how to identify plagiarism in an essay

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Resources for Teachers: How to Detect Plagiarism

Plagiarism is unacceptable academic behavior. The best approach, of course, is to prevent plagiarism from occurring in the first place, but sometimes that is simply impossible. MIT’s Policies and Procedures spells out “Procedures for Dealing with Student Academic Dishonesty.” In those cases, it is important to be able to detect plagiarism.

Warning Signs

Unusual phrasings, noticeable unevenness of style (some very sophisticated sentences followed by some amateurish ones), concepts that seem too sophisticated for the level of the class, unclear or incorrect sources listed in the bibliography, a writing style or diction choice in a particular paper that seems inconsistent with that found in other samples of the student’s writing — these are some of the signals that you might be reading a plagiarized paper.

One technique to detect plagiarism is to enter an unusual phrase or sentence into a standard search engine (e.g., Google ) and see if a match is found. A second technique is holding a conference with the student writer and discussing the paper to determine the student’s familiarity with his/her own paper and its concepts.

Dwight Gardner’s “ Beg, Borrow, Or … ” from Salon.com reminds us that plagiarism occurs in the literary world as well.

Kim McMurty’s article “ e-cheating: Combating a 21st Century Challenge ” in The Journal (March 2002) offers some insights into this issue.

Detection Tools

The following sites offer tools and techniques for detecting plagiarism.

•  Plagiarism and Anti-Plagiarism (Source: Rutgers University)
•   Plagiarism.org (A service that requires payment but which gives a free trial)
•   SafeAssign
•  Glatt Plagiarism Services

Know the “Enemy”

Here are some Web sites that offer papers to students, either for free or for money. New sites appear weekly, so the following is a mere sampling. Seeing what these sites offer, however, can help us know what to look for and can help us develop strategies for making such plagiarism extremely difficult.

• Essay World
• FreeEssayNetwork
• Top 100 Essay Sites
• Adventures in Cheating

Citing Sources

Identifying plagiarism, what counts as plagiarism.

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. It often occurs because the process of citation can be confusing, technology makes copy + paste so easy, and knowing exactly what to cite is not always easy! You can avoid unintentional plagiarism by learning how to cite material and keeping track of sources in your notes. Give yourself plenty of time to process sources so you don’t plagiarize by mistake. Here are some examples of plagiarism:

• Submitting a paper written by someone else.
• Using words and phrases from the source text and patching them together in new sentences.
• Failing to acknowledge the sources of words or information.
• Not providing quotation marks around a direct quotation. This leads to the false assumption that the words are your own.
• Borrowing the idea or opinion of someone else without giving the person credit
• Restating or paraphrasing a passage without citing the original author
• Borrowing facts or statistics that are not common knowledge without proper acknowledgement

The plagiarism spectrum. There are many different ways to plagiarize. It is your responsibility to know what constitutes plagiarism so you can avoid it in your assignments.

More ways to plagiarize.

Why Should You Care?

Being honest and maintaining integrity in your academic work is a sign of character and professionalism. In addition to maximizing your own learning and taking ownership of your academic success, not plagiarizing is important because:

• Your professors assign research projects to help you learn. You cheat yourself when you substitute someone else’s work for your own.
• You don’t like it when someone else takes credit for your ideas, so don’t do it to someone else.
• Plagiarizing comes with consequences. Depending on the offense and the institution, you may be asked to rewrite plagiarized work, receive a failing grade on the assignment, fail the entire course, or be suspended from the university.
• Professors use search engines, databases, and specialized software to check suspicious work, so you will eventually get caught.

Is it Plagiarism?

1. Last semester you wrote an essay on Emily Dickinson for Professor Belin’s “American Literature 101” course. This semester you are taking a course called “Interrogating Gender in American Culture,” and Professor Arecco has assigned a paper topic that references Dickinson’s life and work. It would be very easy for you to re-tool whole sections of your first essay to satisfy the requirements of the second. It is acceptable practice to re-submit this paper – without checking with either professor — because you are writing a paper for a different professor and a different course.

• This is plagiarism
• This is not plagiarism

2. Plagiarism is not limited to taking something from a book; it also includes stealing ideas from a movie, a professor’s lecture, or from an interview on a radio news program.

• True, this is plagiarism
• False, this is not plagiarism

3. You have cut and pasted a lot of information from articles you found on web sites and databases into a Word file on your computer. While writing your essay, you find yourself patching together pieces from different sources, and you have occasionally lost track of which ideas were your own and which were from various articles and websites. You consider going back to the original sources but the prospect is daunting. In any case, you figure that if your professor queries your sources, you can say that you didn’t intentionally plagiarize, and this will result in a lesser punishment.

In fact, it would be a good idea to create a number of folders: one for your paper; another for sources, with individual files for each and every source; and another folder for the notes you take from each source. Maintain all the information for the bibliography as you go – it’ll save time and effort later. When taking notes, identify your source. Put quotation marks around direct quotes and double check to make sure you’ve duplicated every punctuation mark. Avoid using the author’s language when paraphrasing or summarizing information – unless, of course, you quote verbatim from the original. Here’s a tip for keeping your ideas separate from those in your sources; you can either identify each idea as your own, that is, cite yourself, or put your ideas in a different font, case, or color on the screen. Another good idea is to print out your sources whenever possible, even when you have a file-version on your computer. Working from the paper sources will allow you to check quotations for accuracy.

4. Your professor has recommended a particular text as a secondary source for an assigned essay on Kant’s ideas about war and peace. You find a quotation that seems to speak directly to Kant’s idea of perpetual peace and you plug it in your essay, but it doesn’t quite relate to what goes before and you don’t know how to discuss it. You realize that you don’t really understand what the quotation means, or how you might discuss it within the larger context of your essay. You think of approaching your professor to ask for help, but decide that she will think less of you for not grasping the import of this text. Instead you find a website that discusses this very idea, and you summarize its explanation in your paper without citing it. Is this plagiarism?

5. I have found something posted on the Internet that I am going to include in a paper that I am writing. It is covered by a “Creative Commons” copyright. Since it is, can I consider it “common knowledge” and not cite it in my paper or included it in my references?

6. You are writing a biology report and you have included information that you read in your biology textbook. You aren’t sure if this information can be considered common knowledge, or whether you need to cite it. You

• Decide not cite the information. Information in the textbook is common knowledge for the biology class.
• Determine to cite your text book in the instances where you quoted from it directly; otherwise the summarized ideas in this text are considered common knowledge.
• Cite all the information you’ve gleaned from the textbook, whether quoted verbatim or summarized.

7. Is this use of information from a website plagiarism?

• Yes, it is plagiarism. The writer of the paper just rearranged some of the words from the website and does not acknowledge the source.
• No, it is not plagiarism. The paragraph written in the research paper is different than the website so the author didn’t need to cite the original.

8. Is this plagiarism?

• Yes, it is plagiarism. The student did not use quotation marks.
• No, it is not plagiarism. The student gave credit to the source in the text of the paper and in the list of references
• Identifying Plagiarism. Revision and adaptation (slightly edited) of the page Defining Plagiarism at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-defining-plagiarism/which is a revision and adaptation of sources listed below. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Provided by : Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project : College Writing . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Defining Plagiarism. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-defining-plagiarism/ . Project : English Composition I. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Section on Unintentional Plagiarism. Authored by : Community College of Vermont. Located at : http://tutorials.libraries.vsc.edu/plagiarism/unintentional/after . Project : Understanding Plagiarism Tutorial. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Academic Integrity Tutorial, What Counts as Plagiarism?. Authored by : University of Maryland University College. Located at : http://www.umuc.edu/students/academic-integrity/ai-tutorial/academic-integrity-tutorial.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Pot of Gold: Information Literacy Tutorial, Why Should You Care?. Provided by : University of Notre Dame. Located at : http://library.nd.edu/instruction/potofgold/utilizing/?page=8 . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Plagiarism Self-Test. Provided by : Colorado State University Tilt Academic Integrity Program. Located at : http://tilt.colostate.edu/integrity/resources/quiz/ . Project : A collaborative project funded by the Center for Educational Technology and developed by Colby College, Bates College and Bowdoin College.. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Quiz questions 7 and 8, from the Search for the Skunk Ape . Provided by : Florida Gulf Coast University. Located at : https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/cYCsWVMO9zDh8B/html . Project : Research Using FGCU Library. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Plagiarism pictures from Using Information Ethically tutorial. Authored by : Lindsey McLean, Susan Gardner Archambault, and Elisa Slater Acosta. Provided by : Loyola Marymount University William H. Hannon Library. Located at : http://electra.lmu.edu/LGRL/UIE2014/ . Project : Lion's Guide to Research and the Library. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Types of Plagiarism Chart. Authored by : Denise Woetzel. Provided by : Reynolds Community College Library. Located at : http://libguides.reynolds.edu/c.php?g=143583&p=939831 . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Identifying Plagiarism and How to Avoid it

Identifying Plagiarism

what is Plagiarism?

Intentional Plagiarism

Inadvertent Plagiarism

Paraphrased Plagiarism

PLAGIARISM MOSAIC

Insufficient acknowledgment

Scholastic Dishonesty

The UTSA Student Code of Conduct (Section 203) defines plagiarism as:

“A form of academic dishonesty and intellectual theft that violates long-held and widely recognized principles of academic integrity including, but not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another’s work and the submission of said work as one’s own academic work offered for credit.”

Intentional Plagiarism is the deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one’s own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote.

(UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 203)

Types of Intentional Plagiarism

APPROPRIATING IDEAS OR CONCEPTS

Occurs when a student paraphrases another author’s words, rearranges them, and then submits the reworded text as if it were original material.

CUT AND PASTE

Occurs when a student uses another author’s work (in its entirety or just a few words) and submits it as if those words were original material. The amount of work the student cuts and pastes does not matter.  It is still intentional plagiarism.

lack of documentation

Occurs when a student uses another author’s words, places them in quotes, but fails to provide proper documentation.

Paraphrasing Without Changing Enough Words

Source document:

How can we affect national policy – or even make intelligent decisions in our own lives – if we don’t grasp the underlining issues? As I write, Congress is dissolving its own Office of Technology Assessment – the only organization specifically tasked to provide advice to the House and Senate on science and technology. Its competence and integrity over the years have been exemplary. Of the 535 members of the U.S. Congress, rarely in the twentieth century have as many as one percent had any significant background in science. The last scientifically literate President may have been Thomas Jefferson (Sagan 7).

Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World. Ballantine Books, 1996.

Student Essay:

Many Americans are scientifically illiterate, which could prove to be disastrous for our nation. How can we affect national policy – or even make intelligent decisions in our own lives – if we don’t grasp the underlying issues? Scientific literacy affects us all, and we should be more vigilant in guarding against ignorance.

Why is this Intentional Plagiarism? Click to find out.

