how to check if an essay is copied

Plagiarism Checker by Quetext

Free plagiarism checker: how it works, enter text into plagiarism detection tool.

We make it simple. Just copy and paste all content from your document into our plagiarism checker and hit the ‘Check Plagiarism’ button to get started.

Evaluate text for plagiarism

Our plagiarism detection tool uses DeepSearch™ Technology to identify any content throughout your document that might be plagiarized. We identify plagiarized content by running the text through three steps:

• 1.) Contextual Analysis
• 2.) Fuzzy Matching
• 3.) Conditional Scoring

Accurate plagiarism results

After evaluating the text against billions of internet sources, you will be provided with a plagiarism score showing the percentage of text that is an exact or near-match to existing text online.

Resolve plagiarism risk and use citations

Our ColorGrade™ feedback feature highlights exact matches vs. near-exact or “fuzzy” matches with corresponding colors. From there, you can resolve plagiarism issues by deleting or altering the at-risk copy. Or, you can use our handy “Cite Source” feature to generate citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats and insert the citations directly into your document.

Plagiarism Checker Benefits

Whether producing original content or verifying that of others, there’s a lot to gain from using a plagiarism checker. Accurate, automatic detection of duplicate content facilitates the copy-checking process for teachers, students, content writers, and more. Results showing the exact percentage of plagiarized content allows users to see exactly how much text has been copied and where they need to re-word.

For Teachers

Before homework can be graded for quality, it must first be confirmed as original. Our easy-to-use tool arms teachers with a simple, effective way to verify and grade students’ work. Educators at all levels can benefit from ensuring academic integrity through a comprehensive plagiarism check. From K-12, all the way through higher education, teachers are faced with the task of verifying the originality of the work of dozens, if not hundreds, of students each year. Automating this process frees teachers up to focus on the quality of work, rather than be bogged down by its originality.

For Students

While the prevalence of academic plagiarism is on the rise, much of it is arguably unintentional. A simple, yet accurate and comprehensive, plagiarism checker offers students peace of mind when submitting written content for grading. It is much easier to do a quick check for potential plagiarism before submission rather than convince a teacher after the fact that your academic integrity is not in question. And Quetext even takes checking for plagiarism a step further, helping students identify and cite the source itself with our built-in citation generator.

For Copywriters

Plagiarism risk is not restricted to academia. Anyone tasked with writing for an individual or business has an ethical and legal responsibility to produce original content. On top of that, content writers are often tasked with producing content on topics outside of their wheelhouse, leaving them reliant on the work of others for their research. Our plagiarism checker gives content writers a quick and easy method to prevent copyright infringement. Checking even lengthy pieces of writing takes only a few minutes, keeping companies’ public content in check and writers’ integrity intact.

Types of Plagiarism

It’s important to understand that plagiarism expands far beyond just copying someone else’s work word-for-word. There are several different types of plagiarism that should be avoided.

Self-Plagiarism

Many believe that, as long as they produced the work at some point in the past, they can include it in future pieces. However, even if you were the original author, that original work must be cited in order to not be flagged as plagiarism. Treat your past self as a totally separate author; be sure to include all relevant citations and quotations, the same as you would for any other source.

Patchwork Plagiarism

Patchwork plagiarism is the act of piecing together a "patchwork" of existing content to form something new. Assembling unoriginal content in this manner often involves some paraphrasing, with only slight changes. This type of plagiarism can be tricky and can certainly occur unintentionally, especially in academia. Since academic writing is largely based on the research of others, a well-meaning student can inadvertently end up plagiarizing.

Mosaic Plagiarism

Mosaic plagiarism is synonymous with patchwork plagiarism. It describes the process of loosely rearranging or restating another's work without issuing proper credit. It can occur accidentally or intentionally. For authors, mosaic plagiarism endangers their academic integrity or reputation as a writer. For those checking content originality, such as teachers, mosaic plagiarism can easily appear to be original content, which can make mosaic plagiarism especially difficult to detect manually.

Accidental Plagiarism

Plagiarism doesn’t have to be intentional to still be considered plagiarism — even in early academia, where students are just learning how to properly cite others’ work. While there may be no ill intent from the student, most schools have policies explicitly treating accidental plagiarism the same as intentional plagiarism. Students are expected to know how to properly issue credit to other authors. Similarly, content writers risk damage to their reputation if they produce plagiarized content, regardless of intent.

Plagiarism Checker FAQ

What is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is representing someone else’s work as your own. In educational contexts, there are differing definitions of plagiarism depending on the institution. Plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity and a breach of journalistic ethics.

What percentage of a paper can be plagiarized (or copied) and still be considered unique?

Generally speaking, similar or exact copies of another source should be kept under 15% for the total text of the article/paper/essay. As a best practice, citations should be used whenever using another source word-for-word.

What’s the difference between deliberate and accidental plagiarism?

Deliberate plagiarism is purposely copying works from books, articles, webpages, or someone else’s paper and representing it as your original work. Alternatively, accidental plagiarism occurs in a few different ways:

• Incorrectly citing another person’s works
• Failing to paraphrase another person’s works - even when citing it correctly
• Reusing your own previous papers and inadvertently representing it as a new idea

What are the consequences of plagiarism?

The consequences for plagiarizing another person’s works vary. But broadly speaking, the types of consequences can be grouped by person and profession.

Plagiarism consequences for students

Maintaining academic integrity is a top priority for every educational institution. As already mentioned, ignorance of how to properly cite sources is not an excuse for plagiarism. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they are submitting work that has not been plagiarized.

Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action, including an automatic failed grade, removal from a class, or expulsion from a school or university. Students who are allowed to continue at their institution following an act of plagiarism may encounter mistrust and additional scrutiny from teachers and instructors.

Plagiarism consequences for copywriters

Copywriters stake their reputation (and by extension, that of their client or company) on their writing. All copywriters must produce completely original content for their clients.

The consequences for plagiarism here are clear: Copywriters who plagiarize the content of others will quickly find it difficult to obtain paying assignments. Similar to academic situations, it is the copywriter’s own responsibility to ensure that their content is 100% original.

Plagiarism consequences for journalists

Journalists are held to exceptionally high standards of integrity in their writing. A journalist who produces plagiarized content jeopardizes the trust of their readers and publishers. Plagiarism can instantly reduce a journalist’s career by a large margin. The ethical and legal standards issued to journalists are clear: Produce original, well-cited content or find another field.

Fast and Reliable Results with Quetext

Free Online Plagiarism Checker

Possible plagiarism detected!

If you submit this paper, your institution may take disciplinary measures against you. The content requires editing and modification of parts. We know how to make it unique.

This is weighted average of all matches in your text. For example, if half of your paper is 100% plagiarized, your score would be 50%

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How to avoid plagiarism?

Proper citation style.

Avoid plagiarism by always listing the source and formatting it correctly when you are note-taking. Take care of the proper formatting and citation style when using content from outside sources.

Write on your own

Avoid borrowing and overusing large pieces of the content from outside sources, especially from Wikipedia. Write your own thoughts and use sources only to support your opinion (remember to cite it though!).

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Plagiarism Checker Review

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Online Plagiarism Checker For Students

Writing an academic paper can be challenging when you’re not sure if it’s original enough to pass a plagiarism check. Of course, students take information from various sites before writing their own text. Sometimes, it just so happens that certain parts are very similar to your resources, making your professor think that you’ve just copied work from somewhere. That’s why it’s crucial for any modern college or university student to ensure that their work has 100% original content to maintain academic integrity.

Luckily, a free plagiarism checker online can solve this issue quickly and easily. Many cheap essay writing services use a plagiarism checker for research paper. However, students sometimes forget that they should too. But with so many options that pop up when you ask Google to “check my paper for plagiarism”, how do you choose the right one for detection? We’ve got the solution in the form of PapersOwl’s free plagiarism checker tool! Our simple tool makes it convenient to check any writing task without having to spend a dime. It works quickly and highly accurately, ensuring that you get the top grade you deserve. So, if you want to check plagiarism online before turning your task in, head over to our website and get started!

Accurate Check for Plagiarism with Percentage

Many students wishing to produce original content aren’t quite sure how to get an exact percentage of plagiarised text in their work. This percentage is important since many universities have a certain limit of non-unique words you can have in your essay for it to be considered okay. If your plagiarism search doesn’t give you the exact percentage, you can’t be sure if your assignment will go through or not.

When using a free plagiarism tool, it’s essential to have this data provided to you. Only when you have it can you decide which parts to change and which ones to chuck out to achieve your desired results. Plagiarized content is a big issue in modern educational institutions, so getting reliable and trustworthy results is vital. This is the most essential requirement when you check plagiarism.

PapersOwl’s plagiarism detection tool gives you all the information you need to fix plagiarized content. Whether you’ve fallen victim to accidental plagiarism or have tried to make your life easier by copying some text from different sources, you’ll get an accurate percentage with our plagiarism checker online. If you’re wondering how to check paper for plagiarism, it’s nothing complicated at all! Simply visit our site, paste your whole essay into the relevant text box or upload the text file, click on Check For Plagiarism, and you’ll get accurate plagiarism results in a matter of seconds. You’ll see the problematic parts with plagiarism detected highlighted, with links to where similar content exists. Our service with plagiarism detector will also give you the option to check my essay for plagiarism and then to hire a professional paper writer to fix your task quickly if you're busy with other things!

The Fastest Plagiarism Checker Online

Gaining insight into duplicate content only works if you get your results quickly. There are so many free plagiarism software online that promise to do the job for you. However, a lot of them are clunky, slow, and inaccurate. How can you produce original work without similarity detection you can trust?

PapersOwl stands out in this regard because it will detect plagiarism in seconds. This is a plagiarism scanner that’s able to perform a Swift Check to give you a uniqueness check right there and then. It also conducts a Deep Search, going through millions of sources on the internet to check for plagiarism. A document of about 1500 words takes only about 10 seconds to get processed! You get a clear plagiarism score of how much text is plagiarized and how much is original. All the sources that your essay matches are listed based on how much similarity there is in your academic writing. And on top of that, you get a handy Make It Unique button that’ll take you to an order page where you can ask our expert writers to rewrite your work and make it 100% unique.

All of this is done almost instantly, allowing students to continue do assignments without missing a beat. Not every plagiarism detection software works this quickly, making ours the best one you’ll ever use.

Plagiarism Checker Helps Boost Your Grade

A lot of students make the mistake of considering their papers automatically free from plagiarism. After all, they’ve written it themselves, so how could it be problematic? What they don’t realize is that it’s very easy to borrow some information mistakenly. Turning such a paper in can cause multiple problems, as your professor might think you haven’t done the work at all.

That is why you should always use a plagiarism scanner to test for plagiarized content in your college papers. Our online plagiarism checker for students is designed for this exact purpose. A simple, free plagiarism check could help you check plagiarism, fix any mistakes you see, and submit high-quality text that no one will question.

Our plagiarism detector has a lot going for it. It makes plagiarism detection easier than ever before. Unlike copying and pasting each passage individually into Google, simply upload the whole file into our plagiarism checker free for students, and you don’t have to do anything else. All the matches are highlighted so you know what to change.

The plagiarism test will give you a uniqueness percentage too. This will help you figure out where you stand and how much time you need to adjust anything if required. So, using our copyright checker online free to check your writing is essential. This way, you’ll submit the task only when you’re sure it meets the level of uniqueness required by your school. As a result, your grades will drastically improve when you check for plagiarism.

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How Does Plagiarism Checker Work?

• If you already have a completed text, all you need is just to copy-paste the whole thing in the special box of the chosen plagiarism tool or website, choose suitable settings (if any), then press “check for plagiarism”. It is quite simple and takes just a few moments.
• Once you have pressed “check for plagiarism”, the system will analyze your text and compare it with different sources to find similarities. As a rule, the duration depends on the text’s length. A standard free online plagiarism checker with percentage can give you the result within five minutes or less.
• When the system finishes the work you will be transmitted to the reporting page – it contains the comprehensive report on your work, a percentage of its uniqueness, and a list of sources on which similarities were detected. Often, such tools also highlight the overlaps that were found.

As you can see, it is simple. However, for the best and reliable result you have to be careful. There are tons of programs and online tools that can be used but keep in mind that many of them work differently and not all are good for you. To be confident in the truthfulness of the received result, you need to select the best plagiarism checker because only a professional and high-quality software can detect all similarities and give you a reasoned assessment.

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Advantages Of Plagiarism Checker By PapersOwl

Why choose us? Our service offers a professional online plagiarism checker with report that will provide you with a comprehensive report to make you confident in the 100% uniqueness of your paper. Our free plagiarism checker for students guarantees the best check and here are the key advantages of using our tool that prove this:

You don’t need to pay anything to check your paper for plagiarism because we know the value of original and unique works.

One of the main benefits of our antiplagiat checker online is that it works so fast that you will not even have enough time to make yourself a cup of coffee while it analyzes your text, and it is safe!

We use the latest and the best algorithms and software in order to provide you with an advanced check and help you receive the high-quality papers.

It is simple in use and won’t take much time!

Many students have already confirmed that our free tool is a great and convenient feature that helped them detect and fix errors that could lead to a failure. With us, you will no longer need to look for a different scanner!

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Plagiarism Checker FAQ

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Check for unintentional plagiarism

Scan your paper the way your teacher would to catch unintentional plagiarism. Then, easily add the right citation.

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How we'll help you improve your paper

Check Your Paper for Grammar and Unintentional Plagiarism

Welcome to your go-to review service for writing and citing with confidence! With the click of a button, BibMe Plus will review your paper for spelling, punctuation, verb tense, and other grammar issues so you can rest easy knowing that you’re submitting your best work.

After putting in the long hours to complete and submit an assignment on time, the last thing you want to learn is that a misspelled word or missing APA format or MLA format citation slipped past you and made its way into your final draft. Thankfully, your concerns about how to avoid plagiarism and typos can be a thing of the past with help from the right tools.

The BibMe Plus writing and citing tools go far beyond the basics of just proofreading; they also check your paper for plagiarism and help you build your biography quickly. Our tool scans your document for similar content on the Internet. If it encounters a passage that may need a citation, it flags it so you can review the passage, examine the source, and easily create and insert a citation if it’s needed. Try it out now!

Detect Unintentional Plagiarism

Finding out that you’ve accidentally infringed on another’s work the night before your assignment is due can leave you scrambling to rewrite sections of your paper, update your citations, and modify your bibliography at the eleventh hour.

If you find that you have accidentally plagiarized, whether on your first, fourth, or final draft, the BibMe Plus plagiarism tool has got you covered. When the BibMe Plus essay checker scans your paper, it searches the web for passages of similar text and highlights areas that may need attention. You have the power to review each flagged passage, as well as the suggested source, to determine if a citation is needed. If you conclude that you did not plagiarize, you can dismiss the plagiarism suggestion and move on to review the next.

After reviewing the suggested sources and identifying the passages which are missing citations, you can choose to start creating a proper citation right then and there. Not only can you create the citation, but you can both add it directly into your paper as an in-text citation as well as to your bibliography at the end of the paper.

All of the BibMe Plus writing and plagiarism check tools and guides are conveniently available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So it doesn’t matter if you finish your paper a week early, or a few hours before it is due; help is here whenever you need it.

How Does the Plagiarism Checker Work?

Before subscription-based and free plagiarism checkers became readily available, figuring out how to check for plagiarism efficiently and effectively was a vexing problem. After all, reviewing every sentence by hand and comparing it all with the entirety of the world’s published works for potential plagiarism would be an arduous and potentially impossible task. That’s why instructors across all levels of education often rely on automated scanning tools (like a paid or free online plagiarism checker)  to check for plagiarism and help them identify instances of academic dishonesty; and why students should, too.

