You now need to strip some of the identifying information out of your software programs. Typically when you install a program, it asks you for information like your name, your organization, and perhaps your address. Unless you frequently make use of templates, which drop this information into the appropriate fields automatically, that's the last time you thought about the fact you gave the program your name and personal data. 

Unfortunately (at least for our purposes), this information is attached to any document you write or revise. In Microsoft Word 2010, that information is viewable if you select File and Options. A new window will pop up. Under the General tab, there are two text boxes, one for a user's name and one for a user's initials. 

In MS Word, it can also be seen in the tracked changes. In older versions of Word, something like "Deleted by Sally" would appear if you used your mouse cursor to hover over a deletion; in newer versions, the information shows up in the info bubbles on the right side of the document. 

To address this issue, you need to remove your personal information from any programs you plan to use in your work for Scribendi. For example, if you have MS Word, Adobe Acrobat, and Corel Draw, and plan to accept assignments in these formats, you need to remove your personal information from these programs. 

After you find where this information is stored in a program, you should replace it with a period. Here's how to anonymize some of the most common programs:

• To anonymize PDF-XChange Viewer, click on "Edit" and then "Preferences." Then click on "Identity"; place a period in the text box beside "Name," and then click "OK."  

• To anonymize Adobe, right click on a comment to open a dialogue box. Click on "Properties" and then click on the "General" tab. Where it says "Author," type in a period.  

• To anonymize Word 2016 or 2019, open the program and go to the options window by selecting File and Options. A new window will pop up, and under the General tab, you will see two text boxes, one for a user's name and one for a user's initials. Enter periods into the two text boxes. Replace your name, initials, and any other personal information with a period (.). You must then check the box beside "Always use these values regardless of sign in to Office," which appears below the text boxes for the User Name and Initials. If this box isn’t checked, Word will change your User Name/Initials back to your Account Name when you close and reopen the program.

• If you have Office 365, there is a further requirement, as you have to sign out of it to prevent the name from being de-anonymized. 

Make sure you anonymize ALL the software you intend to use in association with Scribendi. 

Another problem that can arise when using Tracked Changes in Word 2013 (and other versions) is that the anonymized username (.) can change to “Author” upon saving a document. To avoid this, perform the following steps: 

1. Click the File tab. 

2. Select Options. 

3. Select Trust Center (located at the bottom of the list on the left side of the box). 

4. Click Trust Center Settings (located in the section labelled “Microsoft Word Trust Center”). 

5. Select Privacy Options (located at the bottom of the list on the left side of the box). 

6. Ensure the checkbox next to “Remove personal information from file properties on save” is not checked. 

If you already have a number of comments saved under "Author," you can change these easily using the Scribendi AI (rather than trying to manually replace each comment). On the Scribendi AI, click on the Scribendi AI Tools and then click the Anonymize tool. The tool will then show the different identities that have left comments (whether one or more in the document), so you can just select the correct one (e.g., "Author") from the list and then click the Anonymize button. All comments under "Author" (or other selected identity) will then be automatically anonymized as a period, per Scribendi guidelines. 

Last Updated: 09/09/2022