PERRLA/Product/Writing Timeline
Show the work behind your paper
PERRLA already saves your paper as you write. The Writing Timeline turns those saves into a simple summary of how your paper grew, session by session, so you have something real to share if anyone asks how you wrote it.
Included with every PERRLA plan and every site license, with nothing to install.
Paper growth1,880 words
Sessions9 sessions over 11 days
Time worked6 h 40 min
Cut while revising410 words
Sources7 references added, 7 cited
Shows Day 1 to Day 11. Never a date, never a time of day, never the text.
Illustration of a timeline summary for a made-up paper. Yours is on your paper's Overview tab in PERRLA Online.
What your timeline shows
Everything on it comes from the saves PERRLA already makes while you write.
Your writing sessions
Each time you sat down to work on the paper, and how long you stayed with it.
How your paper grew
A chart of your word count from the first save to the last, including the words you cut while revising.
The sources you added
When each reference came into your paper, and when you cited it.
Day 1, Day 3, Day 10
Your timeline shows how long you worked, never when. Nobody sees dates or times of day.
Your timeline, your call
Nothing new is recording you. No keystroke log, no screen capture, and nothing you do outside PERRLA.
Just for you
- Only you can open it, unless you share it
- Save it as a PDF to share with your instructor
- Never includes the words of your paper or earlier drafts
At a school that uses it
- A View Writing Timeline link on your title page
- Faculty at your school sign in to open it
- You can take the link off any paper, any time
What it covers
- Papers you write in PERRLA Online
- Papers you write with the PERRLA add-in for Word
- Text pasted in from somewhere else shows as a jump in your word count
See the work behind every paper
Students already write in PERRLA. The Writing Timeline turns the saves PERRLA already makes into a summary your faculty open from the title page. Nothing new is installed, and nothing new records your students.
- Writing sessions and time worked
- How the paper grew, including words cut while revising
- Sources added and cited along the way
- Never shows the paper's text or earlier drafts
- Day 1, Day 3, never dates or times of day
- Never labels writing as AI or human
- A View Writing Timeline link on each paper's title page
- Faculty open it with their free PERRLA account
- Students can turn the link off, and nothing is deleted
- Cost
- Included with every site license. No extra cost.
- Where the link sits
- On the title page of research papers, and as the last line of the references on discussion posts
- Who opens it
- Faculty and staff at your school, after signing in to their free PERRLA account
- How long
- Links stay open for 60 days after a paper's last save
- To turn it on
- Tell us when you're ready. We send guides for your faculty and students, and we turn it on for your school.
Grammarly Authorship vs. PERRLA's Writing Timeline
Both give students a way to show how a paper was written. They go about it in different ways (Grammarly, n.d.).
| Compared | Grammarly Authorship | Writing Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| How it's made | Records your writing as you work, once you turn it on | Built from the saves PERRLA already makes while you write |
| What it shows | Your paper, each sentence marked by where it came from: typed, pasted, AI-assisted, or a Grammarly suggestion. It can also replay the writing from start to finish. | Your writing sessions, time worked, how the paper grew, and the sources you added |
| Your paper's text | Shown in the report, sentence by sentence | Never included |
| AI or human | Marks text written with AI help | Never labels writing as AI or human |
| Who opens it | Anyone you send the report to | Only you, unless you share it. At a school that uses it, faculty open it from a link on your title page, and you can take the link off. |
| Where it works | Microsoft Word, Google Docs, the Grammarly Editor, and Canvas submissions | PERRLA Online and the PERRLA add-in for Word |
The judgment stays with people
The Writing Timeline shows effort and time spent. Deciding what that means is left to you and your instructor.
It makes no call about AI
It never labels writing as AI or human, and it says nothing about the quality of your writing. PERRLA doesn't check for AI at all.
It isn't a determination
A timeline is not a determination of authorship, and it shouldn't be the only basis for an academic-integrity decision. It's information to support a healthy conversation between a student and an instructor.
You can talk it through
If a question comes up about a paper, save your timeline as a PDF, send it to your instructor, and ask to talk about how you wrote it.
You see what they see
You can open your timeline any time and see exactly what your instructor would see. At a school that uses it, you can take the link off any paper, and that deletes nothing.
References
Grammarly. (n.d.). Authorship. https://www.grammarly.com/authorship
Questions about the Writing Timeline
What students and faculty usually want to know.
Does PERRLA check my paper for AI?
What if an AI checker says my paper was written by AI?
Is PERRLA recording my keystrokes?
Who can see my timeline?
What if I write part of my paper somewhere else?
Can my school turn it on?
The timeline builds itself from the saves you already make while writing in PERRLA.
Try PERRLA free for 7 days