Learning Technology

What is Paperpile?

Paperpile allows the individual user to retrieve, store, cite and manage one’s PDF literature from a variety of sources such as journal articles, books, paper articles, conference papers, videos and many other print articles. It also allows the user to be consistent with their referencing and use those references in a manner that allows the user to edit the document themselves. This citation manager software is essential and practical for academic writing as it is integrated with Google Docs and Google Scholar and Google Chrome browser extension. It comes with many unique and helpful features making it easily accessible, convenient and easy to use.

An e-learning tool is a technology-based platform that uses the Internet to aid in learning and education. Paperpile's functionality is part of a learning system that can be used as a basis for formalized teaching either in or outside the classrooms. The sharing of information when working in a group situation that promotes a network- enabled transfer of skills and knowledge and delivers education to a large number of individuals to learn at their own pace both synchronously and asynchronously.

Within the research community, academic writing management software is seen as a form of a second language. This tool has enabled teaching and learning of writing, a crucial component of research. Managing references has now become popular but it is also a necessity in producing a high-quality research paper.

Features

Paperpile is a versatile tool that provides various features to assist users with their research process and writing. As a reference manager, Paperpile has the ability to store one’s library of PDFs in a convenient location that is accessible from the Cloud, wherever one may be. Once stored in Paperpile, users have the ability to annotate these PDFs, making notes or adding sticky notes to highlight important points, create summaries and share these documents with others with ease.

This reference manager, however, is not only limited to storing PDFs. Within the application itself, users can search for journal articles, news articles, scholarly papers, etc. and store reference information, PDFs, and other file formats like MS Word, Excel, etc. With the popularity and ease of use of Paperpile, thousands of publishers are supported and users can click the Paperpile icon to import the metadata directly to their Paperpile account. If a PDF or a file like MS Word is available, it becomes readily available in the user’s account once it is imported. Below is an example of this feature from a recent assignment from EGLC 755 PhD class with Dr. Haniya.

Citation Style

Paperpile allows users to organize their documents however they see fit and, provides a convenient location to access this information. With Paperpile, users can view the citation for the paper, if already available, or create/edit as necessary and set the type of citation style they need. Furthermore, users can also import the BibTex for a paper and add it to Paperpile to create a citation if one is not available already.

Citing and Bibliography

When the user is ready to start writing, Paperpile’s integration with Google Docs, iOS, and Microsoft Word, allows users to easily create in-text citations by searching the user’s library or by searching online for specific literature. Once the user chooses the proper literature, an in-text citation is automatically inserted into the document itself. Once the user completes writing the paper, they can format the citation to the proper style and Paperpile will scan the document for all in-text citations used. It will then automatically create a bibliography with all the references used within that paper. Users also can use Paperpile’s built-in tool to find incomplete citations and duplicate references to ensure proper formatting when writing their research papers (See the attached video from Paperpile showcasing these features).

One of the many appealing features of Paperpile is its ability for users to collaborate with others in a group setting. Not only can users create shared folders to share reference materials, but users can also work together in Google Docs and implement all the features mentioned above, such as simultaneously working on a paper and drawing from the group’s reference material for citations.

google-docs-citations-bibliography.mp4

References

Haniya, S., Tzirides, O., Montebello, M., Georgiadou, K., Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2019). Maximizing learning potential with multimodality: A case study. World Journal of Educational Research, 6(2), 260–269.

Paperpile. (n.d.) Paperpile: add citations and bibliographies to your google docs [Video]. Paperpile. https://paperpile.com/features/google-docs-citations-bibliography/

Paperpile. [@paperpile]. (2013, July 13). Paperpile (original introduction from 2013) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r80ecyGlCw

Suh, A. (2023, February 17). Adding documents to paperpile - interactive [Image, Screen Capture].

Suh, A. (2023, February 17). Changing reference style in paperpile - interactive [Image, Screen Capture].

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