A free plagiarism checker may scan your paper for matching text and merely highlight the problem areas and return a percentage that reflects the amount of unoriginal writing it uncovered. The BibMe Plus paper checker offers a lot more than a free plagiarism site and gives you the information you need to make fully informed and intelligent decisions. Our plagiarism detector reveals any passages that require your review and returns the results to you, along with links to the source that contains matching text.

About the Plagiarism Checker and Grammar Check Tools

You’ve done the research, drafted and revised your paper, and took care to credit all of your sources. The last step before you submit your paper is to proofread it in order to catch any missed errors or citations. A missing preposition , misused adverb , or misspelled interjection might escape you, but you’re unlikely to escape your teacher.

The BibMe Plus grammar checker gives you the feedback you need to help polish and improve your paper before you turn it in, not after. Not only does it flag spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, but it also gives you helpful tips that explain why the item is flagged so you can correct it, learn from it, and become a better writer.

A quick scan of your paper with the BibMe Plus plagiarism tool will also help to reveal any passages that, while perhaps unintentional, would still be considered plagiarizing. With tailored tips and an easy-to-use interface, our writing tool can help you unlock the magic to more natural, relaxed, and efficient editing to help ensure that your writing is clear, consistent, and properly cited.

The best part about it? Instant suggestions. No further reading , waiting for a human proofreader to respond to you, or racing across campus to get to the writing center before it closes.

The BibMe Plus grammar checker is available precisely when and where you need it. Conduct an on-demand spell check and grammar check at any time of day to validate the integrity of your work, and to generate any missing citations, all in a matter of seconds.

What is Plagiarism?

Committing academic dishonesty could lead to failing grades and even expulsion Knowing the potential consequences of plagiarism certainly makes it clear why you should avoid it. However, without a concrete definition, abstaining from it can prove challenging.

If you’re wondering, “What does plagiarism mean?” an easy to remember plagiarism definition is that it’s the act of using someone else’s work or ideas without giving them proper credit . It’s important to note that this definition is not bound by intention, and students may commit it both knowingly and unknowingly in a research paper .

Learning to define plagiarism is just the first step in developing the awareness necessary to avoid it. Identifying it in its various forms is the crucial next step, combined with consistently utilizing a subscription-based or free online plagiarism checker as a non-negotiable element of your paper-writing process.

Is your paper in need of a plagiarism check?  The BibMe Plus grammar check and plagiarism tool has got you covered! It’s designed to help spot those pesky places in your paper that may get red marks from your teacher, and it couldn’t be easier to use. Simply upload or paste your paper into the online plagiarism checker and, in no time at all, you’ll receive your results and can review any areas of concern. Try it now!

Not ready to check for plagiarism yet? Not to worry–the BibMe Plus plagiarism tool is available 24/7, so you can research, write, and revise when it’s best for your schedule.

Examples of Plagiarism

While it’s critical to understand the plagiarism definition as it’s broadly defined, it’s just as vital to learn the various ways it can occur if proactively preventing plagiarism is your goal.

Direct Plagiar ism:

Direct plagiarism is the deliberate act of copying another individual’s work or idea into an assignment without providing any type of acknowledgment. An example of this would be a student copying and pasting text from a source into their project, without using quotation marks or any kind of attribution.

Incremental Plagiarism : 

Copying bits and pieces from a single sentence and adding them into a project without attribution is a form of literary theft called incremental plagiarism . Just as with direct plagiarism, the incremental form attempts to disguise when a student or writer is taking credit for words and ideas that are not their own.

Patchwriting:

When a writer rephrases another author’s words (and it remains similar to the original words) and includes them without attribution in their work, it is known as patchwriting or mosaic writing .

How does it happen? Perhaps the writer rearranged words in the sentence, subbed out a few adjectives with synonyms, or used bits and pieces of the original wording and mixed it with their own. No matter the method, the original wording is often easy to spot as it peeks through its patchwork disguise.

Self-Plagiarism:

Plagiarizing another author’s words or ideas is an issue that most students recognize as wrong, but many are shocked to learn that reusing their own words can also fit the plagiarism definition. After all, they ask, how can I steal from myself?

Self-plagiarism is less about stealing and more about deceiving. When a student refurbishes or reuses work they completed in the past and turns it in a second time instead of completing new, original work, they are not honest with their teacher. Even reusing portions or paragraphs of your previous work without disclosing it is dishonest.

Do you have a paper you want to evaluate so you can confirm you’ve completed your research responsibly without plagiarizing (by accident)? A quick scan with the BibMe Plus plagiarism tool will help highlight phrases, sentences, or paragraphs in your paper that are found elsewhere on the internet. Each highlighted section has a prompt that will also ask you if you need a reference for it. Even better? If you review the source and determine that you need to add a citation, the plagiarism check tool will guide you through the steps of creating and inserting your reference. Pretty awesome, right? We think so too.

Lesser-Known Examples of Plagiarism

There are quite a few acts of intentional or unintentional dishonesty that students are surprised to learn also meet the definition of plagiarism.

Misleading Citations:

Including misleading citations is a form of academic dishonesty that is just as serious as direct infringement.

To understand how this fits into the plagiarize definition, consider the final result. If this type of plagiarism is undetected, the writer has deceived their audience and created a false belief about the words and ideas in the source material and its author. Whether it occurs intentionally or unintentionally, misleading citations draw a false link between an idea and a source and harm a student’s credibility.

Invented Sources:

While misleading references can occur as a result of not understanding your research, invented sources are more often the result of insufficient research or intentional deception. A student who can’t find a source to back up a point they want to make or who doesn’t want to commit the necessary time to ethically complete a paper might resort to including one or more invented sources in their bibliography. Whatever the cause, an invented source creates an illusion of credibility by tying an idea to a source that doesn’t exist.

An invented source can also be the result of poor note-taking. Perhaps you found the perfect quote to include in your introduction but forgot to write down the source. You know it’s wrong to plagiarize, but unless you invent a source you’ll have to remove the quote, right?

Wrong! Rather than choosing between removing the quote or inventing a reference, let the BibMe Plus plagiarism tool free up some time by helping you find the source and create an accurate citation. It’s quick and easy to scan your paper for plagiarism and, most importantly, it’s the ethical thing to do.

What Is Not Plagiarism

With the definition of plagiarism covering so much ground, it’s easy to raise the alarms and wonder if even the most innocent of acts might be construed as plagiarizing. Our advice? Don’t panic. Instead, sit back, relax, and check out these times when you can write your heart out, worry-free:

Common Knowledge:

Information that is widely known and accepted as fact is considered common knowledge. This can either be information that is known to most people in the world, in your country, in your state, or even just in your field of study, depending on the audience for your work. For example:

J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series.

This is a fact that is known widely enough that it is considered common knowledge and does not require a citation.

If your statement is considered common knowledge, you can include it in your paper without creating a citation. Keep in mind, though, that research papers showcase new ideas and analysis. Common knowledge is acceptable to include, but make sure you mix in information from outside sources as well.

Attributed Quote or Idea:

To include the ideas of others in your papers, you need only to attribute them to the original author to ensure you safely stay on the side of academic integrity. A proper paraphrase or direct quote with a citation is an excellent way to promote a point in your paper, while also demonstrating that you fully understand the author’s idea and have completed your research responsibly.

While most writers remember to add references for direct quotes, they can sometimes forget to include references when adding paraphrases into papers. A free plagiarism site may only help these writers pinpoint passages, but the BibMe Plus tool also helps you develop accurate references, in Chicago citation style and many others, in all types of situations. Quotes, paraphrases, full references: you name it, our plagiarism checker does it, and does it well.

Now that we’ve learned what is and isn’t plagiarism, let’s look at how to avoid it entirely.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

When you first learn to define plagiarism and realize how expansive the definition is, it can be intimidating to think about all the information you have to cite. That’s where the BibMe Plus online plagiarism tool comes in by helping to spot intentional and accidental plagiarism and flagging any matching text for your review.

When you use the plagiarism tool, or any of our resources, your paper always stays in your control. You’ll be given the potential source for each flagged passage so you can review it and decide whether to create a citation or dismiss the alert.

If you find that you need to add a citation, we’ve got your back. There are BibMe citing tools that can help guide you through the process of creating and styling a citation for your paper.

No matter what tools you use to help complete your work ethically, whether they’re free plagiarism tools or not, you are ultimately responsible for the work that you turn in. Remember, the best time to find errors or unintentional infringement is BEFORE you turn in your paper, not after. When in doubt, run a BibMe Plus plagiarism check to help you find any passages that you may have missed on your own, and use the free tools to create and insert your citations in more styles than even imaginable.

Spot Writing Mistakes

Unintentionally plagiarizing isn’t the only thing to worry about when writing and revising a paper—you also don’t want to lose points for small grammatical mistakes. Luckily, the BibMe Plus grammar checker and plagiarism tool will complete a spell check and review your document for style, punctuation, sentence structure, verb tense, pronoun -antecedent agreement, and more!

The BibMe Plus grammar check tool gives you more depth and insight than a standard spell checker. When you scan your paper, the proofreader highlights areas for your review and provides prompts to help you make an educated decision about how to proceed before accepting or ignoring each suggestion. And, since our grammar and spelling check gives definitions and explanations, it can help you improve your writing over time.

This service is for all writers, from those who have complete confidence in their writing ability to those who are just starting to write. No matter what your writing level, let the BibMe Plus grammar and plagiarism checker free up your time with a quick and thorough review that leaves no noun , determiner , or conjunction unchecked! Upload your paper now and start improving your writing today.

Plagiarism Detector By Copyleaks

Ensure the originality of your content and prevent copyright infringement with the award-winning Plagiarism Detector.

Maintain originality with award-winning plagiarism detection.

Powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI), the Plagiarism Detector identifies plagiarism, paraphrasing, and AI-generated content in over 100 languages.

Pair with the award-winning AI Detector ,   Codeleaks , and the Writing Assistant for the ultimate all-in-one platform.

Detect Plagiarism In All Its Forms

The Plagiarism Detector checks for originality across paraphrasing, image-based plagiarism, manipulated characters, and even AI-generated text.

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Every plagiarism detection scan provides a detailed report, including web page links where potential findings are sourced from, generative AI detection, and more that can be customized, downloaded, and shared.

An Unparalleled Search For Your Most In-Depth Results

Search across an unparalleled database of resources for every scan, including: 

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Ready to get started with the Copyleaks Plagiarism Detector?

Key features of the plagiarism detector, ai plagiarism detector.

Detect advanced AI plagiarism, paraphrasing, and more with over 99% accuracy. Offers full model coverage that includes GPT, Gemini, Claude, and AI detection in 30+ languages.

Cross-Language Plagiarism Detection

Scan a document in Spanish and find potential duplicate content matches in Chinese, German, Portuguese, and more. Over 30+ languages supported. 

Source Code Plagiarism Detection

Identify AI-generated code, code plagiarism, modified code, and licensing alerts. With one robust solution, avoid potential infringement.

Scheduled Recurring Scans

Whether you are a content creator or writing a research paper, scheduled recurring scans add an extra layer of protection, automatically protecting your hard work from potential plagiarism or unlawful duplication.

Over 100 Languages Supported

Detection for potential plagiarism in over 100 world languages, including German, Russian, Spanish, English, and more.

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Have full confidence in military-grade security, GDPR compliance, and  SOC 2 and SOC 3 certifications. For full security details,  click here .

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Simple  LMS integration  empowers learning and error-free writing while keeping everything you need in one convenient place.

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How NSS uses Copyleaks to improve plagiarism detection within contest essay submissions.

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We’re dedicated to innovation and continuous improvement, providing you with the tools needed to maintain content and academic integrity, search engine optimization, copyright compliance, risk mitigation, and more in a changing landscape. Our award-winning, industry-leading plagiarism detection ensures accurate results, keeping you ahead of the latest technologies, including genAI.

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Frequently Asked Questions

You can try our online plagiarism checker free by registering for a Copyleaks account here .

Copyleaks can scan more than 100 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, German, Greek, Chinese, and Japanese. Please note that scans will only be done in the same language you have submitted. For example, if you submit a scan in Spanish, Copyleaks will only search for results in Spanish. 

Powered by AI technology, our plagiarism scans offer 3 layers of text similarity detection (identical, minor changes, and paraphrased) to give you the most accurate results.

We also provide information on how much of the text you are not scanning for plagiarism (omitted words) based on your scan settings.

See below for an explanation and examples of each of these elements.

• Identical – 1 to 1 exact word matches, highlighted in red
• Minor changes – text with minor variations from the source but conveying the same meaning. Example: changing “he was running” to “he ran”. Highlighted in light red.
• Paraphrased – text that is rewritten using different words or sentence structures, but the core idea remains the same.
• Omitted – the portion of text that is not being scanned for plagiarism based on the scan settings. (example: the ignore quotations setting is enabled, and the document is 20% quotations = the omitted words percentage is 20%), unhighlighted. 

Any plagiarism tool can potentially miss small elements. However, we work hard to provide an extensive plagiarism checker that ensures 100% authenticity, whether it’s our online plagiarism detector or through an LMS or API integration. 

Plagiarism checkers vary in accuracy. We take pride in using the very best of AI, machine learning, multi-language capability, and Multi-language and extensive search capabilities to provide you with the most accurate plagiarism results. Our commitment to innovation means we’re improving every day. 

Multiple. When scanning against the internet, Copyleaks goes beyond site-by-site to detect plagiarism. In fact, each search spans across all publicly accessible sites in the United States and worldwide that would be found through search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and more. 

No. Though you are inputting your work into a plagiarism checker, it is important to note that we will never steal your work. We will check your work for plagiarism and will allow you to download a report based on our checks.

Our AI Content Detector is the only platform that can detect multiple languages. Languages include English, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese, with more to be introduced shortly. English accuracy is over 99%. The accuracy of other languages is not far behind and is getting more accurate daily.

With our Similarity Report, you can view your document’s overall percentage of similar content. Additionally, we separate similar content into 3 categories: Identical, Minor Changes, and Paraphrased. 

The report breaks down these categories by different percentages. You can customize the report to focus on precisely what you want to see. 

Our plagiarism detector scans text from all open-access journals and databases to detect plagiarism online. This includes over 16,000 academic journals and publications from Frontiers, Wiley, Elsevier, and thousands more.  

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To be specific, Plagiarism checking or content's similarity detection is a process of identifying the occurrence of plagiarism or copyright infringement within a work of content for writer, teacher, student blogger, webmaster, or any document.

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How does the Plagiarism Checker work?

Steps to check plagiarism with DupliChecker.com?

The easiest process with a user-friendly interface.

Most accurate with percentage and 100% free and compatible, it can be used on any of your devices as ever needed.

The following steps are:

Paste your text into the text box.

Upload your Doc or Text file using the Choose File button. (.tex, .txt, .doc, .docx, .odt, .pdf, and .rtf)

• Click on the “ Check Plagiarism ” button

As your request is sent (button clicked) for processing, the results will be displayed in a matter of seconds.

In case, there are duplicate matches (content) found, the tool will show results in percentage meaning

Percentage % of Unique content

Percentage % of Plagiarized

The relevant text with similarity score along with the source it originates from.

(A tip “In the case of plagiarism detected there is a great option (button) to make it unique with the best Paraphrase tool .”)

In case no matches are found, a message will display “ 100% Unique ”

So, if you ever need to do a quick plagiarism check or are looking for free plagiarism software online, DupliChecker.com is the place for it!

Besides, we would love to get suggestions and recommendations from our valuable users. As we believe in Super User experience, simply suggest us .

There are additional features Offered by Duplichecker Premium.

