Word 2016: Researcher and Editor tools

Microsoft announced two new tools, Researcher and Editor, for Word 2016 today that introduce better research integration and writing assistance.

Word 2016 is the newest version of the popular word editing software that is available to Office 365 users and customers who purchased a standalone copy of Office 2016.

The update is available today to all Office 365 subscribers who are using Word 2016 on the Windows desktop according to Microsoft.

The easiest way to find out whether you have it or not is to open Word 2016 on the Windows desktop and check whether the new "Researcher" option is available under References when you edit a document.

Researcher

Researcher is a new tool that you may use to find references directly from within Word 2016. The feature uses Bing's Knowledge Graph for that and displays data in a sidebar in the Word 2016 when enabled.

You find the new option under References > Researcher.

Researcher is a new service in Word that helps you find and incorporate reliable sources and content for your paper in fewer steps. Right within your Word document you can explore material related to your topic and add it—and its properly-formatted citation—in one click. Researcher uses the Bing Knowledge Graph to pull in the appropriate content from the web and provide structured, safe and credible information.

You may use the new tool to add quotes and "properly formatted citation" to documents. While this may not be suitable for science-grade documents, it may do for many other types of documents.

Editor

Editor is touted as a new digital writing assistant that assists you with proofing and editing services. The initial release flags unclear phrases, redundancy or complex words, and makes recommendations by displaying alternatives to you.

The service uses machine learning and natural language processing for that, and will improve over time according to Microsoft.

While Researcher helps you start a paper, Editor assists you with the finishing touches by providing an advanced proofing and editing service. Leveraging machine learning and natural language processing—mixed with input from our own team of linguists—Editor makes suggestions to help you improve your writing. Initially, it will help you simplify and streamline written communications by flagging unclear phrases or complex words, such as recommending “most” in place of “the majority of.”

Microsoft plans to improve Editor this fall by informing you why words or phrases may not be accurate, and listing corrections at the same time.

Word 2016 distinguishes between the following kinds of underlined hints:

• Red Squiggle for spelling mistakes.
• Blue Double Underline for Grammar mistakes.
• Gold Dotted Line for Writing Style issues.

The following video highlights the new tools briefly.

Additional information about the Researcher and Editor tools of Word 2016 for the windows desktop, and new features introduced in Outlook and PowerPoint, is provided on Microsoft's Office blog.