Signet Academic — Writing Records & AI Citations for Google Docs

YOUR AI USE, CITED. YOUR WRITING PROCESS, VERIFIED. More instructors now expect students to disclose how they used AI—but few explain how to document it clearly. Signet Academic helps you build that record as you work. When you paste from outside your document, label it in a few taps: • AI-assisted • Direct quote • Your own notes • Prior draft • Source material For AI-assisted work, add the tool and briefly explain how you used it—for example, “ChatGPT (GPT-5) — brainstorming.” Signet turns your labels into a clear AI Use Statement, copy-ready APA and MLA citations, and an optional Student’s Statement in your own words. Used no AI? Your Writing Process Record can show that too. If you’re asked how you used AI or how your paper developed, Signet helps you answer with a record created alongside your work—not a guess made after submission. TWO DIRECTIONS OF PROOF Signet works both forward and backward in time. Forward — Create Record Install Signet before you write, and it documents the process as it happens: writing sessions, timing, editing activity, typed versus pasted activity, and the sources you label. When your paper is ready, Create Record seals a live-witnessed Writing Process Record. This is Signet’s strongest tier of process evidence. Backward — Rewind Already wrote the document before installing Signet? Google Docs may still have its revision history. Rewind uses that history to build a clearly labeled Reconstructed Writing Process Record. It can show when the document changed, how much it changed, and how it developed across sessions, with selected rendered views from significant moments in the revision history. A Reconstructed record is transparently identified as having been created after the writing occurred. HOW IT WORKS When you open a Google Doc, Signet quietly documents process signals such as: • Writing-session timing • Insertions and deletions • Cuts, undos, and redos • Paste events • Pauses and active writing time • Source and AI-use annotations you choose to add Signet counts activity categories—it does not record which individual keys you press. Session records sync to your personal Signet account, creating a verifiable history of when you worked, how long you worked, and how the document developed through drafting and revision. When you are ready to submit, Signet creates an online Writing Process Record that you can share and independently verify. You can also download a record PDF and submission copies of your document. HELPFUL PASTE REMINDERS When you paste from outside your document, Signet can show a short beginning-and-ending excerpt to help you recognize the paste later and annotate it accurately. These reminders contain only a small excerpt—not the complete pasted passage. They are temporarily synced to your account so they are available across your signed-in devices. A reminder is removed when you complete its annotation and is otherwise automatically deleted after 60 days. You can turn paste reminders off in the extension settings. YOUR WRITING STAYS PRIVATE—AND YOU CONTROL WHAT YOU SHARE Signet is designed to document the writing process without continuously collecting or storing the full text of your document. During live recording, Signet stores process signals rather than a copy of everything you write. The default record includes: • Session start, end, duration, and pause information • Edit-event counts by category—not the individual keys pressed • Paste-event character counts • Short temporary paste reminders when enabled • Revision signals showing that editing occurred—not a continuous transcript of every change • Your document title, so you can identify it in your dashboard • Source labels, descriptions, and statements you choose to provide Additional document content is processed only when you deliberately use features that require it, such as Rewind or the optional revision-history witness. These features may use rendered views of selected document revisions as evidence, and the resulting record clearly shows what has been included. You review the record before creating it and decide whether to share it. WHAT YOU GET • An online Writing Process Record organized by document • A history of writing sessions and revision activity • An AI Use Statement generated from your own disclosures • Copy-ready APA and MLA AI citations • An optional Student’s Statement in your own words • A downloadable Writing Process Record PDF • Downloadable Word and PDF submission copies • A shareable verification link • A dashboard at www.getsignet.app containing your writing history A STUDENT PROTECTION TOOL, NOT A SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM Signet is built to help students document and explain their own work. You can exclude a document from recording at any time. Signet does not give professors, schools, or other third parties automatic access to your documents or records. Nothing is shared with them unless you choose to share it. The extension stays out of the way while you write. It uses a small movable status chip and shows focused prompts only when your attention is useful—for example, when you may want to annotate an external paste. OPEN BETA Signet Academic is currently in open beta. Students and instructors in the founding cohort are helping shape the product, and their feedback directly informs the roadmap. The product will continue to evolve, but records already issued remain independently verifiable. REQUIREMENTS • A free Signet account at www.getsignet.app • Google Docs and a Google account • Chrome 114 or later Version 1.1.2 — bug fixes only, no new permissions or manifest changes. Fixed: paste source classification incorrectly flagging within-document pastes as external after tab switching. Fixed: Exclude button crash (chrome.tabs.getCurrent unavailable in content scripts). Fixed: annotation panel positioning during chip drag. Improved: annotation panel now collapsi…