Duplichecker allows you to scan up to 25,000 words per search. While using global search methods and AI-based technology it deeply analyzes the content for duplication. This plagiarism checker is one of the most efficient and advanced due to its extensive features such as URL checking, custom PDF reports, and supporting multiple file formats. Not only this, but you can also make your content plagiarism-free by rephrasing it in a single click.

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We have the solution! 💯

If you want to embed a real-time plagiarism detection system on your website. Duplichecker’s plagiarism API is the best solution for you.

Benefits of the Plagiarism API:

Here are some key benefits of our Plagiarism API

Check multiple documents with one click, eliminating manual checks.

Simple API setup for seamless integration into your website.

Reliable detection of plagiarism across various types of content.

Reduces the need for extensive manual labor, saving costs.

Perfect for small educational institutions and large websites with frequent content submissions.

Designed to be intuitive and easy to use for everyone

Definition of Plagiarism

But before checking for plagiarism everyone should know, What Is Plagiarism?

“The act of pretension where you take one’s words and make them your own it can include ideas, thoughts, or any material that you can see/hear and make a copy of.”

If we talk in a legalistic manner then taking someone’s copyright and claiming it to be yours is unintentional plagiarism.

Self-Plagiarism

The concept of thinking that, self-plagiarism is only copying some other's paintings or borrowing someone else's unique idea. In my thoughts like "copying" and "borrowing" can cover the seriousness of the offense.

According to the Oxford Dictionary Plagiarism is:

“The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own”

In precise words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's artwork and lying approximately it in a while.

Necessity of AI Plagiarism Checker Over Time

DupliChecker's AI plagiarism checker utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance the precision of detecting plagiarism by analyzing various text elements, such as syntax, writing pattern, tone, and rhythm of words. This inclusion of AI simplifies to check AI plagiarism across different domains.

How Does AI Plagiarism Checker Differs from Traditional Methods?

The working of an AI plagiarism checker differs from traditional methods as it organizes your data and analyzes it with advanced machine learning and Natural Language Processing techniques. Later, this AI plagiarism detector compares the comprehended information with millions of web pages’ data available in its databases to find similarities. Lastly, it displays AI plagiarism detected in your content while letting you know its exact percentage. This entire method differs from traditional plagiarism detection methods that use string-matching techniques and provide an approximate estimation of plagiarism that needs to be more accurate.

Plagiarism detector VS Manual checking [Pros and Cons]

It’s boring, time taking and the big thing is the MANUAL! Ah

Who wouldn’t want to skip doing something that technology can do for you with more accuracy and quickly? Right!!!

We know We would! As it can help in many ways, one of which is finding a copy of original content over the internet and informing about it while you are sipping your coffee in dim light, “Sounds Cool”. Or you can go ahead and crosscheck to look for the plagiarized work manually which not only is going to take a lot of time. You need an excellent memory because while reading so many documents you might keep on forgetting the duplication and sources.

Isn’t it enough reason why a plagiarism scanner is used?

Because it is accurate and able to find the copied content real fast to improve academic honesty and whatsoever that does not allow plagiarism. This usually happens in almost every student, professional writer, professor, or content creator’s life that uses the internet to study, teach or deliver their work.

So, they have to be very careful in uploading a part of their work online; the best way is the use of image formation. If someone copies from the image we have developed a tool to find similar image . It will recognize objects on the image and let you know where this object or image is located. In which no one can copy any sort of work, but they will have to write down which people mostly don’t like to do.

Plagiarism in the digital world.

The most common problem in plagiarized content has to face is expulsion from the Search Engine Result Page (SERP), and websites that are aiming for a better rank can’t afford that.

Therefore this plagiarism checker will inform you after detection of all the areas of the internet where it finds similarity or duplication in the content.

In the world of the internet, it is not considered a crime, but it just shows deceitfulness in that person’s character. The question is why does it matter? Well, in academics, it can put people into serious trouble, if caught plagiarizing, they will not only face punishments but lose the time a beginner can utilize to learn.

In this cyberspace, there can be many mistakes that can trigger duplication in content. One of the most significant ones is failing to put a quotation mark, even if you had no intention of taking someone’s words but forgetting unintentionally to give credits or quoting the name, there is a possibility that it can put the content or you to serious complications.

Why Introducing Plagiarism checker by DupliChecker.com?

Whether it is an academic assignment or an article for a website, as a writer you must be familiar with the importance of written work. There are times in life when people copy your work and pretend to be the rightful owner of that content, how bad can it be? It is another discussion.

There is a specific term used for such a type of ill practice known as plagiarism. It is not about only the copy of the written content or academic paper, but people even copy photos, music, and videos and show others as their work without giving even a little piece of credit to the person who is the real holder of all that work. Thoughts and ideas of someone are their property and thus belong to them and can be protected by copyright laws .

We know how it feels when somebody takes away a part of your work. Of course, whatever you write is your thoughts; therefore, we developed a plagiarism detection tool.

Plagiarism detector looks for any copied content over the internet if found then online plagiarism checker free will inform you about where it is located and how much of your content is present word by word on that website.

Paper Checker (Essay checker)

How accurate is this free plagiarism checker for students?

Take our word: This copyright checker offers you the most authentic possible results.

It took us months of research and trials to come up with a final product – a duplicate content checker that you delightfully use to check your essay, articles, Quotations, and research paper today. Our sophisticated, one-of-a-kind anti-plagiarism tool has been designed as an exclusive free plagiarism checker for students to provide you with the results even for Academic writing that are authentic and easy to interpret with minimum probability of errors.

We drive satisfaction from the fact that our tool is being used by hundreds and thousands every day and users are happy with the results to improve academic integrity and unique web content. Nonetheless, if you come across any bug or error, please bring it to our attention so we can fix it soon.

According to our millions of satisfied users, absolutely Duplichecker.com is free and the most accurate plagiarism checking the website.

There is a procedure as mentioned above, How does the Plagiarism Checker work?

It detects plagiarism by checking more than billions of websites, pages, and papers.

Absolutely free with duplichecker.com

Simply upload the file as instructed in this section.

Duplichecker allows you to check the plagiarism of any website by just pasting the URL in this section.

Yes! The AI plagiarism checker is capable of detecting paraphrased content. Its advanced mechanism identifies and highlights phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that have been paraphrased from another source over the web.

Yes! The AI plagiarism checker is compatible with a wide range of document formats. Whether you have a document in .pdf, .txt, .doc, or .docx format, you can easily check AI plagiarism and determine the correct proportion of duplication.

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How to Check an Essay for Plagiarism

Last Updated: October 10, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by César de León, M.Ed. . César de León is an Educational Leadership Consultant and currently serves as an Assistant Principal for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, TX. César specializes in education program development, curriculum improvement, student mentorship, social justice, equity leadership, and family and community engagement. He is passionate about eradicating inequities in schools for all children, especially those who have been historically underserved and marginalized. César holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Biology from Texas State University and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. This article has been viewed 91,910 times.

Plagiarism is the act of copying someone's work or ideas and claiming them as your own. It can even be copying your own written ideas. Essay plagiarism can be as simple as copying a paragraph from another source without citation, but it can also be as severe as copying entire pages from another written source, such as an essay, book, post, or article. To check for plagiarism, you need to know the common mistakes of plagiarists, as well as ways to confirm your suspicions.

Looking for Warning Signs in the Style and Grammar

• For instance, does this person usually make typos, but all of a sudden provides a perfectly clean essay? Does this person usually have incoherent or poorly formed concepts, then suddenly presents well-formulated statements?
• Pull out the student’s portfolio of work from your class as a point of comparison. If you are suspicious, it maybe helpful to request copies of the student’s work from fellow teachers, too.

• You may also note that points of view shift or that the student abruptly ends thoughts by switching to another topic.
• Also, look for a weak start and end with an amazing middle, or some other mix of weak and strong areas. While this mixture can be a sign of a student struggling to shape an essay logically, it can also be a sign of plagiarism if a student has cut and pasted from various sources.

• However, inconsistent spelling can also be the work of a poor writer.

• For example, if you are teaching intro composition and the student is doing graduate-level work, you might want to check their essay more closely.

• For instance, you may find that when discussing a book like Frankenstein, a particular phrase such as "represents the monster within each of us," shows up across many papers.

Checking for Other Signs of Plagiarism

• Also, check if the citation even exists. In some cases, students make up the citations altogether, or claim that a chapter essay in a book exists when it doesn't. Perhaps you have access to the book in question and can check. Check Google Books, or look online for article citations.

• Also check for old resources, which may indicate the paper is older.

Confirming Plagiarism

• If the text has been copied either verbatim or fairly closely, it's likely that the search engine will return some exact matches. Any online source that has the same text should appear on the first page of results.

• Turnitin is one widely used site for plagiarism checking. You can also try Plagiarisma or Copyleaks.

• If you're not 100 percent sure the student plagiarized, you can also use the meeting to determine if the student actually knows the material or not. [8] X Research source However, some introverted students may freeze up under these circumstances, whether they wrote the material or not, which makes it tricky sometimes to detect plagiarism.
• Usually, if the student actually wrote the paper, they will know what they are talking about and will be able to talk about it thoroughly with you. And generally, if they didn’t write it themselves, they will not be able to do this.

• For younger students, contact the student’s parents and follow up with any relevant administrators who need to be aware of the incident. Talking to older students directly is acceptable, and there will typically be repercussions at the school’s honor council.

Expert Q&A

• Show students how to avoid plagiarism. Don't just scare them off, as for some students, scare tactics can often result in defiance or a need to get one over on you. Give them the tools and pathways to write and research better. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• It will be harder to spot a person who pays someone to write an original essay or do an exam for them. Check to see whether your institution has checks in place to ensure that the right person turns up to sit exams and use your expectations of the student or class level to guide your own instincts about the work you're reading. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ César de León, M.Ed.. Educational Leadership Consultant. Expert Interview. 11 November 2020.
• ↑ https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/resources/teachers/detect-plagiarism/
• ↑ https://www.library.kent.edu/files/Library_Live_II_Ways_to_detect_Plagiarism.pdf
• ↑ https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/writing/detectaddressplagiarism.html

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Unintentional plagiarism, grammar mistakes, and uncited sources  can turn what you thought was a good paper into a poor one. When you’re writing a paper the last thing you want is for your message to get lost due to incorrect punctuation or confusing sentence structure. You know that the great ideas in your head would make for a standout paper, if only you could get them written clearly on the page. If this struggle sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Great ideas may be an essential part of high-quality writing, but they’re not the only component. Excellent papers and essays clearly express strong ideas with good grammar, proper punctuation, spot-on spelling, and thorough, careful citations. While this may sound like a lot, your teachers and professors are grading you on your skills as both a writer and a researcher, which means your assignments will require an ethical and attentive approach. Luckily, there is no shortage of available tools to help you along your way.

You could use a plagiarism checker free, though, these tools often lack grammatical support. Given the high stakes and rigorous requirements, the aid of a plagiarism checker without the needed support of a grammar checker could mean the difference between an “A” paper and a “C” or even “D” paper.

Thankfully, the EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool provides all-in-one support to cover all your bases. Our premium essay checker is convenient, easy to use, and includes access to a grammar and spell checker, plus a plagiarism checker. With a single scan, you’ll receive personalized feedback to help identify potentially missing citations and help improve your sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, and more.

Not sure if that noun is spelled correctly, or if the preposition at the end of your sentence is grammatically correct? The EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool is your one-stop shop to help check plagiarism, get grammatical suggestions, correct spelling and punctuation errors, and help create polished papers you can be proud to turn in. And, we haven’t told you the best part yet: you can try our tool free and scan your work for grammar suggestions right now!

Access all the tools today!

A Grammar Check for Peace of Mind

You know that grammar plays a significant role in your assignments. Not only does it factor into your overall grade, but without clear and precise language, your ideas can lose their impact or might even be misunderstood entirely. Still, with so many different parts of speech and rules to learn and apply, it’s not uncommon to get them mixed up and find yourself questioning your knowledge now and again:

Can you use an adverb to modify a noun? (No. You need an adjective for that.)

Well, can you use it to modify a pronoun ? (Still no.)

What do they modify, then? (Almost everything else. Fun, right?)

Ugh. (That was an interjection .)

Does this have to be so difficult? (Nope!)

Scanning your paper with the EasyBib Plus writing tool delivers more than the basic punctuation and spell check functions that come standard in word processing programs. You’ll receive immediate, targeted feedback that can help improve the sentence structure and style of your writing. Not only can this help ensure that you don’t lose points off your grade for grammatical errors such as mismatched verb tense, but it can also help to clarify your meaning and strengthen your arguments by eliminating confusing punctuation and run-on sentences that confuse readers.

Reviewing your work to correct errors and refine the flow of your writing is a critical part of the revision process for novices and novelists alike. Even the most conscientious of wordsmiths might make mistakes, such as using a conjunctive adverb in place of a coordinating conjunction or pairing a plural determiner with an uncountable word. They likely appreciate a subscription-based or free grammar check as much as a beginning writer. That’s why the EasyBib Plus writing tool is designed for all writers, from students who are still learning the fundamentals to published professionals who get paid by the word.

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides quick, targeted feedback that you can use to help improve your writing immediately. Also, our free resource library is available 24/7, just like the rest of our tools, to help you brush up on the areas that challenge you the most (Conjunctive what? Uncountable who?) That means you can continue to sharpen your skills and improve your writing over time, which will help make finishing your next project easier.

Ready to give your paper a boost? Sign up for EasyBib Plus or scan a paper right now for a free spell check—it’s easy!Just upload or copy and paste your paper to the online grammar check tool and, in a matter of seconds, you’ll be able to receive up to 5 feedback cards so you can begin polishing your draft.

To learn more about proofreading tools, you can find more info here. Or, for more tips on grammar, punctuation, and style, check out this useful reference .

Why is Grammar So Important, Anyway?

Why is grammar important? As long as others know what you mean, does it really matter if you use proper grammar? These are age-old questions, but the answers remain unchanged. Grammar is important for many reasons:

Communication:  Communication is about more than merely listening and talking. We communicate in myriad ways: with our voices, our mannerisms, our facial expressions, our actions, and frequently, our written words. Written communication is just as important as all the other ways we broadcast our thoughts and feelings. Unlike our other communication methods, though, written communication leaves a record. While most of us relax our style when talking to or texting friends, the fact remains that more formal venues require a more formal tone. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are a necessary element of professional and academic writing, so running your work through a spelling and grammar check before you submit it is an absolute must.

Clarity:  Expressing your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is an uphill battle when you communicate them with less-than-stellar punctuation, spelling, and grammar. A missing or misplaced comma, for example, can entirely change your meaning:

• Call me Ishmael = My name is Ishmael.
• Call me, Ishmael = I want Ishmael to call me.

Spelling errors can result in similarly muddled meaning:

• Her shoes perfectly complemented her dress. = Her shoes and dress go well together.
• Her shoes perfectly complimented her dress. = Her shoes can both speak and engage in flattery.

Grammar deficiencies such as a dangling modifier yield similarly confusing results:

• I saw the girl’s purple backpack in the library. = The purple backpack belonging to the girl is in the library; I saw it.
• I saw the purple girl’s backpack in the library. = You know the girl who mysteriously turned purple? I saw her backpack in the library. This week has not been easy on her.

Credibility: Establishing your credibility is critical whether you’re writing for school or business. Proving that you can reliably communicate using proper grammar is essential to establishing and maintaining the trust of your teachers, professors, readers, customers, and colleagues.

To learn even more about the importance of English grammar in writing, check here .

What Happens After I Upload My Paper?

Once you upload a paper, the EasyBib Plus grammar checker scans your text and highlights grammar issues within your document so you can see it in context. For users running a grammar check and spell check using the grammar check free tool, up to the first 5 issues are shown. For subscription subscribers, all of the areas that require your review will be highlighted once the scan is complete.