In this example, the author simply copied and pasted Carl Sagan’s exact words and presented them as if they were original material.

View Example

Appropriating Ideas or Concepts

Unfortunately, we can’t discuss science literacy without discussing our politicians. Recently, Congress decided to do away with its own Office of Technology Assessment, which was a group of people whose job was to provide assistance to representatives in the House and Senate in matters of science and technology.

In this example, the author took Sagan’s words, slightly paraphrased them, and then presented them as if they were original materials. There is no proper documentation.

Lack of Documentation

Sadly, many of our presidents have been scientifically illiterate, and Thomas Jefferson may have been “the last scientifically literate” President of the United States.

In this example, the author correctly places Sagan’s words in quotes but fails to provide documentation. This is still plagiarism.

Inadvertent Plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but not deliberate use of another’s words, ideas, or data without appropriate attribution, failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from being insufficiently careful in research and writing. (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, section 203)

In many cases, unintentional plagiarism transpires when the author summarizes and/or paraphrases the source material inappropriately, documents a source incorrectly, or omits attribution entirely. Inadvertent plagiarism is by far the most common form of plagiarism, and instructors deal with cases of inadvertent plagiarism differently. Depending on the variables of the case and the severity of the violation, penalties for unintentional plagiarism may vary.

Types of Inadvertent Plagiarism

UNDOCUMENTED ILLUSTRATIONS OR CHARTS

Occurs when a student copies a picture, graph, or illustration, pastes it into his or her work, but fails to provide documentation.  Since the author omitted documentation, a reader might think the author created the objects, which is why it’s important to cite visuals created by another author.

MISSING OR INCORRECT DOCUMENTATION

Occurs when a student uses another person’s ideas or work but unintentionally fails to document the work or documents it improperly.

SUBMITTING WORK WITHOUT CITING REFERENCES

Occurs when a student provides in-text documentation but fails to attach a Works Cited or References page to the document. If sources were quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in a paper, they need to be properly cited in a works cited or references page.

Missing or Incorrect Documentation

Source Document:

The Monuments , an award-winning architectural element, welcomes everyone to the UTSA Main Campus, highlights the university’s presence in the community and shows that UTSA’s spirit burns brightly. The lighting for the Monuments is comprised of a full-spectrum LED display and can be set to display in a wide array of color combinations – including UTSA orange, blue and white (Chavez).

Chavez, Jesus. “UTSA’s Newest Tradition.” UTSA Today , University of Texas at San Antonio, 9 May 2015, www.utsa.edu/today/2015/05/monuments.html .

The Monuments is an award-winning new element that “welcomes everyone to the UTSA Main Campus.”

The student has referenced the original source with quotations but has failed to document the title or author of the source.

Paraphrased Plagiarism involves paraphrasing without acknowledging ideas taken from another. In this case, the reader might mistake these ideas for the writer’s.

Types of Paraphrased Plagiarism

Occurs when a student takes another author’s words and then paraphrases or rewords them, but fails to change enough of the original quotation to create an acceptable paraphrase.

P araphrasing without Documentation

Occurs when a student paraphrases and/or rewords another author’s words, but fails to provide the proper documentation.

Why is this Paraphrased Plagiarism? Click to find out.

Although the essay attempts to paraphrase the original source, the student has substituted phrases and words instead of basing his or her work on the concept and ideas of the article.  When paraphrasing, a writer needs to understand the content of the original source well enough to turn it into his or her own words.   If a writer is are struggling with paraphrasing, he or she should talk to his or her instructor or use some of the best practices illustrated at the Purdue Owl site .

Paraphrasing without Documentation

A brilliant orange, blue and white glow will now welcome everyone to the UTSA Main Campus.  The new feature showcases the heart of the campus within San Antonio.

The essay has paraphrased the original essay but failed to document the source.

Plagiarism Mosaic

UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 203

Plagiarism Mosaic involves the borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one’s own without acknowledging the source.

A new award-winning structure will greet all who come to UTSA and highlights the university’s presence in San Antonio.

Why is this Plagiarism Mosaic? Click to find out.

Although the student attempted to use his or her own words, there are still phrases and keywords used from the original source without any documentation.  A writer must make sure to either paraphrase in his or her own words or to use the original source as a quotation.

Insufficient Acknowledgment

Insufficient Acknowledgment involves the partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source.  Here, a student may partially cite an author by giving credit for some of the ideas or words used but using other parts of the work as his or her own.  This type of plagiarism may also include citations that are incomplete and useless to find the source.

The Monuments is an “award-winning architectural element” (Chavez).  They welcome everyone to the UTSA Main Campus and highlight the university’s presence in the community.

Why is this Insufficient Acknowledgment? Click to find out.

Although the student cited the author in the first sentence, he or she failed to quote, document, or paraphrase the second sentence.

When an instructor suspects a student of academic dishonesty, he or she will investigate the case to determine if a violation has occurred. If the instructor determines a violation has occurred, he or she will complete a faculty disposition of Scholastic Dishonesty form and meet with the alleged plagiarist. The student has the right to accept the punishment the instructor recommends or have Judicial Affairs investigate the case and potentially assign a penalty. Depending on the severity of the case, the punishment ranges from receiving reduced or no credit for an assignment or a course all the way up to expulsion from the university and potentially “revocation of degree, denial of degree, and/or withdrawal of diploma” (UTSA Student Code of Conduct, Section 301).

Tips to Avoid Plagiarism

Give yourself time - When you are working at the last minute, it is easy to leave out citations or make mistakes with your references.

Take careful notes and always include information about your sources.

Always use quotations around an author’s exact words.

Use a style manual or a citation resource like OWL to double-check your citations.

Unsure about your work? Check with an instructor, librarian , or the Writing Center , to answer your questions.

Designed and developed by UTSA Libraries Learning Technology Department at John Peace Library, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2019.

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Plagiarism in academic writing: how to identify and avoid it.

BY SCOTT RAGIN

In the academic world, plagiarism is considered as a serious offense because stealing the work of another writer is an unacceptable tactic. Today, falling into the plagiarism trap became very easy and even tempting because the Internet has all information that could possibly be needed for a research paper, essay, article, or review. Unfortunately, many students and even some scholars make this mistake every year because a lack of their effort to write original text is easily detected by sophisticated software packages at education institutions.

The punishment for plagiarism offense is quite serious and often results in destroyed academic reputation, zero grade, and even expulsion from the educational institution. These short- and long-term consequences can be a bad influence on your academic career, so considering plagiarism as an option to complete an assignment should really be out of question. Instead of using this option, try some of these great and proven strategies to identify unoriginal content and avoid it in the future.

Strategy 1: Use Anti-plagiarism software

Identifying plagiarism is easy these days. There are a lot of websites that have sophisticated software that detects it in the matter of minutes. This online software is very easy to use: just copy the text you need to check and click “check” button. When the check is completed, you will be provided with a plagiarism report with the percent of the original text and the plagiarized areas will be highlighted for you to change.

Strategy 2: Paraphrasing

This strategy falls into “avoiding” category. Imagine this: you have found the information that is perfect for using in your paper. Instead of copying it, read it to the end to really understand the essence of the text. Now, when you know what the content is about, you can put it into your own words, which will help to avoid having unoriginal text. It is generally advised not to copy more than three or four words from the text without having them paraphrased.

Strategy 3: Quoting

This means that you take a short chunk of text from the source (usually a part of the sentence that has some important information for your topic) and leave it without changes. In many cases, when you need to provide the original definition of the writer or state his or her point of view, it is allowed to have their words quoted. Just put the quotation marks at the beginning and at the end of the quote; for example:

Competitive advantage is defined as “the source of company’s competitiveness” (Johnson, 2016, p. 123).

However, you need to remember that most of the text needs to be paraphrased, so the use of quotes should be significantly limited. Also, citation styles have specific formatting requirements for quotes, so be sure to follow them as well.

Strategy 4: Citing

It is one of the most widely used strategies in the academic world. It is the way of referring to the works of other authors with the use of parenthetical citation. Essentially, citing is conveying the thoughts of others via your own words and giving the credit to them. In addition to academic papers, this method is used in business reports, government agencies’ publications, and other works. Here is the example of APA style citation:

The effectiveness of student motivation is measured by their academic performance (Johnson, 2016).

As you can see in this example, you need to follow the rules of formatting styles as well. Contact your instructor to know which citation style is used by your institution.

Strategy 5: Get help of professionals

If you are short on time to deliver an academic work due to personal or other reasons, consider using the help of professional writing services. They hire writers with relevant academic background in particular areas to deliver the best work for the customers and, more importantly, provide original texts with plagiarism reports to prove that the text was not plagiarized. Of course, it is better to develop your academic writing skills by yourself but there is no shame in using the services of professionals when you are short on time.

The Bottom Line

Plagiarism is unprofessional, illegal, and disregarding, so avoiding it at all cost is the best possible strategy for modern students. Professors often say that it is better to miss the deadline rather than submit a plagiarized assignment and they are totally right about that. Fortunately, there are a number of strategies you can utilize to avoid plagiarizing the text that is widely recognized in the academic community.

Use these strategies to make sure your academic career advances with every written assignment you make. Besides, following academic integrity rules will also contribute to your professional career because you will develop appropriate work ethics that appreciates originality and quality of work.

Scott Ragin is a qualified educator, author and scholar. He is experienced in classroom teaching, training teachers and leaders and advising academic researchers. Scott provides assignment help at Aussiewriter and covers different topics concerning higher education and  educational technology. Feel free to contact him at Facebook .

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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 80,076 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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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

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• How to Avoid Plagiarism

It's not enough to know why plagiarism is taken so seriously in the academic world or to know how to recognize it. You also need to know how to avoid it.

The simplest cases of plagiarism to avoid are the intentional ones: If you copy a paper from a classmate, buy a paper from the Internet, copy material from a book, article, podcast, video, or website without citing the author, you are plagiarizing. Here's the best advice you'll ever receive about avoiding intentional plagiarism: If you're tempted to borrow someone else's ideas or plagiarize in any way because you're pressed for time, nervous about how you're doing in a class, or confused about the assignment, don't do it . The problems you think you're solving by plagiarizing are really minor compared to the problems you will create for yourself by plagiarizing. In every case, the consequences of plagiarism are much more serious than the consequences of turning in a paper late or turning in a paper you're not satisfied to have written.

The consequences of accidental plagiarism are equally daunting and should be avoided at all costs. As a member of an intellectual community you are expected to respect the ideas of others in the same way that you would respect any other property that didn't belong to you, and this is true whether you plagiarize on purpose or by accident. The best way to make sure you don't plagiarize due to confusion or carelessness is to 1) understand what you're doing when you write a paper and 2) follow a method that is systematic and careful as you do your research . In other words, if you have a clear sense of what question you're trying to answer and what knowledge you're building on, and if you keep careful, clear notes along the way, it's much easier to use sources effectively and responsibly and, most of all, to write a successful paper.

