Install the institutional helper
In about 2 minutes, PapersPlz can also fetch paywalled papers you can access through your university. Your credentials never leave your browser.
Step 1 · Download the extension
Click the button. It downloads papersplz-extension.zip.
Step 2 · Unzip it
On Mac: double-click the zip. Finder creates a folder named papersplz-extension in the same place.
On Windows: right-click → "Extract all" → choose any folder. Remember where you put it.
Important: do not delete or move that folder afterwards. Chrome reads the extension from that location.
Step 3 · Open Chrome extensions
Paste chrome://extensions into the address bar and press Enter.
This also works in Edge (edge://extensions), Brave, Opera, and other Chromium-based browsers.
Step 4 · Enable Developer mode
In the top-right corner, turn on Developer mode.
Three new buttons appear: Load unpacked, Pack extension, and Update.
Step 5 · Load the extension
- Click Load unpacked in the top-left corner.
- Select the
papersplz-extensionfolder you unzipped in step 2. - The extension appears in the list with the PapersPlz paper icon.
Done. You will see a new icon in the browser extensions area.
Step 6 · Sign in to publishers where you have access
This is the only manual bit, and you usually do it once. For each publisher licensed by your institution, open its website and sign in through your institution:
- Open, for example, sciencedirect.com.
- Click Sign in in the top-right corner.
- Choose Sign in via your institution.
- Search for your university by name, then continue to your university login.
- Log in with your institutional username and password. The publisher page should reopen authenticated.
That browser session usually lasts for weeks. Repeat this for each publisher where you have paywalled access. Common ones:
Step 7 · Upload a paper in PapersPlz
Go back to the home page. You should see a green Institutional helper detected message. Upload a paper as usual.
When PapersPlz finds paywalled papers in the bibliography, the extension downloads them through your active browser sessions and sends them for processing. If a publisher still needs login, the final screen shows Sign in to X buttons with how many extra papers you could recover there.
Troubleshooting
Developer mode does not appear
Your organization may manage Chrome with policies that block unpacked extensions. This can happen at universities and large companies. Try a personal Chrome profile, Brave, or Edge.
The extension is loaded, but the page does not say "Institutional helper detected"
Hard-refresh the page with Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R. If it still does not appear, check chrome://extensions and make sure the extension is enabled.
Paywalled papers still appear grey even with the extension
You are probably not signed in on those specific publisher sites. After processing, the Done screen shows "Sign in to X" buttons with the publisher name and a count. Click one, sign in through your institution, then come back and process the paper again.
My university uses classic EZproxy, not Shibboleth
If your library gives you URLs like www-sciencedirect-com.xxxxx.youruni.edu, click the extension icon → "Advanced settings · EZproxy" → paste xxxxx.youruni.edu → Save. The extension will rewrite DOI URLs through your proxy. Most universities do not need this.
I want to inspect the extension code
The code is visible in the folder you unzipped: small JS files (background.js, content.js, popup.js) plus HTML. Chrome extensions are auditable by design: your browser lets you inspect the code before installing it.