No matter which version of the tool you’re using, your feedback will include detailed explanations so you can understand why the text was flagged. Other highlighted areas will include examples of how the issues can be fixed. Some will include a detailed explanation as to why the issue was flagged. This personalized feedback allows you to make an educated decision about whether to edit your text or dismiss the suggestion, so you’re always in control of your final draft.

Subscription users also have the plagiarism checker at their disposal when scanning their papers for style and grammar suggestions. Just as with our other writing tools, when you use the tool to check plagiarism, changes are never made without your review, so you are always in the driver’s seat. You can review each highlighted area as well as the sources of matching text and will always be given a choice to either accept or ignore both citation and grammar suggestions.

Whether you are a student or a professional, the EasyBib Plus tools are powerful allies that can help you improve your paper, establish credibility as a writer, and maintain an ethical writing process.

Try our checker free for 3 days to see what you think*. Trust us; you’ll wonder how you got along so far without it!

*See Terms and Conditions

Check for Unintentional Plagiarism

Persistent use of the best grammar checker and spell checker you can find will help to shape up the style and substance of your composition. However, to ensure the integrity of your work and root out unintentional instances of academic dishonesty, you’ll also need to incorporate a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker for students.

The ability to scan your paper and check plagiarism and grammar before submitting your work is an invaluable tool for students. It’s so valuable, in fact, that students are not the only ones who consistently use this type of software.

Many teachers and professors use a service to ensure that student papers are original and include properly formatted and sourced citations for all reference materials. For some, this may be a consistent element of their grading process, while others may utilize one only when they feel there is a reason to do so.

What Exactly Does a Plagiarism Checker Do?

If you’ve used an online plagiarism checker before, you may be familiar with the process that these tools employ. For those who have never used one, it can be helpful to understand how these tools work and what you should expect as a result of using one.

The most basic free tools will scan your paper and provide you with a percentage that indicates how much of your work is original. This feature can be useful to a point, as some instructors and institutions set a percentage for the amount of similar text that is considered acceptable. This policy does not mean that they are lenient about academic dishonesty but, instead, that they recognize that similar or even matching word choice is not always an indicator of copying.

However, some schools do not tolerate any form of incremental plagiarism, period. In these institutions, “check paper for plagiarism” is likely a standard action when grading all papers.

With a free plagiarism checker, the percentage of word-for-word plagiarism in your text may be the only feedback you receive. Moreover, some of these providers may wade in unethical waters, and offer essay writing services in conjunction with their checking services. This is why many students and teachers prefer subscription-based checkers that focus on integrity, such as the EasyBib writing tools.

With our premium tools, you get more than just supporting proof that your paper is original and in your own words. Your writing is scanned for potentially matching text and areas that needs your attention is highlighted. We’ll provide you with the source of the matching text so you can review it and decide how to proceed. If you agree that a citation is needed, our citation tools and resources will provide you with the information you need to help format and insert the new sources in your text as well as your works cited page.

How Does the EasyBib Plus Online Plagiarism Checker Work?

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides an all-in-one spell check, grammar review, and plagiarism checker that not only helps you with the paper you’re writing now but enables you to gain new knowledge and improve your writing for the future, too.

Our essay checker searches online for phrases, sentences, or passages that are similar to those in your paper. If it returns matching text, this may indicate that you have passages that are missing citations.

Just as with many checkers, our tool will tell you how many instances of matching text it finds in your paper. Our plagiarism tool is designed to do more than most free tools, however.

When a portion of your paper is flagged for review, we provide you with the source that it matches. As with our online spell check tool, you have the power to review each area and choose how to proceed. If you decide to cite the flagged text, you can review the suggested source and access our citation tools to help create a proper citation and start building a bibliography for your paper. Or, you may determine that no citation is needed, in which case it’s simple to dismiss the suggestion and continue to the next section.

If you’re unsure about how to proceed, our library of resources can help you learn more and make an educated decision. In this way, you gain more than just the ability to correct your work; over time, you can learn how to avoid plagiarism altogether.

Reasons Your Teacher May Run Your Paper Through a Plagiarism Detector

As stated previously, your teachers and professors grade papers with a fixed process that includes “check paper for plagiarism” as a standard, across-the-board action. Others may check for plagiarism only when they feel there is cause to do so. There are a few red flags that may stand out to them while reviewing a paper that would lead to their running a plagiarism check, including:

Style/Voice:  Most teachers are familiar with the style and voice that you use in your writing. While most will hope that the feedback they provide when grading your work will help you to improve problem areas over time, a paper or essay that has a dramatically different style or voice than the work you’ve previously submitted can be a red flag.

Inconsistency:  Changes in the font, font size, formality, formatting, and more may indicate that portions of a paper have been copied and pasted. If these inconsistent passages are not presented as quotations or don’t include citations, this may further indicate to your teacher that there’s plagiarism in the paper.

Old References:  Part of a well-researched paper is verifying the legitimacy and relevance of your sources. While some older references may be acceptable depending on the topic, if all of your sources are outdated, it may lead your teacher to believe that you’ve recycled your own work or someone else’s.

Looking for a checker to try? With EasyBib Plus you get unlimited checks to give you peace of mind when turning in your papers!

What is Plagiarism?

If you’re looking for a free online plagiarism checker , you’re already aware that it’s not something you want to be found in your papers. However, you may still be wondering: what does plagiarism mean? It’s a reasonable question and one that merits exploring. After all, some of the actions and circumstances that fall within the plagiarism definition come as a surprise to those who only learn that they’ve committed them after it’s too late.

So what is plagiarism? To define plagiarism in the most basic sense, you might say that it is taking someone else’s ideas and words and passing them off as your own.

If your goal is avoiding plagiarism entirely, you’ll need to go beyond the basics to thoroughly define plagiarism, recognize it, and keep clear of it. Some examples of plagiarism that students find surprising include forgotten citations, poor paraphrasing, and re-submitting your own work in whole or in part for more than one assignment. This useful article provides more help in recognizing and understanding the different forms that academic dishonesty can take.

Of course, using your own words and ideas does not count as plagiarism, nor does using common knowledge . Basically, common knowledge is information that is well known by the average person. Examples of common knowledge:

• there are 12 months in a year
• the freezing point of Celsius is zero degrees
• Socrates was a Greek philosopher

So should you only include your original thoughts and common knowledge in your papers? Of course not! Research-based assignments are meant to demonstrate your skills as a researcher, after all, as well as your ability to build upon the work of others to formulate new ideas. To avoid accidentally committing an act that falls within the plagiarism definition when you’re using another person’s words or ideas, though, you need to give them proper credit. This means you’ll need to clearly identify direct quotations or properly paraphrase them when including them in your paper.

Regardless of your approach, you’ll also need to cite your sources according to the style your professor specifies. Generally, you will use MLA format for the arts and humanities and APA format for the sciences, but it’s always best to check with your instructor when you’re unsure.

If you know what style to use but still aren’t sure how to create your citations, don’t fret! Our library of resources includes free guides to help you learn about various styles so you can properly structure and place them. And our premium tools not only help you check grammar, spelling, and originality in your papers, but subscribers also enjoy access to our citation creation tools!

What are the Different Types of Plagiarism?

In addition to the question “what is plagiarism,” you may also be wondering, “why do students plagiarize?” While some students do intentionally plagiarize because they believe they can pass off someone else’s work as their own to avoid spending time on their assignments, many others do so accidentally. They may not understand how broad the plagiarism definition is or they haven’t learned how to research and cite their sources properly. That is why it is vital to recognize plagiarism in all of its forms if you wish to ensure the integrity of your work.

Examples of plagiarism & How to prevent it

Direct plagiarism:

Intentionally copying another person’s work without including a citation that gives credit to the source. When most students are asked to identify potential plagiarism examples and behaviors, this direct and deliberate act is what they think of first.

• Prevention: If you use an idea or quote from another source, cite it in the text. Make it clear that it was not your own words. 

Incremental plagiarism:

Copying parts of another person’s work, such as phrases, sentences, or paragraphs without crediting the source. When deciding which tools to use to check a paper for plagiarism , instructors often seek out those that will identify incremental forms as well as instances of direct copying and similar phrasing.

• Prevention : Decide to either directly quote the phrases or sentences you want to use, or write a good paraphrase. In both cases, be sure to add a citation. Using a plagiarism checker could also help you identify problematic passages.

Self-plagiarism:

Academic self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits the same paper or parts of a paper for more than one assignment. When your instructors are grading your papers, they’re assessing your research and writing skills in the present. When you submit work that you completed in the past, they are both unable to evaluate your current skills and unaware that you haven’t completed the assignment.

• Prevention: Write a new paper for each assignment you’re assigned. If you feel strongly that your past work could enhance your new paper, speak to your instructor and ask for permission first.

Misleading citations:

Including a citation for a quote or idea that misrepresents the source material. This can occur if a student does not understand the reference they are citing; if a student includes a citation for a disreputable source; or the source material simply does not align with the idea or argument that the student has attributed to it.

• Prevention: Carefully review your assignment to understand it. As you research, take the time to evaluate each source notes . Remember, it’s better to have quality citations over an abundance of citations.

Invented sources:

If a reference in a student’s bibliography is found not to exist, it is considered an invented source. This may occur if a student couldn’t find a reputable source to back their argument, or if they needed to include additional references to meet the requirements of the assignment and chose to take an unethical shortcut rather than completing the required amount of research. No matter the reason, this behavior ultimately hurts them in the long run. Not only will they fail to gain the experience they need to conduct research in the future properly, but they’ll also experience significant consequences if they’re caught.

• Prevention: Set aside time to do proper research so you can find enough sources. Start creating a list of sources as you’re researching and take good notes. This will help you keep track of your sources so none are forgotten. If you do end up forgetting where a quote came from, a paper checker could help you pinpoint the original source. 

Patchwriting/Spinning:

Patchwriting is often confused with paraphrasing, but there’s a significant difference. When you paraphrase, you demonstrate that you understand the topic well enough to restate it in your own words. When you patchwrite or spin, it is more akin to a word-swapping game; there’s no need to understand the subject, merely to have access to a thesaurus so you can substitute enough synonyms to mask the source material. This can be intentional, but it may also be a result of having a poor understanding of how to paraphrase.

• Prevention: Using your own words, write down the key points of the phrase or idea, and put them together in a sentence. Be sure to include a citation as well. 

A good way to test if you’re patchwriting or paraphrasing is to remove your sources from view. If you can write about what you’ve read without looking at the source material, you likely understand it well enough to paraphrase it. If you have to review the source material with each new sentence or consult a thesaurus while writing about it (except when you’re adding direct quotations), you may be spinning your sources instead of paraphrasing them.

Academic Integrity Policies and Statements

If you’re still uncertain about what counts as plagiarism, look for your school’s/ organization’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism. The policies of academic institutions usually cover what is considered plagiarism, the consequences of committing it, and how to avoid it. One great example is Purdue University’s Academic Integrity statement .

What are the Consequences of Plagiarism?

No matter the setting, plagiarism is not taken lightly, and the consequences can be significant. For a good reason, too! Whether in an academic or professional setting, the plagiarism consequences reflect the seriousness of the act, which is ultimately a form of theft that hurts everyone involved.

Just as with the theft of a tangible object, there can be legal punishments for plagiarism. It is, after all, a form of copyright infringement in many instances. A quick search for plagiarism articles will reveal that professional instances of intellectual theft have resulted in civil lawsuits and can even be criminally prosecuted under rare circumstances. In addition to the possible legal consequences, professionals may lose their jobs or have to start over in a new field after their acts of fraud are uncovered.

As a student, you’re likely to wonder what happens if you plagiarize in college or high school. While there will almost always be consequences for this behavior, there is no one-size-fits-all plagiarism sentence. Depending on the circumstances, academic dishonesty could result in outcomes such as:

• You might get a zero for the assignment in which the infringement occurred.
• You may receive a failing grade for the class. If it is a required course, this could leave you without enough credits to move on to the next level until you can repeat it and, in some instances, postpone graduation.
• You may be expelled from your school or university.

The academic dishonesty may be noted on your transcript, which can lead to you not getting into your preferred college, graduate school, or Ph.D. program in the future.

Nobody wants to be known as a fraud or to have a reputation for dishonesty follow them through their career. And, given the consequences that can extend beyond just their reputation, it’s no wonder that professional and academic writers who wish to avoid them take the time to understand the complete definition of plagiarism and run their work through a plagiarism checker before sending it out into the world.

Even the vigilant can fall prey to inferior tools, unfortunately. Before selecting a plagiarism checker, you should understand how they work and what they can (and cannot) detect.

How We Check for Plagiarism

When exploring how to check for plagiarism, most students and professionals conclude that including a checking tool in their revision process is not only helpful but necessary. When you consider the Herculean task of checking each line of your paper against the text of each of your resources, the benefits of a checker are clear. Moreover, this manual approach would only alert you to matching text in the sources you’re aware of, after all, and leaves the sources you haven’t reviewed untouched.

But, hang on. Why would sources you haven’t reviewed factor into your review? The answer to this lies in the plagiarism definition you learned above. What is plagiarism? It’s presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, intentionally or otherwise. It is not uncommon to uncover an idea while you’re researching a topic and later misremember it as your own. This might even occur years after you originally came across it.

You might wonder: how can plagiarism be avoided if you have to account for the source of every thought you include in your work? A few exceptions minimize the scope of this. Common knowledge about your topic does not need to be supported by a citation, nor does knowledge that you gained through your personal experience. Using a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker will help you locate any passages that may fall into these categories so you can review them and decide for yourself whether a citation is needed.

EasyBib Plus writing tools provide easy, convenient, and reliable support to help you find potentially missed citations and can help you improve your paper into a high-quality paper with integrity. Simply upload your paper, select the checker, then sit back and relax as the site scans your document. In mere moments, we’ll search the web for passages of similar text and highlight duplicate content for your review.

Regardless of the tools you use to help you revise and polish your work, it’s ultimately your responsibility to ensure that you’re writing and submitting ethical work. That’s why our tools go beyond the basics and require your participation. The tool never automatically makes changes to your paper, but only flags sections that may need your attention and provides you with the matching source so you can to make an educated decision.

If you find that a citation is needed, our citation tools can help you create properly formatted citations and develop a complete bibliography. And, if you review the passage and determine that the match is coincidental, you can dismiss the alert and move on to the next.

Seamless Citation Creation

Professional writers and students alike can find creating citations incredibly confusing. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of a well-written and researched paper and a requirement in almost all academic settings. But, have you ever wondered why they are so important? Citations really do have a purpose—other than driving us crazy— that make it necessary always to cite our sources.

We cite our sources for a few important reasons:

We need to give credit where credit is due. When you use a quote from someone else’s work, you need to give credit for using their words and ideas. Research is often based on the works and ideas of others. However, to include the words and ideas of another without giving them proper credit is to plagiarize, even if the act was unintentional.

In addition, showing that you’ve done proper research by including in text & parenthetical citations and a comprehensive list of sources to back up your arguments gives your work a layer of credibility that can help you earn the trust of your reader or teacher.

Readers can find the sources you used.  When you’re writing high school or undergraduate papers, your only readers may be your instructors and peers. However, including citations at every level of writing helps to ensure that anyone who reads your work can access your sources to check their accuracy, learn more about your topic, and further their own research.

Sources can take your research and learning to the next level, too. When you are conducting research on a topic, checking the works cited or annotated bibliographies prepared by your sources can lead you down new avenues in your research to further develop your ideas and help you write your papers.

Correctly utilizing citations gives strength to your thoughts and opinions. Understanding the value of citations does not, unfortunately, make them any easier to create. We know how confusing it can be, but don’t throw in the towel on learning how to cite websites in MLA , create your APA citation website references, or format your works cited —this is where we come in!