If you have questions about plagiarism at any point in your research or writing process, ask. It's always better to ask questions than it is to wait for an instructor to respond to work that you have turned in for a grade. Once you have turned in your final work, you will be held responsible for misuse of sources.

Keep Track of Your Sources; Save PDFs or Print Electronic Source

While it's easy enough to keep a stack of books or journal articles on your desk where you can easily refer back to them, it's just as important to keep track of electronic sources. When you save a PDF of a journal article, make sure you put it into a folder on your computer where you'll be able to find it. When you consult a website, log the URL in a separate document from the paper you're writing so that you'll be able to return to the website and cite it correctly. You should also print or save to PDF the relevant pages from any websites you use, making sure you note the complete URL and the date on which you printed the material. Because electronic sources aren't stable and websites can disappear without notice, beware of directing your readers to sources that might have disappeared. Check when the website you're using was last updated and update the URLs as you work and once again right before you submit your essay. If an electronic source disappears before you submit your work, you will need to decide whether or not to keep the source in your paper. If you have saved the source and can turn it in with your paper, you should do so. If you have not saved the source, you should consult your instructor about whether or not to use that source in your paper.

Keep Sources in Correct Context

Whenever you consult a source, you should make sure you understand the context, both of the ideas within a source and of the source itself. You should also be careful to consider the context in which a source was written. For example, a book of essays published by an organization with a political bias might not present an issue with adequate complexity for your project. You can learn more about how to understand a source’s context in the Evaluating Sources section of this guide.

The question of context can be more complicated when you're working with Internet sources than with print sources because you may see one article or post as separate from an entire website and use or interpret that page without fully understanding or representing its context. For example, a definition of "communism" taken from a website with a particular political agenda might provide one interpretation of the meaning of the word—but if you neglect to mention the context for that definition, you might use it as though it's unbiased when it isn't. If your web search takes you to a URL that’s part of a larger website, make sure to investigate and take notes on the context of the information you're citing.

Research can often turn out to be more time-consuming than you anticipate. Budget enough time to search for sources, to take notes, and to think about how to use the sources in your essay. Moments of carelessness are more common when you leave your essay until the last minute— and when you are tired or stressed. Honest mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism just as dishonesty can; be careful when taking notes and when incorporating ideas and language from sources so you always know what language and ideas are yours and what belongs to a source.

Don't Cut and Paste: File and Label Your Sources

Keep your own writing and your sources separate.

Work with either the printed copy of your source(s) or (in the case of online sources) the copy you downloaded—not the online version—as you draft your essay. This precaution not only decreases the risk of plagiarism but also enables you to annotate your sources. Those annotations are an essential step both in understanding the sources and in distinguishing your own ideas from those of the sources.

Keep Your Notes and Your Draft Separate

Paraphrase carefully in your notes; acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing.

When you want to paraphrase material, it's a good idea first to paste the actual quotation into your notes (not directly into your draft) and then to paraphrase it (still in your notes). Putting the information in your own words will help you make sure that you've thought about what the source is saying and that you have a good reason for using it in your paper. Remember to use some form of notation in your notes to indicate what you've paraphrased and mention the author's name within the material you paraphrase. You should also include all citation information in your notes.

Avoid Reading a Classmate's Paper for Inspiration

If you're in a course that requires peer review or workshops of student drafts, you are going to read your classmates' work and discuss it. This is a productive way of exchanging ideas and getting feedback on your work. If you find, in the course of this work, that you wish to use someone else's idea at some point in your paper (you should never use someone else's idea as your thesis, but there may be times when a classmate's idea would work as a counterargument or other point in your paper), you must credit that person the same way you would credit any other source.

If you find yourself reading someone else's paper because you're stuck on an assignment and don't know how to proceed, you may end up creating a problem for yourself because you might unconsciously copy that person's ideas. When you're stuck, make an appointment with your instructor or go to the Writing Center for advice on how to develop your own ideas.

Don't Save Your Citations for Later

Never paraphrase or quote from a source without immediately adding a citation. You should add citations in your notes, in your response papers, in your drafts, and in your revisions. Without them, it's too easy to lose track of where you got a quotation or an idea and to end up inadvertently taking credit for material that's not your own.

Quote Your Sources Properly

Always use quotation marks for directly quoted material, even for short phrases and key terms.

Keep a Source Trail

As you write and revise your essay, make sure that you keep track of your sources in your notes and in each successive draft of your essay. You should begin this process early, even before you start writing your draft. Even after you've handed in your essay, keep all of your research notes and drafts. You ought to be able to reconstruct the path you took from your sources to your notes and from your notes to your drafts and revision. These careful records and clear boundaries between your writing and your sources will help you avoid plagiarism. And if you are called upon to explain your process to your instructor, you'll be able to retrace the path you took when thinking, researching, and writing, from the essay you submitted back through your drafts and to your sources.

• What Constitutes Plagiarism?
• The Exception: Common Knowledge
• Other Scenarios to Avoid
• Why Does it Matter if You Plagiarize?
• Harvard University Plagiarism Policy

PDFs for This Section

• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Online Library and Citation Tools

Preventing plagiarism: a guide for students and educators

Academic integrity — the commitment to ethical behaviors and conduct in academic settings, including respect, accuracy, and honesty — is fundamental to learning and expressing new ideas, while respecting the ideas and contributions of others. More specifically, academic integrity means you have to do your own work, give credit to others for their academic contributions, and take responsibility for your own learning. You must also avoid actions that oppose academic integrity, particularly cheating and plagiarism, prime examples of academic misconduct.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a major threat not only to academic integrity, but also to the world’s collective knowledge and education itself. In the digital age, plagiarism has become both easier to commit and even somewhat easier to detect. With the continuing rise and normalization of stolen content , students need to be taught what plagiarism is, and both students and educators must learn how to identify plagiarism so they can take steps to recognize it and take steps to avoid it.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the verb “to plagiarize” means “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own.” Plagiarism, then, is a form of cheating wherein you take someone else’s ideas or work and make it seem like you are the original creator.

This can be done with or without the original creator’s knowledge or consent, and almost any type of material or media — including ideas, words, images, videos, and sounds — can be plagiarized. Copying a classmate’s homework, purchasing an essay written by someone else, and using quotes from a source without proper attribution are all common examples of plagiarism.

There is no universally agreed-upon definition of the bounds of plagiarism in academics. Many schools have created their own definitions and policies regarding plagiarism. Be sure to familiarize yourself with your institution’s specific policies so you know what, exactly, constitutes plagiarism.

Though plagiarism can overlap with other unlawful acts (such as fraud, theft, or copyright infringement) it’s not illegal in and of itself. Typically, you are committing an ethical offense rather than a crime if you plagiarize something in an academic setting.

Types of plagiarism

Just as there is no single way to define plagiarism, there is no single way to commit plagiarism. Depending on the context, it can take many different forms, the most prevalent of which include:

• Direct plagiarism: this means you copy another’s work exactly and without modifications, such as lifting words from another source without any attribution.
• Complete plagiarism: this means you pass off the entirety of a work created by someone else as your own, such as when purchasing an essay that someone else wrote and turning it in as your completed assignment.
• Misleading attributions: a misleading attribution involves purposefully attributing an idea, quote, or work to a false, incorrect, or nonexistent source. Sometimes referred to as source-based plagiarism, this can include getting information from multiple sources but only citing one, or making up data and statistics but attributing them to a reputable source.
• Self-plagiarism: You plagiarize yourself when using work you’ve done for a previous assignment or class — even when that work is otherwise free of plagiarism. When asked for permission in advance, some teachers may accept work used in an assignment from another course, which would not be considered plagiarism.
• Mosaic plagiarism: Also known as patchwork plagiarism, this describes when you weave others’ work, ideas, or phrases into your work without giving proper credit. You may tweak the sentence structure or use synonyms to do so. Because others’ materials are mixed in with your ideas, this type of plagiarism is particularly difficult to identify.
• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing involves using your own words to convey someone else’s ideas. When you give credit to the original creator, paraphrasing can improve the quality of your writing and communicate others’ ideas more clearly. However, if you do not cite your sources properly, paraphrasing is considered plagiarism.
• Aggregating plagiarism: When you correctly cite all of your sources but fail to contribute any new ideas in your work, you have committed aggregating plagiarism.
• Accidental plagiarism: this describes whenever you unknowingly or unintentionally commit plagiarism. This may include forgetting to use quotation marks, not knowing how to properly cite a source, or not understanding what counts as plagiarism.

With the advancement of technology and the development of new artistic mediums, plagiarism continues to take new forms. In an attempt to excel in a stressful educational environment while avoiding detection and consequences, crafty students will likely keep discovering new ways to commit plagiarism.

What are the consequences and results of plagiarism?

Regardless of what form it takes, plagiarism is unethical, and it can have serious repercussions. The exact consequences of plagiarism depend heavily on your teacher’s policy, as well as your school’s code of conduct.

Some of the potential short-term consequences of plagiarism include:

• Having to re-do the plagiarized assignment.
• Receiving a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment.
• Having to undergo anti-plagiarism training.
• Receiving either informal or formal warnings.
• Receiving a failing grade in the course.

These outcomes are relatively minor, and if you’re lucky, they’re the only ones you’ll have to face. However, you could experience more severe, long-lasting consequences, such as:

• Having a note about the plagiarism on your transcript or permanent record.
• Being put on academic probation.
• Being suspended from school.
• Being expelled from school.

It is worth noting that all occurrences of plagiarism can result in punishment, even if you do them unintentionally or unknowingly. Generally, more egregious or serious instances of plagiarism will result in more severe repercussions. Further, a single act of plagiarism may yield a short-term consequence, such as having to do a plagiarism workshop, while repeated offenses may result in consequences that have long-term academic and professional impact.

How to identify plagiarism

The ethics of honesty and integrity are necessary in a setting that’s committed to the free expression of ideas, such as school. Therefore, it’s vital for students and educators to be able to accurately identify plagiarism. With online assignments and grading , it’s now easier to detect plagiarism, but technology can also make plagiarism easier to hide.

In a survey of college students conducted by T and F Online, researchers found that new undergraduates “were confident in their understanding of plagiarism, yet performed poorly on simple tests of referencing.” These findings seem to suggest that although many students believe they can correctly identify plagiarism, there is significant room to improve their understanding of it. The study also indicates that by understanding how to recognize plagiarism, students may be less likely to commit it.

Of course, lack of knowledge isn’t the only reason students commit plagiarism. Between academic pressures and plain indifference, there are students who are willing to cheat. Regardless of the motivation, there are several techniques to identify plagiarism:

Use plagiarism detection tools

Laptops and mobile devices are now mainstays in the classroom .and can help identify instances of plagiarism. Students can easily use these tools to upload their assignments directly to a program that will automatically check for plagiarism. The tools then compare the assignment to other published works and assess how similar they are.

