add-in is a separate, more recently built plugin, still labelled Beta by Paperpile itself but described as already in regular use by thousands of people.

Can I use Paperpile in Word and Google Docs on the same manuscript?

Yes, but not by freely bouncing back and forth. Draft in one editor, then deliberately move the document into the other and let that editor’s Paperpile add-in re-convert the citations into its own native format (Word form fields, or Google Docs links) — see the workflow above.

Will my citations survive if I just copy and paste from Google Docs into Word?

Not reliably. A plain copy-paste carries over the visible citation text but not the underlying Paperpile link, so the pasted citations stop updating. Use the Word add-in’s own conversion path instead of a manual copy-paste.

Do I still need Chrome if I only ever cite in Word?

Yes. Paperpile accounts are created and authenticated through Chrome, and the library/sync layer runs through that same Google-authenticated service regardless of which word processor you format citations in.

Do Paperpile’s Word citations show up if I export to PDF?

No. Paperpile stores Word citations as Word form fields, which remain editable in the .docx file but are not rendered when the document is exported to PDF — the exported file shows only the formatted citation text.

For the wider tool landscape — how Paperpile’s pricing, storage, and Word/Docs support compare against Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, and RefWorks side by side — see the full reference-manager comparison. For a research group choosing and licensing a reference manager as a whole, see Citation management software for a research group. For the equivalent Word add-in install/setup layer on a different tool, see Installing Mendeley Cite: the Word add-in setup, sign-in, and fixes.