While a free online plagiarism detector may tell you how much of your work is unoriginal and may even identify the passages that meet their plagiarize definition, a premium EasyBib Plus plagiarism checker account also gives you access to our powerful citation resources and generator so you can:

Scan your papers with the plagiarism tool to check for plagiarism-free work before you submit.

Review flagged passages to determine if they meet the plagiarism definition and create unlimited citations in APA format and MLA format for anything fitting the plagiarism meaning. Need more styles ? Check out our regular citation generator for thousands of choices and free resources to help you learn how to create an APA parenthetical citation , APA book citation , APA works cited , and so much more!

Build a full bibliography for your paper right along with your parenthetical or in-text citations, which can save you hours of work along the way compared to manually creating and formatting them.

How Else Do We Help You Improve Your Paper?

The EasyBib Plus plagiarism detector helps you check your content or paper for text that may be missing a citation—which may fall within the definition of plagiarism—to help ensure you don’t accidentally plagiarize. It also includes grammar check and spelling check tools to help identify errors and suggest grammatical tweaks that could help to elevate the level of your writing.

Running a plagiarism check couldn’t be easier! Just upload your paper to the online proofreader, and in a few moments we’ll have your writing and citing suggestions. And, there’s no need to worry about your paper after it’s been scanned.

Run a Grammar and Spell Check for Free!

There’s no denying that your schoolwork can be challenging at times, and your assignments can lead to some late nights even when you’ve started them early. The last thing you want is to submit assignments that don’t reflect your best effort, but it can occasionally be quite the juggling act to get everything done on time.

Why not let our plagiarism checker free up space on your calendar by helping you revise your papers quickly and efficiently? The EasyBib Plus paper checker is your one-stop shop to check for plagiarism, create citations, spot spelling mistakes, and receive feedback on your grammar and style.

When you proofread and do a manual spelling check on work that you’ve written, you’re more likely to overlook mistakes. This is even more likely if you’re pressed for time or trying to complete several different assignments at once. There are tricks to help minimize this, such as reading your work aloud to identify poor grammar or reading each sentence backward to find spelling errors. When time is of the essence, though, these solutions aren’t the most convenient or useful options. That’s why many students seek the assistance of online tools that will run a grammar and plagiarism check on their work.

Are you asking yourself, “ How do I check my grammar online ?” We’ve got the perfect checker for you! Our advanced tools help you find and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Our targeted feedback and free writing and citing resources help you learn as you go to improve your writing over time.

The best part? You can use our grammar and writing tools any time of the day, any day of the year for! Looking to try it? Just upload or copy and paste your text into our online proofreader for a free grammar check with up to 5 suggestions, or sign up for EasyBib Plus today! EasyBib Plus gives you use of the plagiarism checker and unlimited access to suggestions that can help improve your spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, writing style, and grammar.

Published February 3, 2019. Updated April 9, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Melissa DeVrieze Meyer . Michele is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib. You can find her here on Twitter. Melissa is a professional writer and editor based in New Jersey. She writes for academic brands and independent publishers about writing, grammar, and literature, and creates study and curriculum materials for ESL learners. You can find her on Twitter .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

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Consequences of Plagiarism

Today, copyrighted content has become a constant problem in educational institutions. Students create many assignments using a lot of research in a short period. Many schools/institutions, such as Duke University, have judicial affairs offices. They will review each case of plagiarism and fix penalties.

Most of the outcomes of plagiarism occur once the replication is caught. Institutions have noted that students who duplicate data often fail to learn research and writing skills. Once they leave the institution, all those students lose the ability to create original content because they have only cheated before.

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Countless journalists, academics, writers, and creators have had their reputations damaged by plagiarism accusations. Not only do plagiarists disrupt their ongoing work by getting fired or terminated. They also find it difficult to get work in the future. A particularly egregious instance of plagiarism, or worse, can destroy a person's professional image. It also forces them to change careers to avoid the stigma of plagiarism.

Apart from all the professional and personal difficulties that may arise in certain cases, there are also legal consequences. Copying copyrighted material for profit may result in the plagiarist having to pay some financial losses. In some cases, copying data can subject the plagiarist to criminal prosecution. And the punishment can range from charges to imprisonment.

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Importance of plagiarism Detector

If you aim at a higher Authority on SERP (Search Engine Results Page) then never take the risk of publishing a heavily duplicated content.

Plagiarized or duplicated content can lead to lower page rank. If you are caught up in a situation where your article, blog or web page content is not entirely unique, then there is a comparatively higher risk of getting blacklisted by search engines especially Google. You can utilize the free plagiarism detection service offered by our similarity checker to check the content from your own website to make sure that no one has stolen the content from your website. Apart from SEO (Search Engine Optimization), our free plagiarism finder can also be utilized by students and teachers for academic uses.

Beware! It is a double-edged sword .

How the plagiarism scanner Works?

It is very simple!

Plagiarism scanner is an intelligent free and most accurate software.

The content you enter is analyzed on the basis of its

• lexical frequencies,,
• word-choice,,
• matching phrases,,

and many other important factors. Your given text is mapped into our internal network, and then it is compared against different databases and the entire internet. We have designed our algorithm to especially ignore statistically common phrases to provide a better and more valuable search for potential plagiarism in the text. Once the plagiarism test completes, the results will appear below along with the match percentage that our best plagiarism tool has found.

The article you have entered is carefully scanned, and so is the entire internet. If complete plagiarized sentences are found, the plagiarism detector will identify the original source of that content and show to you. All you have to do is copy and paste the content in the text box and then click on “Check Plagiarism” button.

It is as simple as it sounds. (How to check plagiarism)

This plagiarism checker free online for teachers, students, and writers will run your text through its database of millions of sites to show you the best plagiarism free report with the detailed results. Alternatively, you can either enter the URL of the website for which you want to conduct a plagiarism check or you can upload the files. Whether it is an article, essay or blog, a thorough sentence check will be conducted for your text in order to give you the most reliable and accurate results.

Online Plagiarism Checker

Understanding the results.

Beside the text box, you are shown the percentage for Checked, Unique, and Plagiarized.

Phrases or sentences shown in the results below are the ones that our plagiarism detector has identified as plagiarized and already exist online, along with the matched percentage. These are the links and by clicking on the “Match Text” you will be redirected to the original source where you can see yourself the plagiarized text. When the plagiarism test is finished, you’ll also be given an exact percentage of uniqueness and plagiarism of your text. However, if your content is completely unique then you will get a congratulations message:

Plagiarism Checker API

The plagiarism checker API allows everyone to add plagiarism detection functionality to their software or applications. Our flexible system allows you to customize your settings to fit your needs. It can grow with your business or personal needs. Most importantly, our reliable services give you peace of mind knowing your data is safe and protected.

Identify Copied Material with Anti Plagiarism Software

Plagiarism can appear in different forms, but the end outcome is always the same: the plagiarist stole something from another person. Plagiarism refers to using some other person’s ideas and information without acknowledging that specific person as the source. Similar to all other forms of theft, plagiarism also has many disadvantages associated with it.

It can take place in both intentional, when you try to pass someone’s content as your own, or unintentional when you forget to mention the source for your work correctly. In spite of the kind, piracy always has consequences when it is discovered. Mostly, the punishment of accidental copying is temporary. Because ascertaining unintentional plagiarism requires knowledge of intent, the overall prestige of the plagiarist becomes the deciding factor.

Plagiarism can occur in any shape either textual or pictorial. So we not only scan the document for the copyrights but also check the duplication for images. You can also perform Reverse Image Search to look for the best matching photos. By using advance image recognition algorithms, it will bring out the matching results from all over the internet and search engines.

Before jumping to direct consequences, here’s a brief detail of how can you make sure your work is not matching with any source. Loads of information, millions of text documents, is attainable on the internet now. So, if you think you can check manually, then you are wrong. No matter, how many articles you read or how many hours you spend, you can never be sure. Hence, the alternative best way you can take help from is a free plagiarism detector. There are many such tools readily available on the internet, providing best services to users. Majority of them, search your material against billions of contents and underlines each sentence which resembles with another posted article.

Free AI Content Detector

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Authority on ai and plagiarism.

Our plagiarism and AI detection tools and helpful content are used by millions of users every month.

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AI Detector for ChatGPT, GPT4, Gemini, and more

Scribbr’s AI and ChatGPT Detector confidently detects texts generated by the most popular tools, like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Our advanced AI checker tool can detect GPT2, GPT3, and GPT3.5 with high accuracy, while the detection of GPT4 is supported on an experimental basis.

Note that no AI Detector can provide complete accuracy ( see our research ). As language models continue to develop, detection tools will always have to race to keep up with them.

The AI Detector is perfect for...

Confidently submit your papers

Scribbr’s AI Detector helps ensure that your essays and papers adhere to your university guidelines.

• Verify the authenticity of your sources ensuring that you only present trustworthy information.
• Identify any AI-generated content, like ChatGPT, that might need proper attribution.

Check the authenticity of your students’ work

More and more students are using AI tools, like ChatGPT in their writing process. Our AI checker helps educators detect AI content in the text.

• Analyze the content submitted by your students, ensuring that their work is actually written by them.
• Promote a culture of honesty and originality among your students.

Prevent search algorithm penalties

Using our AI text detector ensures ensure that your content is indexed by publishing high-quality and original content.

• Analyze the authenticity of articles written by external contributors or agencies before publishing them.
• Deliver unique content that engages your audience and drives traffic to your website.

AI Detectors vs. Plagiarism Checkers

AI detectors and plagiarism checkers are both used to verify the originality and authenticity of a text, but they differ in terms of how they work and what they’re looking for.

AI Detector or ChatGPT Detector

AI detectors try to find text that looks like it was generated by an AI writing tool, like ChatGPT. They do this by measuring specific characteristics of the text like sentence structure and length, word choice, and predictability — not by comparing it to a database of content.

Plagiarism Checker

Plagiarism checkers try to find text that is copied from a different source. They do this by comparing the text to a large database of web pages, news articles, journals, and so on, and detecting similarities — not by measuring specific characteristics of the text.

Scribbr & academic integrity

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our tools, like the AI Detector , Plagiarism Checker , and Citation Generator are designed to help students produce quality academic papers and prevent academic misconduct.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Your questions, answered

Scribbr’s AI Detectors can confidently detect most English texts generated by popular tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Our free AI detector can detect GPT2, GPT3, and GPT3.5 with average accuracy, while the Premium AI Detector has high accuracy and the ability to detect GPT4.

Our AI Detector can detect most texts generated by popular tools like ChatGPT and Bard. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee 100% accuracy. The software works especially well with longer texts but can make mistakes if the AI output was prompted to be less predictable or was edited or paraphrased after being generated.

Our research into the best AI detectors indicates that no tool can provide complete accuracy; the highest accuracy we found was 84% in a premium tool or 68% in the best free tool.

The AI score is a percentage between 0% and 100%, indicating the likelihood that a text has been generated by AI.

No, Scribbr’s AI Detector will only give you a percentage between 0% and 100% that shows how much AI-generated content is in your text.

No. Our AI content checker can only inform you of AI-generated content. Our Plagiarism Checker can help prevent unintentional plagiarism in your writing.

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Review: 10 Sites That Check For Plagiarism

If you are a teacher or some type of instructor at an educational institution or you need to check the work of people regularly for originality, you can use a wide variety of tools for a plagiarism check that can help you to see if work is original or if you need to tell the author that they should quote a source for their obviously copied work. Here is list of ten sites that you can use, along with a quick review of each one and our results from a test run of the content.

For our sample purposes, we have used content from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism to see how each tool performs.

1. Copyscape.com (Free/Paid)

This tool is free, but if you want more results and details, you need to purchase the premium version of this tool. The premium version charges you five cents per page for the plagiarism check for each page that is checked with the tool. You simply cut and paste your URL into the given search box and the tool searches around online to see if there are copies of your content on the net.

Pros: You can get an accurate picture of any of your content that is being copied and the magnitude of that being copied;

Cons: You have to pay 5 cents per copy check

When we plugged in the URL of the content from the site, we received a list of 10 sites that apparently have similar content. The content listed includes exact matches, content that is similar to your copy, partial copies and content that has been modified from your original form.

2. Grammarly.com (Free Trial/Paid) Winner "Accuracy"

This tool is free to run your content, but once the results come up you are prompted to sign up for a free 7 day trial. Although you can cancel your subscription before those seven days are up, you can also choose a subscription plan – the options are $29.95 a month, $59.95 quarterly or $139.95 annually.

Pros: The information that is given back to you is pretty accurate.

Cons: This is a paid side and the details given for the content are pretty intense, most people won't really get it unless they have a university degree in English.

We took a couple of paragraphs of the content and pasted it into the box. The results we got back included a score of 42 out of 100, "weak, needs revision". Unoriginal text was detected, there was some issue with sentence structure, and there were six apparent issues with the writing style and vocabulary use. Of course, you would have to pay for a membership to see what those issues were.

3. Writecheck.com (Paid only)

This tool is not free, in fact it actually requires that you sign up for an account and choose a payment option, the lowest cost one being $7.95 per paper check. This site is geared towards university or college students who want to turn a paper in to their instructor and want to ensure that it is accurate and well-cited as well as being free from plagiarism. Upon submission, the writing is checked for similarities and phrases and quotes that are not cited against 250 million student papers, 110,000 published works and the world wide web.

Pros: This is one of the most comprehensive plagiarism checkers available online.

Cons: It's not free and can be quite costly for a single use. There is no option for a free check to see if you like the tool before you buy.

4. Plagscan.com (Paid only)

This is another way to detect plagiarism that is not free. You can't even run a free trial to see if you like the interface of this tool, it prompts you immediately to sign up for a paid account running on a system that they call "Plag Points". Each "Plag Point" allows you to analyse 100 words or a fraction of a document. Obviously, we did not test this one out, but it seems like it is pretty much on par as far as cost compared to other paid sites. There is quite a bit of detail that is returned to you as the user when you run a scan using this tool.

Pros: You can cancel your membership if you do try the site and don't like it.

Cons: You can't try the service before you make a purchase. If you want to cancel your membership you need to explain why. As far as we are concerned, if you are not happy, there is a reason, but you shouldn't have to explain yourself.

5. Turnitin.com (Paid only)

This site is geared towards teaching professionals and is generally meant for institutions who wish to open an account in the name of the school. The motto of the site is to prevent plagiarism and motivate students. The school has to get a quote of what it would cost for a membership, then the paper in question can be entered into the system to be checked. Originality reports details where matches are found to other papers in the database. Sources are listed and instructors can filter so that quotes are eliminated. The cost of this program may not be worth it if you are not using it every day for several projects daily.

Pros: Very useful for instructors – can create a data base of students and where they stand – can be used as a tool to help students to strengthen their writing skills.

Cons: Geared towards schools and instructors, not webmasters.

6. Plagium.com (Free, but...)

This site is free to use, but does request a donation if you like the service. When we entered a few paragraphs of text from the linked page, it returned 9 possible content matches. Five of those had copied the content 100%, although one of those was the original site. You can get a pretty good idea of how original or copied the content is.

Pros: The program is completely free to use.

Cons: There is not much detail around what you are looking at as far as analysis, but the program does provide a list of sites where duplicate content has been found.

7. Scanmyessay (Paid, Currently offline)

This site shows a free download, but we did not do the free download because we didn't want to deal with the nag that would pop up for payment after the initial trial. We just found this one to be mentioned quite a bit online and thought it was a good program to include in our list of possible content copy checkers. There is a full description of how the downloaded program works to identify plagiarism and it seems to hit all of the highlights that most programs do. As we said before, we are not sure if you would need to pay for the program after a download, because we did not proceed with the download.