Tools, both free and paid, that you can use to detect plagiarism, include:

• DupliChecker
• iThenticate

A simple internet search can even help detect plagiarized content. For example, take a paragraph from an assignment and search for it online. If one of the results is the same as the text you searched for, it was likely plagiarized. If nothing crops up, it’s likely an original work.

It’s worth noting that, although helpful for identification, some researchers at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have concerns about the limitations and applications of plagiarism detectors . The apps cannot technically identify plagiarism, just show how similar someone’s work is to other works in their database. Additionally, the plagiarism detection tools can’t diagnose the reason someone committed plagiarism, help them correct the issue, or prevent it from happening again. It certainly doesn’t hurt to do a quick check on an assignment, but you should not rely exclusively on these tools when identifying plagiarism.

Recognize common detection-avoidance tactics

Even with the growing use of plagiarism detection technology, students can attempt to cheat these tools. Despite these students’ best efforts, it’s still fairly easy to detect plagiarism, especially if you are familiar with common avoidance tactics. Some of the most popular include:

• Using Greek or Cyrillic letters: Certain Greek and Cyrillic letters — such as A, B, E, O, and T — look identical to letters in the Latin alphabet. Some students will copy another’s writing and swap out these letters strategically. When others read the paper, they likely won’t see a difference, and even most plagiarism detectors won’t recognize the identical texts. Luckily, newer detection tools have caught onto this technique and can identify letter swapping.
• Filling in all the spaces: Similar to swapping out similar looking letters, some students will put additional letters or characters in the spaces between their words and then color them white. This makes the letters look invisible, so it looks like a standard project when someone manually reads the assignment. The hope is that plagiarism detectors will struggle to identify the similarities between the student’s writing and other documents in their data. However, most tools can also identify white-on-white text and will flag any strange or questionable characters in a document.
• Switching up words: Other students embrace mosaic plagiarism in their work. They’ll switch up the order of words, change sentence structure, and use synonyms to make another’s writing look like their own. Again, many detection tools can identify this type of cheating. Further, if you read over someone’s work, you may encounter strange sentences, grammatical errors, or wording that is uncharacteristic for the writer — all of which are tell-tale signs of plagiarism.
• Adding images: Some students will attempt to submit their paper as an image. That way, humans can read it, but it cannot be run through a plagiarism checker. It’s fairly easy to detect this form of cheating by requiring students to submit assignments in a certain format or setting a minimum word count. The program will then flag any assignments that do not meet those requirements.
• Translating papers from other languages: Particularly determined students will find a paper on the same general topic written in another language, run it through a translation tool, and then submit it as their own. You will almost always be able to tell, though, that the paper is not original, based on its failure to address your specific prompt. It’s also likely that the assignment will be littered with grammatical errors and strange or stilted writing, due to the imperfections and inconsistencies in free ‘machine’ translation programs.
• Converting PDF files: Tech-savvy students try to cheat by manipulating the layers in PDF files. These files usually have at least two layers: the visual and the text layer. Students will alter the text layer, but not the visual one, so their assignment can be read by humans but not by detection software. You don’t have to be tech-savvy yourself to detect this form of cheating. Simply use a PDF editor to see how the document has been edited. You can also convert the PDF into a Word document , or copy the text from the PDF into Word. You will see meaningless, garbled text, which is a strong indicator of attempted cheating.

Plagiarism detectors may not be perfect, but neither are the methods students use to get around them. As long as you know what to look for, take steps to improve your digital literacy, and are familiar with other common signs of cheating, you’ll be able to quickly and easily identify most instances of plagiarism in your classroom.

Read thoroughly

When looking over someone’s work, read it as closely and carefully as possible, searching for signs of plagiarism, such as:

• A sudden shift in the tone, style, voice, or sophistication of the writing
• Small differences in formatting, including different font types, sizes, or colors
• Incorrectly or inconsistently formatted sources
• A complete lack of sources or citations
• Sources or information that are out-of-date
• An assignment that is off-topic or fails to address the prompt
• Anything that seems out-of-character for the person who completed the assignment

Watching for tactics to avoid detection, paying attention to how ideas are expressed, combined with detection tools will help you discern whether an assignment or paper was plagiarized.

How to prevent plagiarism

The only thing more important than learning how to identify plagiarism is learning how to prevent it. Luckily, it’s now easier to recognize plagiarism for what it is and avoid it in the classroom.

Cite everything

Providing sources for your work, or evidence for data and ideas you use, is clearly important. If you aren’t sure whether to cite something, it’s best to go ahead and do it. It’s far better to over-cite your sources and remove them later if need be than it is to commit plagiarism.

There is a single exception to the “cite everything” rule: common knowledge. It’s difficult to succinctly define, but ideas, topics or data that most people know or can look up easily in general reference resources is common knowledge. Virtually all of your writing assignments will use some amount of common knowledge, but it can be difficult to determine what requires citation and what doesn’t when you move into higher levels of academics.

Use your sources to strengthen your claims, develop your ideas, and participate in the larger conversation on this subject. Perhaps the most important part of any writing assignment is incorporating your new ideas into your work. This is a critical part of your education and of your assignments: sharing your unique takes on a subject. Your work isn’t just about completing a homework assignment, you may also be contributing to a larger body of collective knowledge!

Prioritize proper citation

Proper citation is, arguably, the most important best practice that students need to adhere to in their assignments. Again, if you know what counts as plagiarism and how to cite your sources, it’s significantly easier to avoid plagiarism.

There are several distinct citation styles, each with its own unique formatting rules. The style you use will depend upon your teacher or school’s preference, as well as the class or academic discipline.

Due to both their similarities and differences, proper citation is far easier said than done. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the main citation styles, including:

• American Psychological Association (APA) Style : Developed by the American Psychological Association, APA style is often used to cite sources in the social sciences. It requires both in-text citations and a references page after a paper.
• Chicago Style : Chicago style was created by the University of Chicago and it’s primarily used for citations in history, though it is also used in some humanities, social sciences, and scientific writings. It requires endnotes or footnotes and a bibliography at the end of an assignment. The Turabian style is based on the Chicago style and is commonly used in both high school and college classrooms.
• Modern Language Association (MLA) Style : Primarily used in literary and research papers, MLA style requires specific formatting, as well as in-text citations and a concluding works cited page.

Even with this information, properly citing sources can be confusing. For this reason, educators should make it clear which style they want students to use in their course and teach them how to use it.

Focus on time management

Both students and educators must prioritize organization and time management skills. While there may be countless reasons students choose to cheat, being disorganized with coursework is a significant contributing factor. Between mounting deadlines, conflicting responsibilities, and the pressure to do well, students may feel compelled to cheat simply because they don’t have the time or energy to do the work.

By focusing on time management, you can get ahead of your schedule and plan out your work in advance. This way, you know what assignments and exams are coming up and you can schedule your study time appropriately. Improving your time management skills will ensure you have enough time to do your work, allow you to complete higher-quality work, and reduce your stress throughout the school term.

Educators have a responsibility to help students with time management. You can’t manage others’ time for them, but you can provide the list of assignments and due dates, as well as a schedule of the days you will discuss specific topics so students have the information they need to make a plan. Similarly, emphasize the importance of staying on top of schoolwork and planning when it comes to succeeding in your course.

Understand the gray areas

Plagiarism is a large, complex, and convoluted topic. Some actions — such as purchasing a paper or quoting someone without citing the source — are undoubtedly plagiarism, but with others, it’s far less straightforward. For instance, it isn’t always clear when something is common knowledge, or when you need to distinguish between your thoughts and someone else’s ideas to avoid mosaic plagiarism.

When completing schoolwork, anticipate these gray areas. Keep track of the sources you use in your assignment and do your best to clarify which ideas are yours and which belong to someone else. Try to verify the original source of your information and make note of any inconsistencies you discover.

If there are any issues with your work, you can show your teacher that you’ve made an active effort to avoid plagiarizing. They’ll likely be willing to work with you and help you correct your mistakes so this doesn’t happen again.

Know the consequences

If you’re an educator, you must discipline students who plagiarize or cheat in your class. At the beginning of the term, clearly outline the ramifications if students are caught plagiarizing. If you catch someone plagiarizing, follow through on those promises. Without consequences, students have little incentive to avoid plagiarism or other forms of cheating in the future.

In addition, it isn’t just about punishment. Work with the student in question to determine why they chose to plagiarize. You can then adjust the consequences based on the reason, levying harsher penalties for more serious transgressions and lesser consequences if need be.

For instance, if the student unknowingly plagiarized, you may give them an overview of how to properly cite sources then ask them to re-do the assignment correctly, while someone who intentionally plagiarized may simply fail the assignment altogether. In both situations, you may be able to prevent future instances of plagiarism.

Resources for students and educators to identify and prevent plagiarism

Check out the following resources to learn more about plagiarism in the classroom:

• Harvard Guide to Using Sources : This guide from Harvard University explains what students need to know about using sources in academic writing, including how to properly cite sources.
• The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI): This non-profit organization strives to build academic integrity in high schools, colleges, and public institutions.
• Plagiarism.org : Sponsored by Turnitin (a web-based plagiarism detection service) this website has a variety of articles and resources to help students and teachers learn more about identifying and avoiding plagiarism.
• The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): From Purdue University, the OWL contains a variety of helpful writing resources for students, including information about proper references and citations and tips for avoiding plagiarism.
• ReadWriteThink : This website provides reading and writing education resources — including those related to plagiarism identification and prevention — to teachers, parents, and other academic professionals.
• The School for Ethical Education (SEE): The SEE is a non-profit organization that empowers educators to teach their students about ethics, and put those teachings into practice.
• The Turnitin Blog : From the same company that makes the Turnitin plagiarism detection tool, this blog is aimed at students and educators who want to learn more about avoiding plagiarism.

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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 91,919 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

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• ↑ 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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Plagiarism in Research — The Complete Guide [eBook]

Table of Contents

Plagiarism can be described as the not-so-subtle art of stealing an already existing work, violating the principles of academic integrity and fairness. Well, there's no denying that we see further by standing on the shoulders of giants, and when it comes to constructing a research prose, we often need to look at the world through their lens. However, in this process, many students and researchers, knowingly or otherwise, resort to plagiarism.

In many instances, plagiarism is intentional, whether through direct copying or paraphrasing. Unfortunately, there are also times when it happens unintentionally. Regardless of the intent, plagiarism goes against the ethos of the scientific world and is considered a severe moral and disciplinary offense.

The good news is that you can avoid plagiarism and even work around it. So, if you're keen on publishing unplagiarized papers and maintaining academic integrity, you've come to the right place.

