Authorship is a Grammarly feature that records how your document was written, including text you typed, text you pasted, and text you edited with Grammarly. Your instructor uses the report to see your writing process.
If your instructor requires an Authorship report for a Canvas assignment, follow the steps in this article to submit it.
Before you start:
- Review your class instructions on academic integrity and AI use. Your instructor may have specific rules about which tools you can use.
- Make sure your Grammarly license is active, and install Grammarly in the app you write in: the browser extension for Google Docs (Chrome or Edge), or the desktop app for Microsoft Word (Windows or Mac).
- Open the assignment in Canvas and check for the This assignment requires Authorship message. It confirms your instructor has turned on Authorship for the assignment.
Step 1: Turn on Authorship before you start writing
Authorship only tracks writing from the moment you turn it on, so do this before you type anything.
- Open a new Google Doc (or Microsoft Word document) for your assignment.
- Find the thumbprint (fingerprint) icon in the lower-left corner of the screen.
- Select Track writing activity. The icon turns green when Authorship is on and stays gray when it is off.
- The first time you turn tracking on, allow clipboard access when prompted. Without it, Authorship can't identify where pasted text came from and labels it "Copied from an unknown source."
- Write your assignment as usual. To track every future document automatically, select Start automatically in the Authorship menu.
Note: On Mac, save your Word document before tracking can start. In Word, Authorship tracks up to 20 pages reliably.
Step 2: Get your report link
When you finish writing, open your report, review it, and turn on sharing.
- Click the thumbprint icon in the lower-left corner of the screen, then select See report. The report opens in a new browser tab.
- Review the report. It shows the breakdown of text you typed versus text you copied from a source, and flags text that may need a citation.
- Fix anything you want to address in your document, such as adding citations for sourced text.
- In the upper-right corner, click Share.
- Under Access settings, click on the dropdown menu, and select Anyone with the link.
- Decide whether to keep Include writing replay selected. The replay shows your full typing and editing history. Your instructor sees it only if you include it.
- Click Copy to save the share link. Keep this link handy for the next step.
Step 3: Submit your report link in Canvas
- In Canvas, open the assignment. The This assignment requires Authorship section appears below the instructions.
- Paste your report link into the Authorship report URL box and click Submit.
- Wait for the confirmation message that the link was saved and verified. If an error appears, follow the message to fix the link, then submit it again.
- To use a different report, paste the new link and submit it again. You can replace the report any time before you submit the assignment.
- Once ready, click Submit Assignment. Saving the report link does not submit your work.
After you submit, your Authorship report appears with your submission.
Video tutorial
Tips and troubleshooting
- Turn Authorship on first. It can't track writing done before you turned it on. If the icon is gray, tracking is off.
- Allow clipboard access. Without it, pasted text is labeled "Copied from an unknown source."
- Check sharing. If your instructor can't open the report, confirm access is set to Anyone with the link.
- Link not accepted? Copy the link again from the Share window and make sure you pasted all of it.
- Same account on any device. Authorship data follows your Grammarly account, so you can write on any device and generate your report from any of them.
- Delete a report. You can delete a shared report from your Authorship page at any time.
For more about what Authorship tracks and how reports work, see this article: Introducing Authorship