Pros: Nothing really.

Cons: Not sure if there is a fee to use the program or if you are charged to see the results that come up after you have scanned your material.

8. Plagiarism-detect.com (Free) Winner "Free" (Currently offline)

As far as free sites to check for plagiarism go, this one is quite detailed and pretty accurate. The results were quick and listed right there on the screen for us to see, so it took the guesswork out of what we were checking. The interface of the tool was quite plain and simple to view, so it was not at all confusing. On the left two boxes show up that show the number of the words in the text and the sentences that are believed to be copied from another source. You can save the results, print them or insert a new project by clearing out the box. This is a pretty good program for a freebie.

Pros: Free to use, fast results. The details are clear and simple to read and provide a good amount of information that is useful.

Cons: None, that we could see right away, but if we continued to use the tool, some may arise for sure.

9. Dustball.com (Free, but...)

This is another free tool that lets you copy your content into the box to be checked. We did just that and found that the exact content that we had copied into other free sites did not return the same amount of accuracy. Only two short sentence fragments were returned as "possible plagiarism" which does not instill much confidence, especially given the detail we saw in some of the earlier free programs we tried with much more detailed results.

Pros: Free to use with a paid version also available.

Cons: Not sure how accurate the free version really is. The more text you paste in the longer the check takes. If you are dealing with a long essay, it seems like the check could take an hour.

10. Plagiarisma.net (Free, but...)

This free tool allows you to cut and paste your content into the box and select several search engines to run the check. The end result pops up with a list of sites that contain duplicate content. This site showed the actual content that was duplicated (for free), not just the sites that had the content. Not all of the sites that were listed by Grammarly and Copyscape showed up, interestingly enough. We did not really want to trust the results on this one since we saw more accurate results from other free sites that we had already tried.

Pros: Free to use.

Cons: Not too certain how accurate the results are.

Tips For Webmasters

When you run a plagiarism check it is important to understand the results. Paid tools probably have more instructions than free ones, so that is important to note. If you are looking for a free tool, then the selection of good ones is pretty limited. Anyway, you need to try and compare them to see which one you like the best. Some have complicated interfaces while others are quite plain and simple to use. If you only plan on checking a few documents once in a while and are not too concerned with accuracy, then a free online tool may be enough for your purposes.

If, however, you are a teacher or have your own website and are concerned about content theft (without proper accreditation) then you should consider a paid tool that will provide you with accurate information and where exactly you can find your copied content. Many people will copy your content and that, in itself is fine, so long as they give you a backlink for that content and provide the source of the original content in their reproduction.

Unfortunately, not so many people are that honest and you may have to hunt around online to ensure that you are not being ripped off by content grabbers. If it is a big concern to you, then you can use certain types of anti-theft publication tools where the content cannot be easily copied or printed if someone wants to reproduce it.

Anti-copying can be made possible by disabling the right click option when people scan your content ( Source ). However, in many cases, current browsers are immune to these "right-click prevention"-scripts, and several of these methods are not working any longer.

Check online often and run your content to see if it has been reproduced. Even with the most stringent anti-copying measures, there are still people that will find a way to copy your content without your permission. Take all of the necessary precautions and make sure that your content is not stolen from your site.

Do you have any tips to share on how to prevent plagiarism being a webmaster? Please share in the comments below...

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Essay checker: free online paper corrector

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Good Writing = Good Grades

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Your goal in essay writing is to convey your message as best as possible. ProWritingAid's essay checker is the first step toward doing this.

Get rid of spelling errors

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Make sure that in the grand scheme, your language is not too complicated. The essay checker's built-in Readability report will show if your essay is easy or hard to read. It specifically zones in on paragraphs that might be difficult to read so you can review them.

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The editing tool analyzes your text and highlights a variety of key writing issues, such as overused words, incohesive sentence structures, punctuation issues, repeated phrases, and inconsistencies.

You don't need to drown your essay in words just to meet the word count. ProWritingAid's essay checker will help to make your words more effective. You'll get to construct your arguments and make sure that every word you use builds toward a meaningful conclusion.

Transition words help organize your ideas by showing the relationship between them. The essay checker has a built-in Transition report that highlights and shows the percentage of transitions used in your essay. Use the results to add transitions where necessary.

An engaging essay has sentences of varying lengths. Don't bore your professor with long, rambling sentences. The essay checker will show you where you need to break long sentences into shorter sentences or add more sentence length variation.

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred. However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances. When you run your essay through ProWritingAid's essay checker, you get feedback on whether you're using the passive or active voice to convey your idea.

There are specific academic power verbs, like appraise , investigate , debunk , support , etc., that can add more impact to your argument by giving a more positive and confident tone. The essay checker will check your writing for power verbs and notify you if you have less than three throughout your essay.

It's easy to get attached to certain phrases and use them as crutches in your essays, but this gives the impression of boring and repetitive writing. The essay checker will highlight your repeats and suggest contextually relevant alternatives.

Gain access to in-house blog reports on citations, how to write a thesis statement, how to write a conclusion, and more. Venture into a world of resources specific to your academic needs.

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Questions & Answers

1. how do i use the essay checker online tool.

You can either copy and paste your essay in the essay checker field or upload your essay from your computer. Your suggestions will show once you enter text. You'll see a number of possible grammar and spelling issues. Sign up for free to get unlimited suggestions to improve your writing style, grammar, and sentence structure. Avoid unintentional plagiarism with a premium account.

2. Does the essay checker work with British English and American English?

The essay checker works with both British English and American English. Just choose the one you would like to use and your corrections will reflect this.

3. Is using an essay checker cheating?

No. The essay checker won't ever write the essay for you. It will point out possible edits and advise you on changes you need to make. You have full autonomy and get to decide which changes to accept.

4. Will the essay checker autocorrect my work?

The essay writing power remains in your hands. You choose which suggestions you want to accept, and you can ignore those that you don't think apply.

5. Is there a student discount?

Students who have an eligible student email address can get 20% off ProWritingAid Premium. You can apply for a student discount through Student App Centre .

6. Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes. ProWritingAid's plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion webpages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

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How to Detect Plagiarism

Last Updated: March 1, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by César de León, M.Ed. . César de León is an Educational Leadership Consultant and currently serves as an Assistant Principal for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, TX. César specializes in education program development, curriculum improvement, student mentorship, social justice, equity leadership, and family and community engagement. He is passionate about eradicating inequities in schools for all children, especially those who have been historically underserved and marginalized. César holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Biology from Texas State University and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 80,053 times.

If you’re a teacher, you’ve likely encountered plagiarism more than once. This can be really frustrating, even if the student doesn’t do it on purpose. When you’re grading, utilize online tools to check any papers that seem like they might have “borrowed” from a source without citing it. You can also use specific software to check all papers and keep an eye out for red flags as you read. It’s also a good idea to be proactive and educate students so that you can prevent future offenses.

Things You Should Know

• Copy and paste the text into a free online plagiarism tool to easily detect plagiarism.
• Keep an eye out for abrupt changes in style or voice, odd formatting changes, and papers that veer off-topic.
• Plagiarism is sometimes an honest mistake. Make sure you clearly define what is and isn't considered plagiarism for your students.

Using Online Tools

• This is a simple and free way to check for plagiarism. [1] X Research source
• If you find that it is a case of plagiarism, make sure to save the link to the site where you found the original source.

• Dupli Checker

• Some of the most popular services are Turnitin.com and EVE (Essay Verification Engine).

Reading Critically to Catch Plagiarism

• Try requiring a specific font type and size. That might make it even easier to notice if someone changes the format.

• If you require APA formatting and the student uses Chicago, for example, that is a sign that they might have copied the sources from another paper or site.

• For example, maybe you asked a question specifically about Reagan’s economic policies. If the essay starts with an introduction on that topic but then ends up discussing issues completely unrelated to economics, the student might have used a generic essay on President Reagan to copy.

• For example, this passage has distinctly different styles within it: “I really liked watching the movie. Director Ava Duvernay deftly weaves emotion and facts in her portrayal of this watershed event. All of the acting was cool!” The middle sentence doesn’t have the same tone or style as the other sentences.

• You could say, “You made a really sophisticated argument when you compared Shakespeare to more modern playwrights. What led you down that path?” If the student can't articulate answers about their paper, that is a red flag.

Preventing Plagiarism and Dealing with Offenders

• You can say something like, “Anything that is not general knowledge or your own idea needs a citation. Direct quotes and statistics must always have a citation.”
• If your school has a policy on plagiarism, include it in your syllabus. If necessary, you can write your own.

• You can also include a link to the citation guide in the guidelines for the paper.

• If you teach the same class every year, make sure to change up the paper topics each term. This will help cut down on students using papers that previous students wrote.

• If you aren’t sure what the policy is, ask a co-worker or your supervisor to provide you with that information.
• Meet with the student first if you think it was an innocent mistake. Many students plagiarize without even realizing it. Consider talking to the student first to see if they understand what they did wrong.

Expert Q&A

• Trust your gut. If you think something is off, it probably is. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you are worried that you accidentally plagiarized, you can check your work using the same tools as your teacher. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/9335819?hl=en
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker
• ↑ César de León, M.Ed.. Educational Leadership Consultant. Expert Interview. 11 November 2020.
• ↑ http://libguides.law.umich.edu/c.php?g=38132&p=242784
• ↑ https://www.library.kent.edu/files/Library_Live_II_Ways_to_detect_Plagiarism.pdf
• ↑ https://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/academic-misconduct-intro/plagiarism/detect-plagiarism/
• ↑ https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/resources/teachers/detect-plagiarism/
• ↑ https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/writing/preventplagiarism.html
• ↑ https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/preventing-plagiarism/

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Compare Plagiarism Similarity Between Two Documents

About desklib free similarity check tool.

Desklib offers a similarity checker between two documents that allows you to compare plagiarism and recognise possible duplicate content with percentage. This tool is useful for anyone looking to check two documents for plagiarism and ensure originality in their content. This tool is free to use and can be used by students, professionals, or anyone looking to compare two documents for similarity and avoid plagiarism. With Desklib’s free similarity checker, you can ensure the originality of your content with ease. Whether you’re comparing two documents for plagiarism, or just want to find similarities between two documents, Desklib’s similarity checker has got you covered.

Free Similarity Checker with Percentage by Desklib

Any student or professional looking for potential cases of plagiarism between two documents can use our free similarity checker and get an instant comparison. Sometimes it becomes difficult to find similarities between two documents or if one text is copied from another document, in that case, this tool helps to identify such similarities and provides a complete report with additional details on where the text is matching. It is useful for anyone looking to avoid plagiarism and copied content. This tool allows the user to detect the copied material further, which is useful only if you have to compare two documents for similarity. Hence, it doesn't provide plagiarism checks over the data available on the internet.

How to Use Desklib Similarity Checker

Using this tool is super easy and hands-down the effortless process. Firstly, you need to copy both versions of content in separate text boxes available in the form. You can also upload your document files and the tool will automatically extract text from it. Once that is done you need to click on the 'Compare Now' button and witness the magic. You will get a completely revised report on where exactly the content is matching and aggregated information on how much content is similar in both files. The highlighted content will be similar in both documents which you can view once the comparison is done. This tool is free to use for anyone visiting Desklib.

Benefits of Similarity Tool by Desklib

This costless and effortless tool helps foremost in risk analysis by filtering the content and making it more authentic and unique. It is based on sequence matching which means that it compares the exact text sequences. This makes it perfect to use in the case where we need to find the similarity between two documents. Following are some of the use cases for this tool:

• Comparing the solutions of two students to find plagiarism.
• Comparing the content of two websites to check if they have similar content.
• Finding if two students cheated in an examination by comparing their answers.
• Checking duplicate content on your website.
• Scrutinize paraphrased content between compared documents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the supported file formats does it support images.

We support the following file formats:

• Word Document: .doc, .docx, .odf
• Presentation: .ppt, .pptx
• Image Formats: .png, .jpg
• Portable Document Format: .pdf
• Yes, we support images also. Our tool will extract text from images using OCR technique and compare plagiarism.

Does it support multiple languages? What about cross-language comparison?

Yes, languages like Spanish, French, German, etc. can also be used. Our primary algorithm is based on sequence matching so you can use this tool for any language where matched sequences between two contents are required. Our tool currently supports comparison in the same language. If you wish to compare two different languages for similarity, you need to convert one of the texts into the other language and then compare based on sequence match or semantics.

How does the Desklib algorithm for text similarity work?

Our algorithm provides users to search via strict sequence matching as well as find similar sentences in two texts. We provide the following options for comparison:

• Strict Sequence Matching: This will find common sequences occurring in two texts. This is useful in case of finding edits between two documents, codes, transcripts, etc.
• Sequence Matching of important words: This will find sequences excluding general words (e.g., a, an, the, is, etc.) focusing on relevant words. This is useful for sequence matching of relevant keywords avoiding generic matches with common words.
• Sentence comparison: This will compare texts and provide similar sentences in two texts. It is useful for comparing two documents to identify paraphrasing and finding sentences with similar meanings.

Can it detect semantic similarity between two documents?

Yes, Based on the words being used it can help you identify sentences with similar meanings along with the percentage of similarity between two sentences. The tool reduces words from each text to its base form and then finds similar sentences.

Is my data saved on Desklib servers?

No, we do not store any text data or documents that you provide.

Can I create my private database and use this tool for comparison? Is there an API available for this?

You can reach our team if you are looking for a scalable solution to index and search all your private data for plagiarism. We provide API on request along with a private database for indexing and similarity search. This is particularly useful for content-based websites and colleges who want to keep track of plagiarism on their private database and maintain privacy. Reach us via email: [email protected]

Can I compare one single document with multiple documents?

We provide a private indexing service with APIs that can be used to compare a single document with a corpus of data. This service is available on a request basis. Feel free to reach us via email at [email protected]

“Did My Student Copy and Paste?” Here’s How to Find Out

• Post author: Marie
• Post published: September 2, 2020
• Post category: Uncategorized
• Post comments: 49 Comments

There is so much written word in the world, it would seem almost insurmountable to figure out if your student copied and pasted their assignment.

Back in the day, it would be pretty easy to look at a student’s assignment and recognize if it had been plagiarized.  Words and phrases that didn’t sound like the student, were way above their knowledge level, or that you had actually read from your own experience would be pretty quick giveaways.

But in today’s world, there is so much writing everywhere, but especially online.  While you may recognize plagiarism from texts and other books as well as reports and articles online, it would be impossible to recognize work that your student copied and pasted from all of the articles and resources now found online.

So how do I answer the question, “Did my student copy and paste?”  There are several incredibly reliable plagiarism checkers online that you can use. And the vast majority of them are free!  But there are also clues you can pick up on that indicate plagiarism has occurred.  Yet another form of plagiarism you may discover is students outsourcing their assignments. And finally, as a student, you can use these resources to determine if you have accidentally plagiarized.  

I created the following graphic to help you make sure that the answer to “Did my student copy and paste” is not a problem in your classroom.  (And if it IS a problem, you can take care of it before it becomes a large problem.)

Table of Contents

Make Sure Your Students Understand Plagiarism

Often students don’t realize that most of what they see online is not theirs to cut and paste.  We live in a time when sharing on social media is constant.  So it becomes very natural for students to also think its okay to cut and paste from their research online.  Because they don’t have to cite what they’re putting on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatever else they are using, it never occurs to them that their research assignment needs citations.

As soon as you start teaching your students research, you need to set aside time to explain plagiarism and citations.  After a few practice runs with how to format citations based on the media you are using, your students will be able to easily do it.