With this comprehensive ebook on plagiarism, we intend to help you understand what constitutes plagiarism in research, why it happens, plagiarism concepts and types, how you can prevent it, and much more.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is defined as representing a part of or the entirety of someone else's work as your own. Whether published or unpublished, this could be ideas, text verbatim, infographics, etc. It is no different in the academic writing, either. However, it is not considered plagiarism if most of your work is original and the referred part is diligently cited.

The degree of plagiarism can vary from discipline to discipline. Like in mathematics or engineering, there are times when you have to copy and paste entire equations or proofs, which can take a significant chunk of your paper. Again, that is not constituted plagiarism, provided there's an analysis or rebuttal to it.

That said, there are some objective parameters defining plagiarism. Get to know them, and your life as a researcher will be much smoother.

Common types of plagiarism

Plagiarism often creeps into academic works in various forms, from complete plagiarism to accidental plagiarism.

The types of plagiarism varies depending on the two critical aspects — the writer's intention and the degree to which the prose is plagiarized. These aspects help institutions and publishers define plagiarism types more accurately.

The agreed-upon forms of plagiarism that occur in research writing include:

1. Global or Complete Plagiarism

Global or Complete plagiarism is inarguably the most severe form of plagiarism  — It is as good as stealing. It happens when an author blatantly copies somebody else's work in its entirety and passes it on as their own.

Since complete plagiarism is always committed deliberately and disguises the ownership of the work, it is directly recognized under copyright violation and can lead to intellectual property abuse and legal battles. That, along with irredeemable repercussions like a damaged reputation, getting expelled, or losing your job.

2. Verbatim or Direct Plagiarism

Verbatim or direct plagiarism happens when you copy a part of someone else's work, word-to-word, without providing adequate credits or attributions. The ideas, structure, and diction in your work would match the original author's work. Even if you were to change a few words or the position of sentences here and there, the final result remains the same.

The best way to avoid this is to minimize copy-pasting entire paragraphs and use it only when the situation calls for it. And when you do so, use quotation marks and in-text citations, crediting the original source.

3. Source-based Plagiarism

Source-based plagiarism results from an author trying to mislead or disguise the natural source of their work. Say you write a paper, giving enough citations, but when the editor or peer reviewers try to cross-check your references, they find a dead end or incorrect information. Another instance is when you use both primary and secondary data to support your argument but only cite the former with no reference for the latter.

In both cases, the information provided is either irrelevant or misleading. You may have cited it, but it does not support the text completely.

Similarly, another type of plagiarism is called data manipulation and counterfeiting . Data Manipulation is creating your own data and results. In contrast, data counterfeiting is skipping or adultering the key findings to suit your expected outcomes.

Using misinformed sources in a research study constitutes grave violations and offenses. Particularly in the medical field, it can lead to legal issues such as wrong data presentation. Its interpretation can lead to false clinical trials, which can have grave consequences.

4. Paraphrasing Plagiarism

Paraphrasing plagiarism is one of the more common types of plagiarism. It refers to when an author copies ideas, thoughts, and inferences, rephrases sentences, and then claims ownership.

Compared to verbatim, paraphrasing plagiarism involves changing words, sentences, semantics or translating texts. The general idea or the topic of the thesis, however, remains the same and as clever as it may seem, it is straightforward to detect.

More often authors commit paraphrasing by reading a few sources and writing them in their own words without due citation. This can lead the reader to believe that the idea was the author's own when it wasn’t.

5. Mosaic or Patchwork Plagiarism

One of the more mischievous ways to abstain from writing original work is mosaic plagiarism. Patchwork or mosaic plagiarism occurs when an author stitches together a research paper by lending pieces from multiple sources and weaving them as their creation. Sure, the author can add a few new words and phrases, but the meat of the paper is stolen.

It’s common for authors to refer to various sources during the research. But to patch them together and form a new paper from them is wrong.

Mosaic plagiarism can be difficult to detect, so authors, too confident in themselves, often resort to it. However, these days, there are plenty of online tools like Turnitin, Enago, and EasyBib that identify patchwork and correctly point to the sources from which you have borrowed.

6. Ghostwriting

Outside of the academic world, ghostwriting is entirely acceptable. Leaders do it, politicians do it, and artists do it. In academia, however, ghostwriting is a breach of conduct that tarnishes the integrity of a student or a researcher.

Ghostwriting is the act of using an unacknowledged person’s assistance to complete a paper. This happens in two ways — when an author has their paper’s foundation laid out but pays someone else to write, edit, and proofread. The other is when they pay someone to write the whole article from scratch.

In either case, it’s utterly unacceptable since the whole point of a paper is to exhibit an author's original thoughts presented by them. Ghostwriting, thus, raises a serious question about the academic capabilities of an author.

7. Self-plagiarism

This may surprise many, but rehashing previous works, even if they are your own, is also considered plagiarism. The biggest reason why self-plagiarism is a fallacy is because you’re trying to claim credit for something that you have already received credit for.

Authors often borrow their past data or experiment results, use them in their current work, and present them as brand new. Some may even plagiarize old published works' ideas, cues, or phrases.

The degree to which self-plagiarism is still under debate depends on the volume of work that has been copied. Additionally, many academic and non-academic journals have devised a fixed ratio on what percentage of self-plagiarism is acceptable. Unless you have made a proper declaration through citations and quotation marks about old data usage, it will fall under the scope of self-plagiarism.

8. Accidental Plagiarism

Apart from the intentional forms of plagiarism, there’s also accidental plagiarism. As the name suggests, it happens inadvertently. Unwitting paraphrasing, missing in-text or end-of-text citations, or not using quotation blocks falls under the same criteria.

While writing your academic papers, you have to stay cautious to avoid accidental plagiarism. The best way to do this is by going through your article thoroughly. Proofread as if your life depended on it, and check whether you’ve given citations where required.

Why is it important to avoid research plagiarism?

As a scholar, you must be aware that the sole purpose of any article or academic writing is to present an original idea to its readers. When the prose is plagiarized, it removes any credibility from the author, discredits the source, and leaves the reader misinformed which goes against the ethos of academic institutions.

Here are the few reasons why you should avoid research plagiarism:

Critical analysis is important

While writing research papers, an author must dive deep into finding various sources, like scholarly articles, especially peer-reviewed ones. You are expected to examine the sources keenly to understand the gaps in the chosen topic and formulate your research questions.

Crafting critical questions related to the field of study is essential as it displays your understanding and the analysis you employed to decipher the problems in the chosen topic. When you do this, your chances of being published improve, and it’s also good for your long-term career growth.

Streamlined scholarly communication

An extended form of scholarly communication is established when you respond and craft your academic work based on what others have previously done in a particular domain. By appropriately using others' work, i.e., through citations, you acknowledge the tasks done before you and how they helped shape your work. Moreover, citations expand the doorway for readers to learn more about a topic from the beginning to the current state. Plagiarism prevents this.

Credibility in originality

Originality is invaluable in the research community. From your thesis topic and fresh methodology to new data, conclusion, and tone of writing, the more original your paper is, the more people are intrigued by it. And as long as your paper is backed by credible sources, it further solidifies your academic integrity. Plagiarism can hinder these.

How does plagiarism happen?

Even though plagiarism is a cardinal sin and plagiarized academic writing is consistently rejected, it still happens. So the question is, what makes people resort to plagiarism?

Some of the reasons why authors choose the plagiarism include:

• Lack of knowledge about plagiarism
• Accidentally copying a work
• Forgetting to cite a source
• Desire to excel among peers
• A false belief that no one will catch them
• No interest in academic work and just taking that as an assignment
• Using shortcuts in the form of self-plagiarism
• Fear of failing

Whatever the reason an author may have, plagiarism can never be justified. It is seen as an unfair advantage and disrespect to those who have put in the blood, sweat, and tears into doing their due diligence. Additionally, remember that readers, universities, or publishers are only interested in your genuine ideas, and your evaluation, as an author, is done based on that.

Related Article: Citation Machine Alternatives — Top citation tools 2023

Consequences of plagiarism

We have reiterated enough that plagiarism is objectionable and has consequences. But what exactly are the consequences? Well, that depends on who the author is and the type of plagiarism.

For minor offenses like accidental plagiarism or missing citations, a slap on the wrist in the form of feedback from the editor or peers is the norm. For major cases, let’s take a look:

For students

• Poor grades

Even if you are a first-timer, your professor may choose to fail you, which can have a detrimental effect on your scores.

• Failing a course

It is not rare for professors to fail Ph.D. and graduate students when caught plagiarizing. Not only does this hurt your academics, but it also extends the duration of your study by a year.

• Disciplinary action

Every university or academic institution has strict policies and regulations regarding plagiarism. If caught, an author may have to face the academic review committee to decide their future. The results seen in general cases range from poor grades, failure for a year, or being banished from any academic or research-related work.

• Expulsion from the university

A university may resort to expulsion only in the worst of cases, like copyright violation or Intellectual Property theft.

• Tarnished academic reputation

This just might be the most consequential of all scenarios. It takes a lifetime to build a great impression but a few seconds to tarnish it. Many academics lose their peers' trust and find it hard to recover.  Moreover, background checks for future jobs or fellowships become a nightmare.

For universities

A university is built on reputation. Letting plagiarism slide is the quickest way to tarnish its reputation. This leads to lesser interest from top talent and publishers and trouble finding grant money.

Prospective students turning away from a university means losing out on tuition money. This further drives experienced faculty away. And the cycle continues.

For researchers

• Legal battles

Since it falls under copyright infringement, researchers may face legal battles if their academic work is believed to be plagiarized. There is no shortage of case studies, like those of Doris Kearns Goodwin or Mark Chabedi, where authors, without permission, used another person's work and claimed it to be their own. In all these instances, they faced legal issues that led to fines, barred from writing and research, and sometimes, imprisonment even.

• Professional reputation

Publishers and journals will not engage authors with a past of plagiarism to produce content under their brand name. Also, if the author is a professor or a fellow, it can lead to contract termination.

How to avoid plagiarism in research?

The simplest way to avoid plagiarism would be to put in the work. Do original research, collect new data, and derive new conclusions. If you use references, keep track of each and every single one and cite them in your paper.

To ensure that your academic writing or research paper is unique and free from any type of plagiarism, incorporate the following tips:

• Pay adequate attention to your references

Writing a paper requires extraordinary research. So, it’s understandable when researchers sometimes lose track of their references. This often leads to accidental plagiarism.

So, instead of falling into this trap, maintain lists or take notes of your reference while doing your research. This will help you when you’re writing your citations.

• Find credible sources

Always refer to credible sources, whether a paper, a conference proceeding or an infographic.  These will present unbiased evidence and accurate experimentation results with facts backing the evidence presented by your paper.

