Guides: Using Electronic Resources: Browser Extensions

Browser extensions can efficiently connect you to the full text of publications, bypassing the need for PennText pages. Try them all to see which ones fit best with your workflow. Keep them all or just those that work for you.

Why use browser extensions?

help quickly connect you to PDFs
allow bypass of PennText pages
some give options for ordering article if the full text is not found online

What do browser extensions do?

Scan the page metadata for DOIs (digital object identifiers) and sometime PubMed PMIDs (unique identifiers used in the PubMed database)
Search library holdings and open access journals (often using unpaywall database of open access articles)
In the case of the Google Scholar button, search Google Scholar, Researchgate Academia.edu and authors' personal websites (questionable copyright) for the title
some give options for ordering articles if the full text is not found online

Browser extension compatibilities

Extensions generally work best with the most updated versions of modern browsers.

Editing or Removing Browser Extensions

Chrome

Open Chrome
Click extension icon in browser bar. Pin or unpin using pin icon or access more options by clicking the three dots:

Click the three dots in the browser bar,

then choose More Tools > Extensions

Firefox

Open Firefox
In the upper right corner, click the Open menu icon
In the drop-down menu, select Add-ons
On the left side of the Add-ons Manager, choose Extensions
Under Enabled, toggle extensions off and on, or click on three dots and remove:

Edge

Open Edge
In the upper right-hand corner choose the Settings and more icon
From the drop-down menu, choose Extensions.
Under Installed extensions, toggle extensions off and on, or choose Remove.

Safari

Open Safari
From the top menu bar choose Safari and then Preferences

In the Preferences window, choose the Extensions tab.
Uncheck any boxes next to the extensions you want to disable
To remove the extension, select the extension name on the left and then click the Uninstall button.