Note:  This does not get into the 3 major styles of citations–Chicago, Modern Language Association, or American Psychological Association.  That will be a lesson for another day.  This is referring to citations for research papers vs. citations for websites, videos, tweets, or whatever resources they are using.

Having a reference form available for them to keep in their binders will be a huge step in conquering the ” did my student cut and paste” fear that many teachers have and hate to deal with.

The guide I used for my students was  and amazing resource on  Mendeley .  They show how to do many different citations based on APA, MLA, and Harvard methods.

7 Clues That Your Student is Cutting and Pasting

There are lots of different ways to know if your student cut and pasted their work.  Some of them come down to knowing your students and the ways that they tend to communicate.  But many of them are based on anomalies found in the format of the report they turn in.  Here is a good guide to get you started.  I think that once you work with these, many others will become obvious to you over time as well.

1. If the Wording is Not the Way Your Student Tends to Communicate.

This one is hard to pin down if it is the beginning of the year or for whatever reason, you just don’t know the student very well.  It can also be tricky because as our students learn and develop over the year, their communication skills will improve and become more nuanced.  So this is not necessarily an indicator or plagiarism.  It could very well be development over time.

The red flag would be if you see a huge overnight difference in your student’s communication skills.  Then I would at least start looking into it.

2.  If Students are Unable to Express The Concepts They Wrote About

If your students cannot give at least a rudimentary explanation of what they wrote about once they have turned in their assignment, it is a good possibility that they copied and pasted what is in their assignment.

It could also be that the student worked on the assignment minimally and put it together in a rush, learning little to nothing from it.  That is not much better than plagiarism, and it is something you will need to address. But at least it isn’t illegal!

Regardless of the the details regarding why your student cannot communicate the material (s)he wrote, you will need to investigate to solve the problem.

3. Certain Paragraphs or Passages are Inconsistent in Tone

If there are certain sentences, paragraphs, or passages that have a completely different tone or even theme from the rest of the work, it is very possible that it is due to student cut and paste activity.

Especially as students are learning to write, consistency in tone may not be overly consistent, but it will not be as obviously out of place as when a student has copied and pasted from other works online.  That will be an obvious tip off to you to look into the matter.

4. Abrupt Changes in Person

Again, this is not necessarily something that young writers will be totally consistent with.  But it will be obvious if the general tone is, for example, written in first person and then for just one isolated paragraph it is written in second or third person.

When students are learning to write and do research, you will definitely see inconsistencies in person.  But the difference here is that if  you find writing in which the person is consistent throughout except for the one section, you will probably want to look into it a bit more.

5. Subtle Changes in Font

Few students of any grade will cut and paste other materials in an obvious way.  They certainly will not use significantly larger or bolder print.  And you aren’t going to see drastically different font styles, which you generally wouldn’t see anyway because font styles for most online reports and articles are pretty similar.

What you will catch is very subtle changes in font that are just a small amount of the assignment–a paragraph or two generally.  It could be just a font size of one or two points more or less.  Or it could be one of a number of very similar fonts to Times New Roman for example.

The problem you will have with this is that the vast majority of us would not necessarily pick up the difference between these fonts because they are so similar.  Here is an example of text from an excerpt of The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis:

While the first paragraph was written in Times New Roman with a font size of 11, the second paragraph was written in Calista with also a size 11 font.  They are virtually indistinguishable.  So unless cutting and pasting is coming from a blog post or other different format, many times you will not necessarily see this kind of plagiarism on first glance.

But on occasion, you may have the student that doesn’t really care enough to change an obviously different font.  And honestly, in those cases, students are probably unaware that they are breaking any copyright laws, hence the lack of trying to hide it.

6. Bizarre Dates or Events in Plagiarized Content

Occasionally, you will have a student write an assignment and cut and paste material that clearly doesn’t fit into the time frame and events of what they are supposed to be writing.

For example, if a student is writing a piece on current unrest in the world right now and you find a section talking about injustices in Bosnia, especially in the early 1990’s, you probably have some plagiarism issues to deal with.

While a student can certainly reference the Bosnian conflict in an assignment for today’s world, it would be more of an example, a passing reference, or other such mention, and not a part of the narrative that the student is trying to communicate.

It will definitely be obvious to you if a part of an assignment is cut and pasted vs. a part of the actual assignment in these cases.

7.  Lack of a Consistent Theme in Plagiarism

In this case, you may have a student that does pretty well in tying down the theme of most of the assignment, but one or two sections just seem drastically out of place with the rest of the topic.

Or it could be that the whole thing is all over the place.  While it could just be a matter of a student that doesn’t do a great job of sticking to the subject and developing it, it could also be that they are cutting and pasting from various sources to get the assignment done without putting any significant work into it.

As you get to know your students, this will actually be one of the easiest ways to determine if your student cut and pasted.

Some Free Plagiarism Checker Options

I had a hard time finding plagiarism checkers that were actually free.  Most of the articles that featured free plagiarism checkers were capitalizing on the fact that there were free trials.  The following list are actually free and not trials!

But in order to do that, do we have to sacrifice quality?  It actually does seem so to a degree.  There are a couple of okay options for free.  Unfortunately, you or your school will have to shell out some money in order to get a really good plagiarism checker.

That being said, let’s take a look at the free options that do a decent job even if they can’t catch everything!

Quetext is a copy and paste plagiarism checker.  It is super easy to use because of this, but you can’t upload large documents to check.

So I tested it out with a guest post from my site.  How do you think it fared?

Actually it did an excellent job!  I copied and pasted one paragraph from the article and it immediately picked up on an original article by my guest poster.  Fortunately, I won’t be in any trouble for it since my article explicitly states that I had permission from the author and she even included a short blurb in the original article referencing back to mine.

So I decided to try one obscure paragraph from one of my own articles.  And sure enough, it pointed right back to my site!

The one thing that it did insist was that after I did the first check, it made me register for free for the second one.  But the fact that it picked everything up immediately was enough for me to be willing to give them my info!

It also gave (in both cases) a 100% chance of plagiarism rating, which was absolutely correct.

The final test I gave it was a copy/paste of this article before being published.  It took a bit longer, maybe because there was no obvious plagiarism.  It did give me a rating of 20% chance of plagiarism for the following two phrases:

One final plus was that it only took a few seconds to complete the search.  

However, I did not try to do any extensive articles.   

It said the first one could have come from a website called “Ilovefreesoftware.com” and the other one was attached to a trip advisor review.  Since it is easy to see that both are random associations and not plagiarism, it was a good report.

One final plus was that it only took a few seconds to complete the search.  However, I did not try to do any extensive articles.

I was pretty thrilled with its performance though!

2. PlagTracker

After how much I loved Quetext, I almost didn’t want to check this one out.  That probably would have been fine because after accessing the site, I found it significantly less user friendly than Quetext.  I copied and pasted one of the same paragraphs as above to get a good comparison.  And I couldn’t get it to initiate the search.

What I did get was the following page:

It first of all requires a subscription in order to get any results.  And it also instructed me to email them in order to get the ball rolling.  It turned out to be not user friendly at all.  And as a result, I got no results.

I tried the site owners and students options and got this same result.  And when I tried to click on the publishers and teachers options, I got a URL not found error on both of them.

Reviews also say that it gets a ton of false positives.  That was enough for me to realize I would be wasting my time with this one.

Maybe if the sign up process was easier, I would have found a more intuitive program.  But I just didn’t get that far.

3. Plagiarism Detector

The final one I tried was Plagiarism Detector.

It was super easy to use.  I immediately saw the box to copy and paste and started with the same paragraph from one of my published posts.  After a few seconds, it came back as 100% plagiarized but didn’t give me any sources to say what it was plagiarized from.

So then I took the same excerpt from this pre-published article that I used above.  That search came back a few seconds later saying 100% not plagiarized.  I was satisfied with that since I was writing that I had literally just typed and not published yet.  It also didn’t get the same hits as Quetext, but since even Quetext was just claiming similarities and not plagiarism, I was content with both results of both sites.

Of course, googling your text is also a great way to check on suspected plagiarized texts.  Google literally has the largest database on the internet, so it would be a valid search.

The one disadvantage to Google is that you can’t necessarily cut and paste a huge amount of text.  But it certainly works quickly and efficiently for a small portion of text that you want to check on briefly.

The Verdict

So after reviewing these options, what would my recommendations be?  I would definitely use Quetext first, both because of it’s ease of use and it produces sources of plagiarized text.  But Plagiarism Detector is a close second and certainly worthwhile.  And Google will always be a great quick option.

The one thing that I was unable to do was determine if private articles and non-public texts were identifiable.  And for those, it largely depends on if companies have permission from the author to determine that.  This is same for even paid plagiarism checkers as well, so I don’t necessarily see this as a detriment.  This is especially true since I am not evaluating college level assignments.

The bottom line here is that we have some excellent options that are free and easy to use!

How Students Can Make Sure They Have Not Accidentally Plagiarized

It is pretty imperative that students learn from an early age that plagiarism is a serious issue.  Teaching them that copying and pasting without giving credit where it is due is a huge problem will help to encourage them to not do it.

Another great way to discourage them from copying and pasting is to show them how a plagiarism checker works.  They will first of all be pretty amazed at how easy it is.  Then they will be struck with how easy it will be for them to get caught!

There are a few times, as I referenced above, that original work can be close enough to other writing that it gets a possible hit for plagiarism.  And that is fine as long as it is kept in proper perspective.

A great way to help students to check their own work is to have a station in your classroom with a tablet or small laptop notebook that will allow students to check their own work before turning it in.  Having the sites ready to go makes it even quicker and easier.  And it could be a ground breaking advantage for your students as they navigate the world of writing.

So this is how to find out the answer to the question, “Did my student copy and paste?”  It also gives some great advice on making sure our original work actually is original.  It is a great tool for all of us to use as we are constantly improving our work in the world.

How have you dealt with the issue of students copying and pasting in your classroom or homeschool?  I would love to hear your input.  Feel free to comment below!

If you loved this article, I think you will also love the following articles:

How to Teach Students to Summarize the Right Way

Unique Classroom Ideas:  Get Your Students Published!

Encouragement for Those Who Will be Homeschooling Through Covid-19

Step-by-Step:  How to Teach Imagery in Literature

Related posts:

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This post has 49 comments.

Indeed with these lessons in streaming, which I do not love at all, this danger is around the corner. How do teachers notice. Really interesting blog post, even for parents.

Yes, Cristina! Where there’s a will there’s a way for kids to get around the rules. And right now you are right that it is easier than ever. Teaching them the right way and the risks is a good way to circumvent a good amount of it!

I will be starting to teach at private school in a month or two, just waiting for directives on the current pandemic. I will try the list of plagiarism checkers ones I start teaching. It is good to know this ahead of time. Thanks

I am glad this was helpful to you, Kingsley! Congrats on the new job and stay safe! ♥

I’m sure all kids have done it at some time, it never pays off though and always best to catch them out if you can. Good tips to watch for.

As a young student, I would take resources and re-word them to make them my own writing. As I got older I learned to develop my own style. But I wonder how much of that would be considered plagiarism now. I think many kids do it unintentionally, or just don’t realize how it works. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Fiona! And I do think you are right that most if not all kids have done it at some time, intentional or not.

Glad that there are now tools to make it easier for teachers to check. I’ve had classmates when I was still in school who got caught plagiarizing!

I know a couple of students that got caught as well. One was a straight A student. She ended up confessing before getting caught and because of it I think they worked it out favorably for all. Thank you for sharing, Meki!

This is such a great article to read by my friend who is also an educator. I am pretty sure that all students are doing this thing but this post will help her know if her students are doing a copy, cut and paste with their works.

Thank you for sharing with her, Gervin. I think many students cut and paste, not realizing they need to give credit to the source or come up with their own reports.

I may say that this is very essential today as we’re on the new norm of online schooling. We need our student to learn the important of plagiarism and make them be responsible and respect other’s work.

You are absolutely right about this!

I remember being in school and it being drilled into us how bad plagiarism is and how you always always always must cite sources. This is SO important.

I do remember this being addressed repeatedly around 4th or 5th grade. I think because that is when kids just naturally start doing it, not necessarily realizing that they are wrong for doing it. I think it is even more critical now in the digital world we live in. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ♥

I would have never thought about kids plagiarizing! But it is definitely a concern, thanks for the wonderful tips!!

I love this! Students will never learn anything if they take the copy and paste approach. Well covered with a solid solution. I have many TEFL teacher friends that I’d like to share this with. Thanks for this.

Thank you for sharing, Piper. And you are so right that there is no learning involved in just cutting and pasting!

Some students cheat knowing that they’re cheating but others do it without knowing it is actually plagiarism. I love what you said about explaining to the student what is considered plagiarism and what is not.

Thank you, Chad! And I agree that most kids probably don’t even realize that they are doing wrong. Educating them about what the right procedures are will help take that problem out of the mix.

It’s inevitable that some students do it. We use an app at school to check plagiarism. This is to give merits to those who really did their assignment.

This is awesome, Emman! I am glad that your school systems are working with it.

copying and pasting will not improve students knowledge…glad you shared such helpful information with us..great work though..these tips and ideas are definitely going to be very useful one too…

Good point about making sure the students know what plagiarism is in the first place. The whole time I was reading about it, I thought, you can just “google” the paragraph to check, and then sure enough you listed it as a resource, haha. Great to know there are other sources to use as well.

Is it bad that I am actually glad I was predictable in this case, lol?

This is such an important post for teachers to read in this modern age. With so much out there on the internet, it’s super easy for kids to copy/paste and just bank on the fact that there’s so much out there the teacher won’t notice.

They won’t get away with that mentality for long in this world! But that is also why training is imperative so they know before they attempt it!

I hate to say it, but I was one of those copy/paste kids in school. Back then, the internet was so new, it was really hard for teachers to spot it. Great post.

Thanks, Bill. I think when the internet was new a lot of younger people thought it was just fine to cut and paste without thinking about consequences or the significance of what they were doing.

It’s amazing how much things have changed over the years. When I was in high school, I knew a lot of kids who just recycled other work, and they never got caught. I’m so glad teachers are able to catch it now. Kids only cheat themselves when they do this.

You are so right, Brianne. Even if they got away with it, they didn’t learn anything so it was still a huge waste of whatever time they invested in working it all out.

It’s so difficult to find original book nowadays because of anything it’s great that you can teach us how to distinguish everything.

Plagiarism is a plague and students are getting caught up in it. We all love a good dose of originality, creativity and most of all doing their best!

I agree, Rosy. We need creativity and originality! That is what keeps the world moving! Thank you for your thoughts.

As an English Language Arts teacher, you become attuned rather quickly to this problem! I will have to check out some of your suggestions of plagiarism trackers. Thanks for sharing!

I hope you find them helpful, Angel! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ♥

Plagiarism checker is a huge thing. Its really not acceptable when they do that.

Plagiarism is such an important concept especially now that so much information is available online. Many students think that copy and paste is Ok. Great article.

Thank you, Norma!

These are surely helpful tools and platforms to check for plagiarized work. Makes it a lot easier to spot when it has been committed.

Very true, Lucy. It would be impossible to do otherwise.

Plagiarism is such a big issue in schools because a lot of students may think that they can cut corners instead of doing the actual work. It’ll hinder them from actual learning and growth. That’s why it is so important for teachers to be able to catch if a student is copying someone else’s work.

I could not have worded that reply any better, Jasmine! You hit the nail on the head. Thank you for your thoughts. ♥

Wow! Such great & helpful tips to help teachers detect plagiarism, Bravo 🙌🏻

Thank you, Romy.

These are great tips. I wpuld definitely follow these if I was a teacher.

Hihi….you just caught me with the pointer about changing of person. It always sells us out.

Really enjoyed the post. First things first: the student have to know about plagiarism, and why it is important to do otherwise. Prevention of plagiarism is talking about it and showing examples of it. And stating a fact that our own thoughts are of value.