• Proper use of paraphrasing, quotations, and citations

It’s borderline impossible to avoid using direct references in your paper, especially if you’re providing a critical analysis or a rebuttal to an already existing article. So, to avoid getting prosecuted, use quotation marks when using a text verbatim.

In case you’re paraphrasing, use citations so that everyone knows that it’s not your idea. Credit the original author and a secondary source, if any. Publishers usually have guidelines about how to cite. There are many different styles like APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Be on top of what your publisher demands.

Usually, it is observed that readers or the audience have a greater inclination towards paraphrasing than the quotes, especially if it is bulky sections. The reason is obvious: paraphrasing displays your understanding of the original work's meaning and interpretation, uniquely suiting the current state of affairs.

• Review and recheck your work multiple times

Before submitting the final, you must subject your work to scrutiny. Multiple times at that. The more you do it, the less your chances of falling under accidental plagiarism.  To ensure that your final work does not constitute any types of plagiarism, ensure that:

• There are no misplaced or missed citations
• The paraphrased text does not closely resemble the original text
• You don’t have any wrongful references
• You’re not missing quotation marks or failing to provide the author's credentials after quotation marks
• You use a plagiarism checker

More on how to avoid plagiarism .

On top of these, read your university or your publisher’s policies. All of them have their sets of rules about what’s acceptable and what’s not. They also define the punishment for any offense, factoring in its degree.

• Use Online Tools

After receiving your article, most universities, publishers, and other institutions will run it through plagiarism checkers, including AI detectors , to detect all types of plagiarism. These plagiarism checkers function based on drawing similarities between your article and previously published works present in their database. If found similar, your paper is deemed plagiarized.

You can always save yourself from embarrassment by staying a step ahead. Use a plagiarism checker before you submit your paper. Using plagiarism checker tools, you can quickly identify if you have committed plagiarism. Then, no one except you will know about it, and you will have a chance to correct yourself.

Best Plagiarism Checkers in 2023

Plagiarism checkers are an incredibly convenient tool for improving academic writing. Therefore, here are some of the best plagiarism checkers for academic writing.

Turnitin's iThenticate

This is one of the best plagiarism checker for your academic paper and a good fit for academic writers, researchers, and scholars.

Turnitin’s iThenticare claims to cross-check your paper against 99 billion+ current and archived web pages, 1.8 billion student papers, and best-in-class scholarly content from top publishers in every major discipline and dozens of languages.

The iThenticate plagiarism checker is now available on SciSpace. ( Instructions on how to use it .)

Grammarly serves as a one-stop solution for better writing. Through Grammarly, you can make your paper have fewer grammatical errors, better clarity, and, yes, be plagiarism-free.

Grammarly's plagiarism checker compares your paper to billions of web pages and existing papers online. It points out all the sentences which need a citation, giving you the original source as well. On top of this, Grammarly also rates your document for an originality score.

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is another AI writing assistant that offers a plethora of tools to better your document. One of its paid services include a ProWritingAid Plagiarism Checker that helps authors find out how much of their work is plagiarized.

Once you scan your document, the plagiarism checker gives you details like the percentage of non-original text, how much of that is quoted, and how much is not. It will also give you links so you can cite them as required.

EasyBib Plagiarism Checker

EasyBib Plagiarism Checker compares your writing sample with billions of available sources online to detect plagiarism at every level. You'll be notified which phrases are too similar to current research and literature, prompting a possible rewrite or additional citation.

Moreover, you'll get feedback on your paper's inconsistencies, such as changes in text, formatting, or style. These small details could suggest possible plagiarism within your assignment.

Plagiarism CheckerX

Working on the same principle of scanning and matching against various sources, the critical aspect of Plagiarism CheckerX is that you can download and use it whenever you wish. It is slightly faster than others and never stores your data, so you can stay assured of any data loss.

Compilatio Magister

Compilatio Magister is a plagiarism checker designed explicitly for teaching professionals. It lets you access turnkey educational resources, check for plagiarism against thousands of documents, and seek reliable and accurate analysis reports.

Quick Wrap Up

In the world of academia, the spectre of plagiarism lurks but fear not, for armed with awareness and right plagiarism checkers, you have the power to conquer this foe.

Even though plenty of students or researchers believe they can get away with it, it’s never the case. You owe it to yourself and everyone who has invested time and resources in you to publish original, plagiarism-free research work every time.

Throughout this eBook, we have explored the depths of plagiarism, unraveling its consequences and the importance of originality. Many universities have specific classes and workshops discussing plagiarism to create ample awareness of the subject. Thus, you should continue to be honourable in this regard and write papers from the heart.

Hey there! We encourage you to visit our SciSpace discover page to explore how our suite of products can make research workflows easier and allow you to spend more time advancing science.

With the best-in-class solution, you can manage everything from literature search and discovery to profile management, research writing, and much more.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. how to paraphrase without plagiarizing.

• Understand the original text completely.
• Write the idea in your own words without looking at the original text.
• Change the structure of sentences, not just individual words.
• Use synonyms wisely and ensure the context remains the same.
• Lastly, always cite the original source.

Even when paraphrasing, it's important to attribute ideas to the original author.

2. How to avoid plagiarism in research?

• Understand what constitutes plagiarism.
• Always give proper credit to the original authors when quoting or paraphrasing their work.
• Use plagiarism checker tools to ensure your work is original.
• Keep track of your sources throughout your research.
• Quote and paraphrase accurately.

3. Examples of plagiarism?

• Copying and pasting text directly from a source without quotation or citation.
• Paraphrasing someone else's work without correct citation.
• Presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own.
• Recycling or self-plagiarism, where you mention your previous work without citing it.

4. How much plagiarism is allowed in a research paper?

In the academic world, the goal is always to strive for 0% plagiarism. However, sometimes, minor plagiarism can occur unintentionally, such as when common phrases are matched in plagiarism software. Most institutions and publishers will allow a small percentage, typically under 10%, for such instances. Remember, this doesn't mean you can deliberately plagiarize 10% of your work.

5. What are the four types of plagiarism?

• Direct Plagiarism definition: This occurs when one directly copies someone else's work word-for-word without giving credit.
• Mosaic Plagiarism definition: This happens when someone borrows phrases from a source without using quotation marks, or finds synonyms for the author's language while keeping the same general structure and meaning.
• Accidental Plagiarism definition: This happens when a person neglects to cite their sources, or misquotes their sources, or unintentionally paraphrases a source by using similar words, groupings, or phrases without attribution.
• Self-Plagiarism definition: This happens when someone recycles their own work from a previous paper or study and presents it as new content without citing the original.

6. How much copying is considered plagiarism?

Any amount of copying can be considered plagiarism if you're presenting someone else's work as your own without attribution. Even a single sentence copied without proper citation can be seen as plagiarism. The key is to always give credit where it's due.

7. How to check plagiarism in a research paper?

There are numerous online tools and software that you can use to check plagiarism in a research paper. Some popular ones include Grammarly, and Copyscape. These tools compare your paper with millions of other documents on the web and databases to identify any matches. You can also use SciSpace paraphraser to rephrase the content and keep it unique.

You might also like

Plagiarism FAQs: 10 Most Commonly Asked Questions on Plagiarism in Research Answered

3 Common Mistakes in Research Publication, and How to Avoid Them

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Preventing plagiarism - guidance for teachers

What is your responsibility, how should candidates reference their sources, what are acceptable and unacceptable approaches to referencing.

• How to identify plagiarism in a candidate's work

How to prevent plagiarism through the teaching of your course

• How to identify the use of essay writing tools in a candidate's work

What to do if you suspect or discover plagiarism

Find out more.

As a teacher, you must make sure that the work submitted for examination or moderation is the candidate’s own work. Candidates must understand that they cannot submit someone else’s work as their own, or use material produced by someone else without citing and referencing it properly. A candidate taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as his or her own is an example of plagiarism.

It is your responsibility as a teacher to prevent plagiarism from happening and to detect it if it does happen. We need to be confident that the work we assess is the candidate's own before we can award a grade. You are responsible for the supervision of candidates when they are completing coursework and you are responsible for authenticating the candidates' work before you submit their marks for external moderation.

If you discover plagiarism in a candidate's work during the course, you may resolve the matter internally.

If you discover plagiarism in a candidate's work at the point of submission to us, you must not submit it. You should contact us if you are unsure whether to submit work or not.

Whether the information is in the form of a diagram, an image, a quotation or a passage, if it has come from another source this must be cited at the point it appears in the candidate’s work, and included in the bibliography or list of references section at the end of that work.

Candidates must clearly show:

• exactly where and how someone else’s work has been used within their own submission 
• whose work it is, and the source it came from.

When candidates use the work of others, they must ensure that they are not trying to present this work as though it is their own. In this guide we explain how sources should be referenced in candidates’ work.

You should encourage candidates to record details of each source they consult as they prepare their coursework. They should use either ‘single’ or “double” quotation marks accurately and consistently around the text quoted when recording material taken from sources. This will allow them to use these quotations accurately within their own work.

Please read the acceptable and unacceptable approaches to referencing (PDF, 103KB) guide.

What referencing system should be used?

Please check the syllabus document as we do sometimes specify a preferred system. If one is not specified in the syllabus, you may select the system to use. Whichever system you teach your candidates to use, it must be clear and consistent within the work and should include, at a minimum:

• the author(s), photographer or artist
• the date and place of publication (where stated)
• (for electronic resources) the URL and the date it was accessed, as the content may change over time.

When students are using videos from the internet, the following information should be included in the reference:

• the name of person posting video
• the title of film or programme
• the year video was posted
• the URL for the location of the video and the date it was accessed, as the content may change over time.

References for personal communications via conversation, phone, Skype, FaceTime, email, text message, letter or fax should include the following information:

• the sender/speaker/author
• the year of communication
• the medium of communication
• the receiver of communication
• the day/month of communication.

When a student is referencing leaflets or business cards, it may not be possible to include all of the information below, but the student should include as much information as possible. It may also be useful to include a copy of a leaflet in an appendix to the student’s work:

• the author (individual or corporate)
• the date (if available)
• the title (in italics)
• the date obtained.

Will the use of sources improve a candidate’s work?

Many types of coursework and creative work can and should use the work of others to influence their work, illustrate points, provide a contrast or explore ideas in further detail. The use of others’ work is also an important part of research and it is legitimate, provided that the source is appropriately cited and referenced so that the reader can see what it was and where it came from.

Different syllabuses and components will have different requirements for the content of the work, as they are assessing different things; however, if a candidate simply quotes others’ material at length without commentary or discussion, they are unlikely to achieve high marks. This is because it is not their own work, nor are they using it to explore their ideas.

