Citation Grabber (Chrome Extension)

Citation Grabber is a lightweight Chrome extension that generates clean citations directly from the page you’re viewing — no need to copy/paste into external citation websites.

It supports common research sources like web articles, Wikipedia pages, and PDFs opened in Chrome, with quick editing + copy-to-clipboard built in.

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Features

• Generates citations in:
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • IEEE
• Works on:
  • Web articles / webpages
  • Wikipedia pages
  • PDFs opened in Chrome (PDF detected mode)
• Auto-extracts citation info (when available):
  • Title
  • Author(s)
  • Publish date
  • Website / publisher
  • URL
  • Accessed date
• If a detail is missing, you can type it in manually or leave it blank
• Multi-author support + optional "et al." handling (when applicable)
• Citation output includes:
  • Copy icon (copies citation instantly)
  • Edit icon (lets you edit final citation before copying)
  • Minimal "Copied ✓" confirmation
• Save up to 10 citations for quick access later

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How to Install (Local Testing)

1. Download or clone this repository.

2. Open Chrome and go to:

   chrome://extensions/

3. Turn on Developer mode (top right).

4. Click Load unpacked.

5. Select the project folder that contains manifest.json.

6. (Optional) Pin the extension or add to toolbar for easy access:

   • Click the puzzle icon 🧩 in the Chrome toolbar
   • Pin Citation Grabber

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How to Use

1. Open any webpage, Wikipedia page, or PDF in Chrome.
2. Click the Citation Grabber extension icon.
3. Choose a citation style from the dropdown (top-left).
4. Edit any missing fields (author, date, etc.) if needed.
5. Click the copy icon to copy your citation.

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Test Pages

Try testing on:

• A normal article page (news/blog)
• A Wikipedia page
• A PDF opened in Chrome (drag a PDF into a tab)

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Limitations

• PDF metadata extraction is limited due to Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer
  • The extension may fall back to the PDF filename/tab title
• Author/date detection uses heuristics
  • Some sites use non-standard markup, so manual entry may be needed
• Saved citations are stored locally (no cloud sync)
• IEEE citation number is static (defaults to [1])
• No integration with academic APIs (CrossRef / PubMed) in the current version

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Tech Stack

• Chrome Extension (Manifest V3)
• JavaScript / HTML / CSS
• chrome.storage.local for saved citations + preferences