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Writing Studio terminology

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Short definitions of the words Writing Studio uses, from paper and course to brief, AI rules and writing history, each with a link to the page that explains it.

These are the words Writing Studio uses, in plain English, grouped by what they’re about. Each one links to the page that explains it properly.

Your work

  • Paper (or document). The thing you write: an essay, a report, a chapter. Each paper has its own title, citation style, word goal and AI rules. See Start your first paper.
  • Course. A group for your papers, such as PSYC 201. A new paper filed in a course starts with that course’s citation style, typeface and AI rules, and your Library can group sources by course as well. See Organize papers into courses.
  • Folder. A group inside a course, for example one per assignment. Folders can hold other folders. See Organize papers into courses.
  • Archive. Where papers go when you set them aside. You can restore an archived paper, and if you switch on the clean-up option, archived papers are deleted for good after 30 days. See Rename, duplicate, archive or delete a paper.
  • Snapshot. A saved copy of a paper at one moment. Writing Studio takes one when you pause for 25 seconds or more after a change, and before things like a restore or a chat edit, so you can compare and go back. See See and restore past versions.

Sources

  • Source. A work you can cite: a journal article, a book, a report, a web page or a PDF you uploaded. It’s stored as a record, with its title, authors, year and DOI, not as typed text, which is how Writing Studio can show it in any style. See Edit a source’s details.
  • Library. Every source you’ve saved, cited or uploaded, shared across all your papers. You open it from the sidebar. See Get to know your library.
  • Collection. A named group of sources inside your Library, such as everything you’ve read on sleep and memory. See Organize sources with collections and filters.
  • DOI. A permanent code that identifies a published work, like 10.1038/nrn2762. Paste one into the Citation finder to cite exactly that work. See Paste a DOI or other ID.
  • Citation. The mark in your text that points to a source, such as (Diekelmann & Born, 2010). It’s tied to the source rather than typed, so it changes when you change style and updates when you correct the source. See Cite a source with @.
  • Live citation. A citation that’s tied to a source in your library. Citations typed as plain text, for example in an imported Word file, can be turned into live ones. See Turn typed citations into live ones.
  • Reference list. The full references at the end of your paper, built automatically from your citations. It’s called References, Works Cited or Bibliography, depending on the style. See Your reference list.
  • Citation style. The rules for how citations and references look. APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago 17th, IEEE, Harvard and Vancouver are built in, and more than 10,000 others are available. See Change your citation style.
  • Placeholder. A [citation needed] marker you leave where a source belongs, to fill in later. See Add a source by hand or a placeholder.

Briefs and AI

  • Brief (assignment brief). The instructions your tutor gave you: the question, the length, the citation style and the due date. Writing Studio keeps it with the paper, uses it to guide the AI and source searches, and can read the details out of it. See Read your assignment brief.
  • Section brief. Guidance for the AI about one heading, or the whole paper: what the section must cover, and what to avoid. It’s your note to the AI, not your tutor’s brief. See Guide the AI with briefs.
  • Assignment checklist. The list Writing Studio builds from your brief in the Check tab: the word count, citation style, due date and each requirement, to tick off as you go. See Read your assignment brief.
  • Autocomplete. Grey text that suggests how your sentence might continue. Press Tab to accept it, or keep typing to ignore it. See Write faster with autocomplete.
  • AI Chat. The chat beside your paper. It reads your paper and your library, finds sources, and can edit your draft when you ask it to. See Chat with AI about your paper.
  • Rewrite. Select some words and ask the AI to change them, for example to shorten or simplify. You choose whether the result replaces your text or goes below it. See Rewrite highlighted text.
  • Review. A pass in which the AI reads your paper and flags problems as suggestions you can apply or dismiss. Proofread, Claims and Tone are reviews, and Plus and Pro add a peer review. See Proofread and review your paper.
  • AI rules. The AI help your course allows on one assignment, such as “No drafting” or “Feedback only”. Features the rules don’t allow are switched off for that paper. They guide you rather than lock you, and they appear on your AI use statement. See Set AI rules for an assignment.
  • Allowance. How much AI help your plan includes in a day or a month, counted separately for things like chat messages, autocompletes and edits. Searching, citing and exporting aren’t counted. See AI allowances and limits.
  • Own key. Your own API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or xAI. Most AI features then run on your account instead of using your plan’s allowances. See Use your own AI key.
  • Literature review. A tool that searches the databases, reads the papers and writes a review of a topic as a new paper. It needs Plus or Pro, or your own key. See Write a literature review.

Checking and proof

  • Check my paper. The Check tab beside your paper. It gathers what’s still open before you submit: length, what your assignment asked for, your references, claims without a citation and empty headings. See Check your paper before you submit.
  • Reference check. Writing Studio compares each source in your paper with its published record in the background. A source is Verified, or flagged as Check details, Not found or Retracted. See Check your references.
  • Citation checker. A tool in the sidebar that checks a reference list, or a whole paper, written anywhere, not only in Writing Studio. See Check a reference list with the Citation checker.
  • Writing history. A private record of where your text came from: typed, pasted, imported or accepted from the AI. It never records keystrokes. See See your writing history.
  • AI use statement. A short paragraph or task list, written from your writing history, that says how you used AI. Some courses ask for one. See Write your AI use statement.
  • Writing receipt. A PDF, or a link you can turn off, that shows how a paper was written without showing its text. See Share a writing receipt.

Sharing

  • Role. What someone can do in a paper you share. An Editor can edit and comment, a Commenter can comment but not edit, and a Viewer can only read. Only the owner of the paper adds people or changes access. See Understand roles and access.
  • Published page. A public, read-only web page of your paper that search engines can find. Every save goes public until you unpublish it. See Publish a paper on the web.

Saving

Frequently asked questions

Is a paper the same as a document?

Yes. The app's menus say document, as in New document and Documents, and this help center usually says paper. They mean the same thing: one piece of writing, with its own title, settings and sources.

What is the difference between a course and a collection?

A course groups your papers, and a new paper filed in it takes the course's citation style, typeface and AI rules. A collection groups sources inside your Library, for example everything you've read on one topic.

What is the difference between an assignment brief and a section brief?

The assignment brief is the instructions your tutor gave you, which Writing Studio reads to set up your paper. A section brief is guidance you write yourself for the AI, for one heading or the whole paper.