How to identify plagiarism in a candidate’s work

As well as including others’ work without properly citing it, candidates may also commit deliberate misconduct by buying the work of others, usually online. Such attempts are often detected by antiplagiarism software after the work is submitted to us, but teachers also have a responsibility to verify that each submission is the work of the candidate. You can detect misconduct of this type by comparing the material presented for submission to work that is verifiably the candidate’s own (e.g. work produced in class).

Look out for obvious deviations in fluency or style from the candidate’s other work, and for substantial amounts of work produced which you have not seen in previous lessons. You may find that typing some of the suspected text into a search engine within “speech marks” helps to identify whether it comes from an existing website or not.

Some candidates attempting to pass off others’ work as their own use so-called ‘article spinners’. These are web-based tools that disguise copied material by replacing key words with their synonyms, producing material that is structurally identical to the original but features subtly different vocabulary. As demonstrated in the example below, the prose generated by ‘spinning’ can seem superficially impressive at a glance, but clearly lacks coherence when read attentively.

An example of text produced using a ‘spinning’ tool is provided below.

Source text from Wikipedia, ‘Learning’

Learning is the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, or preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learning in some plants. Some learning is immediate, induced by a single event (e.g. being burned by a hot stove), but much skill and knowledge accumulates from repeated experiences. The changes induced by learning often last a lifetime, and it is hard to distinguish learned material that seems to be "lost" from that which cannot be retrieved. 1.

‘Spun’ text produced at Spinbot.com

Learning is the way toward procuring new or changing existing information, practices, abilities, qualities, or inclinations. The capacity to learn is controlled by people, creatures, and a few machines; there is additionally prove for some sort of learning in a few plants. Some learning is prompt, initiated by a solitary occasion (e.g. being singed by a hot stove), however much aptitude and learning amasses from rehashed encounters. The progressions actuated by adapting regularly endure forever, and it is difficult to recognize learned material that is by all accounts "lost" from that which can't be recovered. 2.

Look out for candidate work that displays unusually grand or overstated vocabulary (‘progressions actuated’), especially alongside awkward or faulty phrasing (‘there is additionally prove for’). 'Spun’ text of this type is still plagiarism. It is not acceptable in material submitted for assessment. You will already be familiar with your candidates’ usual standard of work, so be wary of any inconsistencies in their usual style and level of performance.

Topic selection

Depending on the type of component that you teach, you may have the opportunity to set the questions or the topics that candidates use as the basis for their coursework. If so, try to vary these from year to year, so that there is less opportunity for candidates to use material written by a candidate in a previous year. It may also be appropriate to encourage candidates to select their own topic and to relate their work to their own personal experience, or to specify that candidates use one or more source written in the last 12 months.

Check the progress and content of candidates’ work regularly

Where the rules of the syllabus allow it, you may find it helpful to see and check candidates’ work regularly, looking at the sources they are using at regular intervals. Encourage candidates to annotate their source material to make it clear how they are using it in their work.

Check candidates’ understanding of the material they have used

Asking candidates to explain verbally what they mean by a certain phrase or paragraph in their work is an effective way to check whether they understand what it is they have written. You could take this further by asking them to deliver a presentation about their coursework topic. You could also consider asking them to write a sentence or two about a source they have cited in their bibliography.

How to identify the use of essay writing tools in a candidate’s work

The use of essay writing tools cannot always be identified by plagiarism checkers, however, as a teacher, you should know your candidates’ style of writing and be able to tell when work produced is not a candidate’s usual style.

Here are some ways you check that the work is the candidate’s own:

• clear differences in style from the candidate’s other work
• substantial amounts of work produced which you have not seen in previous lessons
• significant differences in their final piece of work compared to previous drafts.
• Look for large sections of text or essays that include no referencing, and check references that are included to make sure they are accurate.
• Look for work or text that is not factually correct or repetitive, where this would be unusual for the candidate.
• Look out for work that does not express an opinion or personal perspective, where this would be unusual for the candidate.
• Where the rules of the syllabus allow it, you may find it helpful to see and check candidates’ work regularly and look at the sources they are using. Encourage candidates to annotate their source material to make it clear how they are using it in their work.
• Ask candidates to explain verbally what they mean by a certain phrase or paragraph in their work, this is an effective way to check whether they understand what they have written.

It is at your discretion to determine the authenticity of the candidate's work. If after following the advice outlined above, you have any doubt as to whether it is the candidate’s own work, you must not submit it to us. You should contact us if you are unsure about the authenticity of the candidate’s work and whether to submit it.

Please also see our statement on the use of generative AI in coursework .

Before you submit candidates' work to us, you must be satisfied the work is their own.

If you discover plagiarism in a candidate's work at the point of submission to us, you must not submit it.

If you discover plagiarism in a candidate's work after you have submitted it, you must report this to us using the Suspected candidate malpractice report: Exam day – 9c (PDF, 614KB) form.

For further information, please see the Cambridge Handbook:

• 3.2.1 Authenticating coursework
• 3.3.1 Authenticating examined coursework

You should email us if you are unsure on the authenticity of the candidate’s work and whether to submit it.

You can find further information on preventing and identifying plagiarism in the University of Cambridge referencing guidance

1. 'Learning' from the English Wikipedia (accessed 5 July 2018) 2. Generated using Spinbot (accessed 5 July 2018)

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• Indian J Orthop
• v.50(6); Nov-Dec 2016

What is plagiarism and how to avoid it?

Ish kumar dhammi.

Department of Orthopaedics, UCMS and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, New Delhi, India

Rehan Ul Haq

Writing a manuscript is an art. Any clinician or an academician, has a hidden desire to publish his/her work in an indexed journal. Writing has been made mandatory for promotions in certain departments, so the clinicians are more inclined to publish. Often, we note that we (Indian Journal of Orthopaedics) receive more articles from China, Turkey, and South Korea (abroad) instead of from our own country though the journal is an official publication of Indian Orthopaedic Association. Therefore, we have decided to encourage more and more publications, especially from our own country. For that reason, we have decided to educate our members by publishing an editorial on “How to write a paper?,” which is likely to be published soon. In one of our last editorials, we discussed indexing. In this issue, we will be discussing the plagiarism. In forthcoming issues, we are planning to discuss “Ethics in publication,” How to write Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Referencing, Title, Abstract, and Keywords, and then how to write case report which is acceptable. The editorial team tries to help out our readers, so that their hidden instinct of writing their own work could be made true.

D EFINITION OF P LAGIARISM

Plagiarism is derived from Latin word “ plagiarius ” which means “kidnapper,” who abducts the child. 1 The word plagiarism entered the Oxford English dictionary in 1621. Plagiarism has been defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as “the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as ones own.” 2 It is an act of forgery, piracy, and fraud and is stated to be a serious crime of academia. 3 It is also a violation of copyright laws. Honesty in scientific practice and in publication is necessary. The World Association of Medical Editors 4 (WAME) defines plagiarism as “… the use of others’ published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source.”

In 1999, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) 5 , 6 defined plagiarism as “Plagiarism ranges from the unreferenced use of others’ published and unpublished ideas including research grant applications to submission under new authorship of a complex paper, sometimes in a different language. It may occur at any stage of planning, research, writing or publication; it applies to print and electronic versions.”

F ORMS OF P LAGIARISM

• Verbatim plagiarism: When one submits someone else's words verbatim in his/her own name without even acknowledging him publically. Copy and paste from a published article without referencing is a common form of verbatim plagiarism. Most commonly, it is seen in introduction and discussion part of manuscript 2 , 7
• Mosaic plagiarism: In this type of plagiarism each word is not copied but it involves mixing ones own words in someone else's ideas and opinions. This is copying and pasting in patchy manner 2
• Paraphrasing: If one rewrites any part/paragraph of manuscript in his/her own words it is called paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is a restatement in your own words, of someone else's ideas. Changing a few words of the original sentences does not make it your writing. Just changing words cannot make it the property of borrower; hence, this should be properly referenced. If it is not referenced, it will amount to plagiarism
• Duplicate publication: When an author submits identical or almost identical manuscript (same data, results, and discussion) to two different journals, it is considered as duplicate (redundant) publication. 9 As per COPE guidelines, this is an offense and editor can take an action as per the COPE flowchart
• Augmented publication: If the author adds additional data to his/her previously published work and changes title, modifies aim of the study, and recalculates results, it amounts to augmented publication. Plagiarism detection software usually do not pick it because it is not same by verbatim. This self plagiarism is as such technical plagiarism and is not considered with same strictness as plagiarism. The editor may consider it for publication in the following three situations: If author refers to his/her previous work; if ’methods’ cannot be written in any other form; and if author clearly states that new manuscript contains data from previous publication 10
• Segmented publication: Also called “Salami-Sliced” publication. In this case, two or more papers are derived from the same experimental/research/original work. Salami-sliced papers are difficult to detect and usually are pointed out by reviewers or readers. The decision regarding such manuscript is again on editor's shoulder. The author must be asked to refer to his/her previously published work and explain reasonably the connection of the segmented paper to his/her previously published work
• Text recycling: If the author uses large portions of his/her own already published text in his/her new manuscript, it is called text recycling. It can be detected by plagiarism software. It can be handled as per the COPE guidelines.
• Cyber plagiarism: “Copying or downloading in part or in their entirety articles or research papers and ideas from the internet and not giving proper attribution is unethical and falls in the range of cyber plagiarism” 2
• Image plagiarism: Using an image or video without receiving proper permission or providing appropriate citation is plagiarism. 7 “Images can be tampered on support findings, promote a specific technique over another to strengthen the correctness of poorly visualized findings, remove the defects of an image and to misrepresent an image from what it really is”? 11

H OW TO D ETECT P LAGIARISM ?

It is generally difficult to detect plagiarism, but information technology has made available few websites which can detect/catch plagiarism. Few of them are www.ithentical.com , www.turnitin.com , www.plagiarism.org , etc. 12

Besides this, learned and watchful reviewers and readers can detect it due to his/her familiarity with published material in his/her area of interest.

H OW TO A VOID P LAGIARISM ?

Practice the ethical writing honestly. Keep honesty in all scientific writings. Crediting all the original sources. When you fail to cite your sources or when you cite them inadequately, you commit plagiarism, an offense that is taken extremely seriously in academic world and is a misconduct. Some simple dos and don’ts 5 are outlined in Table 1 .

Dos and don’ts of plagiarism

In the following situation, permission is required to use published work from publisher to avoid plagiarism. 8

• Directly quoting significant portion of a published work. How much text may be used without approaching publisher for permission is not specified. The best approach is whenever in doubt, ask for permission
• Reproducing a table
• Reproducing a figure/image.