Those are all the great tips to find copy, paste from students. Especially with the support of plagiarism tools, the process is much more easier now.

Everything is very open with a very clear explanation of the issues. It was truly informative. Your website is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

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How to tell if an article was written by chatgpt.

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Our technology relies too much on the internet, chatgpt can save you money by replacing all of these apps, quick links, how to tell if chatgpt wrote that article, can you use ai to detect ai-generated text, tools to check if an article was written by chatgpt, train your brain to catch ai, key takeaways.

You can tell a ChatGPT-written article by its simple, repetitive structure and its tendency to make logical and factual errors. Some tools are available for automatically detecting AI-generated text, but they are prone to false positives.

AI technology is changing what we see online and how we interact with the world. From a Midjourney photo of the Pope in a puffer coat to language learning models like ChatGPT, artificial intelligence is working its way into our lives.

The more sinister uses of AI tech, like a political disinformation campaign blasting out fake articles, mean we need to educate ourselves enough to spot the fakes. So how can you tell if an article is actually AI generated text?

Multiple methods and tools currently exist to help determine whether the article you're reading was written by a robot. Not all of them are 100% reliable, and they can deliver false positives, but they do offer a starting point.

One big marker of human-written text, at least for now, is randomness. While people will write using different styles and slang and often make typos, AI language models very rarely make those kinds of mistakes. According to MIT Technology Review , "human-written text is riddled with typos and is incredibly variable," while AI generated text models like ChatGPT are much better at creating typo-less text. Of course, a good copy editor will have the same effect, so you have to watch for more than just correct spelling.

Another indicator is punctuation patterns. Humans will use punctuation more randomly than an AI model might. AI generated text also usually contains more connector words like "the," "it," or "is" instead of larger more rarely used words because large language models operate by predicting what word will is most likely to come next, not coming up with something that would sound good the way a human might.

This is visible in ChatGPT's response to one of the stock questions on OpenAI's website. When asked, "Can you explain quantum computing in simple terms," you get sentences like: "What makes qubits special is that they can exist in multiple states at the same time, thanks to a property called superposition. It's like a qubit can be both a 0 and a 1 simultaneously. "

Short, simple connecting words are regularly used, the sentences are all a similar length, and paragraphs all follow a similar structure. The end result is writing that sounds and feels a bit robotic.

Large language models themselves can be trained to spot AI generated writing. Training the system on two sets of text --- one written by AI and the other written by people --- can theoretically teach the model to recognize and detect AI writing like ChatGPT.

Researchers are also working on watermarking methods to detect AI articles and text. Tom Goldstein, who teaches computer science at the University of Maryland, is working on a way to build watermarks into AI language models in the hope that it can help detect machine-generated writing even if it's good enough to mimic human randomness.

Invisible to the naked eye, the watermark would be detectable by an algorithm, which would indicate it as either human or AI generated depending on how often it adhered to or broke the watermarking rules. Unfortunately, this method hasn't tested so well on later models of ChatGPT.

You can find multiple copy-and-paste tools online to help you check whether an article is AI generated. Many of them use language models to scan the text, including ChatGPT-4 itself.

Undetectable AI , for example, markets itself as a tool to make your AI writing indistinguishable from a human's. Copy and paste the text into its window and the program checks it against results from other AI detection tools like GPTZero to assign it a likelihood score --- it basically checks whether eight other AI detectors would think your text was written by a robot.

Originality is another tool, geared toward large publishers and content producers. It claims to be more accurate than others on the market and uses ChatGPT-4 to help detect text written by AI. Other popular checking tools include:

Most of these tools give you a percentage value, like 96% human and 4% AI, to determine how likely it is that the text was written by a human. If the score is 40-50% AI or higher, it's likely the piece was AI-generated.

While developers are working to make these tools better at detecting AI generated text, none of them are totally accurate and can falsely flag human content as AI generated. There's also concern that since large language models like GPT-4 are improving so quickly, detection models are constantly playing catchup.

Related: Can ChatGPT Write Essays: Is Using AI to Write Essays a Good Idea?

In addition to using tools, you can train yourself to catch AI generated content. It takes practice, but over time you can get better at it.

Daphne Ippolito, a senior research scientist at Google's AI division Google Brain, made a game called Real Or Fake Text  (ROFT) that can help you separate human sentences from robotic ones by gradually training you to notice when a sentence doesn't quite look right.

One common marker of AI text, according to Ippolito, is nonsensical statements like "it takes two hours to make a cup of coffee." Ippolito's game is largely focused on helping people detect those kinds of errors. In fact, there have been multiple instances of an AI writing program stating inaccurate facts with total confidence --- you probably shouldn't ask it to do your math assignment , either, as it doesn't seem to handle numerical calculations very well.

Right now, these are the best detection methods we have to catch text written by an AI program. Language models are getting better at a speed that renders current detection methods outdated pretty quickly, however, leaving us in, as Melissa Heikkilä writes for MIT Technology Review, an arms race.

Related: How to Fact-Check ChatGPT With Bing AI Chat

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• Copy and Paste Plagiarism Checker: Simple Steps to Your Original Writing

• On Jul 12, 2017, in Students Blog , by PM Team

The copy and paste plagiarism checker scans your texts and detects plagiarism.  It is a useful tool for paper originality check to consider, whether you’re a professional or a student. It helps you get rid of plagiarism in your essays and reports. No matter which industry you belong, it also helps you build your credibility and gain the trust of your readers for submitting or publishing original copies.

Visit website to check out the useful guide on how to make your writing original now!

How to Use Copy Paste Plagiarism Checker

The copy plagiarism checker is very easy to use.  In fact, you can use it right away when you visit the site. All you have to do is to copy and paste your text into the box allotted for plagiarism checking tool . You can then just click on the button to check your text. In a few seconds, you will get the results from the tool for free plagiarism checker copy and paste.

The tool also works as a grammar corrector. It shows you mistakes you made on grammar, word choice, sentence structure, and other English writing mistakes. So you can use it to improve your writing, even if you’re already using a paraphrasing tool.

Comparing Our Tool to Check Copy for Plagiarism

Our tool instantly checks text without any CAPTCHA codes needed. It does not need to verify if you’re a robot or not.   It also makes an instant plagiarism check for stolen thoughts. The tool isn’t only a duplicate checker but also a grammar helper. PLAGIARISMA is only a plagiarism checker but ours is also a grammar checker. In that case, you can also improve your writing skills and style.

Steps to Using Our Plagiarism Checking Tool

The following are the easy steps on how to use our plagiarism tool.    Follow them and check copy for plagiarism to submit an original essay or publish a unique blog.  The checker can trace a plagiarized copy of your text online.

• Just visit CopyChecker.net .
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You can also see grammar mistakes. The tool is 2-in-1. It can also detect spelling, punctuation, writing style and other mistakes.

Plagiarism Checking Tool: 10 Tips from the Expert

• Once you have completed your essay, look into the sections that you have borrowed from the source and review them. Think if you have expressed the argument or idea as your own. Also, consider if you have used your own words.  The work must be credited from the author if the ideas were expressed in the author’s words.(Source)
• Rely only on authoritative sources to avoid plagiarism.
• Check if your sources are authoritative voices in their fields.( Source )
• Use the quote as it appears in the text. Don’t misquote your source.
• Cite the quotes. Add page number or paragraph number for web content.
• Cite your material to avoid self-plagiarism.(Source)
• If you’re using endnote references, the citation must be also found within your essay’s text. It must be the same as footnote citations.  Add a bibliography, reference page or works cited page after the endnotes, unless otherwise instructed.( Source )
• Use a citation or quotation marks when you used the exact words of another author even if it is only a short phrase you’ve used.
• Paraphrase. Aside from learning how to check copy for plagiarism, you should learn to paraphrase or rewrite the ideas of another in your own words.
• Acknowledge sources of which you have borrowed ideas.( Source )

In order to perform a paper originality check, you should learn from these tips for the best results. Learn how to use the paper checker and tips from the pros on how to avoid plagiarism.

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How to Tell If What You're Reading Was Written By AI

This post is part of Lifehacker’s “Exposing AI” series. We're exploring six different types of AI-generated media, and highlighting the common quirks, byproducts, and hallmarks that help you tell the difference between artificial and human-created content.

From the moment ChatGPT introduced the world to generative AI in late 2022 , it was apparent that, going forward, you can no longer trust that something you're reading was written by a human. You can ask an AI program like ChatGPT to write something—anything at all—and it will, in mere seconds. So how can you trust that what you're reading came from the mind of a person, and not the product of an algorithm?

If the ongoing deflation of the AI bubble has shown us anything, it's that most people kind of hate AI in general , which means they probably aren't keen on the idea that what they are reading was thoughtlessly spit out by a machine. Still, some have fully embraced AI's ability to generate realistic text, for better or, often, worse. Last year, CNET quietly began publishing AI content alongside human-written articles , only to face scorn and backlash from its own employees. Former Lifehacker parent company G/O Media also published AI content on its sites , albeit openly, and experienced the same blowback—both for implementing the tech with zero employee input, and because the content itself was just terrible .

But not all AI-generated text announces itself quite so plainly. When used correctly, AI programs can generate text that is convincing—even if you can still spot clues that reveal its inhuman source.

How AI writing works

Generative AI isn't some all-knowing digital consciousness that can answer your questions like a human would. It's not actually "intelligent" at all. Current AI tools are powered by large language models (LLMs), which are deep-learning algorithms trained on huge data sets—in this case, data sets of text. This training informs all of their responses to user queries. When you ask ChatGPT to write you something, the AI breaks down your question and identifies what it "thinks" are the most important elements in your query. It then "predicts" what the right sequence of words would be to answer your request, based on its understanding of the relationship between words.

More powerful models are able to both take in more information at once, as well as return longer, more natural results in kind. Plus, it's common for chatbots to be programmed with custom instructions that apply to all prompts, which, if used strategically, can potentially mask the usual signs of AI-generated text.

That said, no matter how you coax the AI into responding, it is beholden to its training, and there will likely be signs such a piece of text was generated by an LLM. Here are some things to look out for.

Watch for commonly used words and phrases

Because chatbots have been trained to look for the relationships between words, they tend to use certain words and phrases more often than a person would. There's no specific list of words and phrases that serve as red flags, but if you use a tool like ChatGPT enough, you may start to pick up on them.

For example, ChatGPT frequently uses the word "delve," especially during transitions in writing. (e.g. "Let's delve into its meaning.") The tool also loves to express how an idea "underscores" the overall argument (e.g. "This experience underscores the importance of perseverance..."), and how one thing is "a testament to" something else. (I generated three essays with ChatGPT for this section—two with GPT-4o and one with GPT-4o mini —and "testament" popped up in each one.)

Similarly, you may see repeated uses of words like "emerge," "relentless," "groundbreaking," among other notable regulars. In particular, when ChatGPT is describing a collection of something, it will often call it a "mosaic" or a "tapestry." (e.g. "Madrid’s cultural landscape is a vibrant mosaic .")

This Reddit thread from r/chatgpt highlights a bunch of these commonly generated—though it's worth noting that the post is 10 months old, and OpenAI frequently updates its models, so some of it may not be as relevant today. In my testing, I found some of the Reddit thread's most-cited words didn't appear in my test essays at all, while others certainly did, with frequency.

All these words are certainly perfectly fine to use when doing your own writing. If a student writes "delve into" in their essay, that isn't a smoking gun that proves they generated it with ChatGPT. If an employee writes that something is "a testament to" something else in a report, that doesn't mean they're outsourcing their work to AI. This is just one aspect of AI writing to note as you analyze text going forward.

Consider the style of the writing

It's impressive how quickly AI can generate a response to a query, especially when you're working with a particularly powerful LLM. And while some of that writing can appear very natural, if you're reading closely, you'll start to notice quirks that most human writers wouldn't use.

Whether you're using OpenAI's GPT model or Google's Gemini, AI has a bad habit of using flowery language in its generations, as if it was mostly trained on marketing copy. AI will often try to sell you hard on whatever it happens to be talking about: The city it's writing about is often "integral," "vibrant," and a "cornerstone" of the country it's in; the analogy it uses "beautifully" highlights the overall argument; a negative consequence is not just bad, but "devastating." None of these examples is damning in isolation, but if you read enough AI text, you'll start to feel like you've been talking to a thesaurus.

This becomes even more apparent when a chatbot is attempting to use a casual tone. If the bot is purporting to be a real person, for example, it often will present as bubbly and over-the-top, and far too enthusiastic to listen to anything you have to say. To be fair, in my testing for this article, ChatGPT's GPT-4o model didn't appear to do this as much as it used to, preferring more succinct responses to personal queries—but Meta AI's chatbot absolutely still does it, stepping into the roles of both best friend and therapist whenever I shared a fake problem I was having.

If you're reading an essay or article that expresses an argument, take note of how the "writer" structures their points. Someone who asks an AI tool to write an essay on a subject without giving it too much coaching will often receive an essay that doesn't actually delve into the arguments all that much. The AI will likely generate short paragraphs offering surface-level points that don't add much to deepen the argument or contribute to the narrative, masking these limitations with the aforementioned $10 words and flowery language. Each paragraph might come across more of a summary of the argument, rather than an attempt to contribute to the argument itself. Remember, an LLM doesn't even know what it's arguing; it just strings together words it believes belong together.

If you feel you've walked away from the piece having learned nothing at all, that might be AI's doing.

Fact check and proofread

LLMs are black boxes. Their training is so intricate, we can't peer inside to see exactly how they established their understanding of the relationships between words. What we do know is, all AI has the capability (and the tendency) to hallucinate . In other words, sometimes it an AI will just make things up. Again, LLMs don't actually know anything: They just predict patterns of words based on their training. So while a lot of what they spit out will likely be rooted in the truth, sometimes it predicts incorrectly, and you might get some bizarre results on the other end. If you're reading a piece of text, and you see a claim you know isn't true stated as fact, especially without a source, be skeptical.

On the flip side, consider how much proofreading the piece required. If there were zero typos and no grammatical mistakes, that's also an AI tell: These models might make things up, but they don't output mistakes like misspellings. Sure, maybe the author made sure to dot every "i" and cross every "t," but if you're already concerned the text was generated with AI, stilted perfectionism can be a giveaway.

Try an AI text detector (but you can't trust those either)

AI detectors, like LLMs, are based on AI models. However, instead of being trained on large volumes of general text, these detectors are trained specifically on AI text. In theory, this means they should be able to spot AI text when presented with a sample. That's not always the case.

When I wrote about AI detectors last year , I warned not to use them, because they were not as reliable as they claimed to be. It's tough to say how much they have improved in the time since: When I feed one of my stories through a tool like ZeroGPT , it says my piece was 100% human-written. (Damn right.) If I submit an essay generated by Gemini about the significance of Harry losing his parents in the Harry Potter series, the tool identifies 94.95% of the piece as AI-generated. (The only sentence it thinks was written by a human was: "This personal stake in the conflict distinguishes Harry from other characters, granting him an unwavering purpose." Sure.)

And yet the detector still fails the same test I gave it in 2023: It believes 100% of Article 1., Section 2. of the United States Constitution is AI-generated. Someone tell Congress! I also set it to analyzing this short article from The New York Times , published July 16, 2015, long before the advent of modern LLMs. Again, I was assured the piece was 100% AI.

There are a lot of AI detectors on the market, and maybe some are better than others. If you find one that tends to reliably identify text you know to be human-generated as such, and likewise for text you know is AI, go ahead and test writing you aren't sure about. But I still think the superior method is analyzing it yourself. AI text is getting more realistic, but it still comes with plenty of tells that give itself away—and often, you'll know it when you see it.