H OW TO D EAL W ITH P LAGIARISM

Plagiarism is considered academic dishonesty and breach of ethics. Plagiarism is not in itself a crime but can constitute copyright infringement. 7 In academia, it is a serious ethical offense. Plagiarism is not punished by law but rather by institutions. Professional associations, educational institutions, and publishing companies can pose penalties, suspensions, and even expulsions of authors. 7

As per the COPE guidelines, “If editors suspect misconduct by authors, reviewer's editorial staff or other editors then they have a duty to take action. This duty extends to both published and unpublished papers. Editors first see a response from those accused. If the editors are not satisfied with the response, they should ask the employers of the authors, reviewers, or editors or some other appropriate body to investigate and take appropriate action.” 6

If the editor is satisfied that the act of plagiarism has taken place, minimum he should do is “reject” the manuscript if it is in different stage of editorial process and “retract” if it is already published.

To conclude, we must increase awareness about plagiarism and ethical issues among our scientists and authors. We must be honest in our work and should not violate copyright law. There should be serious steps against authors, which should bring disrespect to author and even loss of his academic position.

We will end it by quote of Albert Einstein “Many people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist, they are wrong, it is the character.”

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Identifying Plagiarism

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When does plagiarism occur? Is there an established percentage, a rule of thumb, a saturation point that we can use to determine when plagiarism has taken place? Or is it simply that "plagiarism is plagiarism"? The answer may lie somewhere between the stark (and perhaps too simple) dictum and the convenience of ready-made measures. In most cases, the dictum can be applied appropriately: plagiarism is plagiarism. However, there are in fact degrees of plagiarism: one can steal an entire paper, or a section of a paper, or a page, a paragraph or a sentence. Even copying phrases without credit and quotation marks can be considered plagiarism. In other words, paraphrasing done improperly can qualify as plagiarism.

So, there are several basic factors to consider when evaluating a case of possible plagiarism:

• Amount or quantity (full paper, a section of a paper, a page, a paragraph, a sentence, phrases)
• Use of quotation marks for all copied text
• Appropriate placement of credit notices
• Improper paraphrasing

Possible plagiarism scenarios

Plagiarism, in short.

Potentially complicating the effort to identify plagiarism is the fact that each of the above basic factors can be combined with other factors, creating a range of possible plagiarism scenarios. Here, then, is a full list of possible scenarios, starting with the worst case:

• Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Full Paper, or Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Major Portion (more than 50%) within a Single Paper--An instance is where a large section of the original paper is copied without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography. This case also includes instances where different portions of a paper are copied without attribution from a number of papers by other authors, and the sum of plagiarized material is more 50%, or Uncredited Verbatim Copying within More than a Single Paper by the Same Author(s)--This includes instances where more than one paper by the offending author(s) has been found to contain plagiarized content, and all the percentages of plagiarized material in each of the discovered papers sum to greater than 50%.
• Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Large Portion (greater than 20% and up to 50%) within a Paper.--An instance is where a section of the original paper is copied from another paper without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography. This case also includes instances where different portions of a paper are copied without attribution from a number of papers by other authors, and the sum of copying results in a large portion of plagiarized material (up to 50%) in the paper, or Uncredited Verbatim Copying within More than One Paper by the Same Author(s)--This includes instances where the sum of plagiarized material from the different papers would constitute the equivalent of a large portion (greater than 20% and up to 50%) of the discovered paper with the fewest words.
• Uncredited Verbatim Copying of Individual Elements (Paragraph(s), Sentence(s), Illustration(s), etc.) Resulting in a Significant Portion (up to 20%) within a Paper--An instance could be where portions of original paper are used in another paper without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography.
• Uncredited Improper Paraphrasing of Pages or Paragraphs. Instances of improper paraphrasing occur when only a few words and phrases have been changed or when the original sentence order has been rearranged; no credit notice or reference appears with the text.
• Credited Verbatim Copying of a Major Portion of a Paper without Clear Delineation. Instances could include sections of an original paper copied from another paper; credit notice is used but absence of quotation marks or offset text does not clearly reference or identify the specific, copied material.

The extreme and more obvious cases notwithstanding, the above scenarios provide us with some basic determining factors we can use when attempting to deal with allegations of plagiarism between authors.

• Amount or quantity does not play a part in defining plagiarism. However, the amount of material plagiarized should play an important part in determining the appropriate corrective action.
• Credit notices or references are not sufficient to deflecting a charge of plagiarism if quotation marks or offset text have not been used to identify the specific material being copied.
• Paraphrasing can leave an author open to a charge of plagiarism if he or she has changed only a few words or phrases or has only rearranged the original sentence order. Even a proper paraphrasing of the original text can lead to a charge of plagiarism if the original source is not properly cited.

Any discussion on a subject such as plagiarism must be founded on a few, basic ideas on which all can agree. A discussion will help refine our understanding, but we need to start with some accepted basics.

Consistency

One such idea, as already mentioned, is that plagiarism is plagiarism, regardless of the amount having been copied. However, scale is important, especially in trying to determine an appropriate corrective action. Introducing scale as an important consideration also brings the idea of "consistency" into the discussion. Until the "Guidelines for Adjudicating Different Levels of Plagiarism" had been developed and approved, there had not been any measure or method for linking "scale" with a corresponding corrective action so that consistent and fair judgments may be reached across all IEEE organizational units and over the years. Early in the discussion, consistency was seen as a critically important subject for the successful development of effective guidelines.

Are there valid exceptions to the rules against plagiarism in technical writing?

The fundamental nature of scientific/technical writing on and reporting of research results is that so much of it is closely based on the archival literature. Is it not required for new work to call upon and use the work that has already been published, at least in order to establish a necessary level of authentication and validation? New work depends on the very close and careful use of the archive. Therefore, are exceptions to be made for scientific/technical writing where the rules against plagiarism are concerned?

Similarly, some opinion has it that since technical writing is not "literary" writing, i.e., not at the level of Shakespeare, it is therefore acceptable to use a "certain amount" of someone else's text without having to indicate the specific text, especially when a citation or reference appears in the vicinity of the copied material. The same school of thought would argue that the use of quotation marks and/or indented text to signify the use of someone else's text would interrupt the flow of the writing, would interfere with the reader's comprehension of the work, especially since there would be, by necessity, so much of it (quote marks or indents). Again, should the nature of technical/scientific/archival writing allow exceptions to the proper use of, in this case, quotation marks and/or indented text?

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing will always be a difficult area to adjudicate. Since plagiarism involves not only the unacknowledged reuse of some else's words but also someone's ideas, it is possible to render a properly paraphrased section of text and still be open to a charge of plagiarism if proper credit for the idea has not been given. Even so, we should be able to agree that changing only a few words or phrases or only rearranging the original sentence order of another author's work will be defined as plagiarism.

I tested 7 AI content detectors - they're getting dramatically better at identifying plagiarism

When I first looked at whether it's possible to fight back against AI-generated plagiarism, and how that might work, it was January 2023, just a few months into the world's exploding awareness of generative AI . More than a year later, it feels like we've been exploring generative AI for years, but we've only looked at the issue for about 18 months.

In any case, this is an updated version of that original January 2023 article. When I first tested GPT detectors, I used three: the GPT-2 Output Detector  (this is a different URL than we published before), Writer.com AI Content Detector , and Content at Scale AI Content Detection . 

Also:  How to use ChatGPT: Everything you need to know

The best result was 66% correct, from the GPT-2 Output Detector. I did another test in October 2023 and added three more: GPTZero , ZeroGPT (yes, they're different), and Writefull's GPT Detector . Now, in the summer of 2024, I'm adding QuillBot and a commercial service, Originality.ai , to the mix.

In October 2023, I removed the Writer.com AI Content Detector from our test suite because it failed back in January 2023, it failed again in October, and it failed now. See below for a comment from the company, which their team sent me after the original article was published in January.

Before I go on, though, we should discuss plagiarism and how it relates to our problem. Merriam-Webster defines " plagiarize " as "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own; use (another's production) without crediting the source."

This definition fits AI-created content well. While someone using an AI tool like Notion AI or ChatGPT isn't stealing content, if that person doesn't credit the words as coming from an AI and claims them as their own, it still meets the dictionary definition of plagiarism.

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In this experimental article, I've asked ChatGPT to help out. My words are in normal and bold text. The AI's words are italicized. After each AI-generated section, I'll show the results of the detectors. At the end of the article, we'll look at how well the detectors performed overall.

Here are the test results for the above text, which I wrote myself:

• GPT-2 Output Detector:  99.98% real 
• Content at Scale AI Content Detection:  100% highly likely to be human!
• GPTZero:  Your text is likely to be written entirely by a human
• ZeroGPT:  22% AI GPT Your Text is Most Likely Human written
• Writefull GPT Detector:  1% likely this comes from GPT-3, GPT-4 or ChatGPT
• Originality.ai:  84% Original 16% AI
• QuillBot: 45% of text is likely AI-generated

Human-written content: 5-of-7 correct

Before we move on, let's discuss what I'll consider a "correct" analysis. If the score is numeric, anything above 80% will be counted as a correct analysis, and that's being generous. If the score has a summary, I'll look at the summary and make a judgment. 

With that, let's dig in some more.

Explain why ChatGPT can be a real problem for teachers and editors when it comes to plagiarism

ChatGPT is a variant of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language model developed by OpenAI. It is designed to generate human-like text by predicting the next word or phrase in a given input sequence. While ChatGPT can be a useful tool for generating text and responding to prompts, it can also be a problem for teachers and editors when it comes to plagiarism.

Also:  4 ways to overcome your biggest worries about generative AI

One of the main reasons why ChatGPT can be a problem for teachers and editors is that it can generate text that is very similar to that of real human writers. This means that students or other individuals could potentially use ChatGPT to generate text that they could then submit as their own work, thereby committing plagiarism.

For teachers and editors, detecting whether a given piece of text was generated by ChatGPT or written by a human can be very difficult, as the generated text may not contain any obvious errors or discrepancies that would reveal its artificial origin. This can make it difficult for teachers and editors to identify and prevent plagiarism, as they may not be able to tell whether a given piece of text is original or copied from another source.

Overall, ChatGPT and other similar language models can be a problem for teachers and editors when it comes to plagiarism because they can generate text that is difficult to distinguish from that written by humans, making it easier for students and other individuals to commit plagiarism without being detected.

• GPT-2 Output Detector:  99.69% real
• Content at Scale AI Content Detection:  Hard to tell
• GPTZero:  100% AI
• ZeroGPT:  100% AI
• Writefull GPT Detector:  12% likely this comes from GPT-3, GPT-4 or ChatGPT
• Originality.ai: 100% AI
• QuillBot:  83% of text is likely AI-generated

AI-written content: 4-of-7 correct

Remember, text shown in italics was generated by the AI.

Show me at least three ways that I can detect ChatGPT was used to produce a piece of text

There are several ways that you can potentially detect whether ChatGPT or another language model was used to produce a piece of text. Here are three potential approaches you could use:

• Look for repetitive or unusual patterns in the text: One way to detect whether a language model was used to generate a piece of text is to look for repetitive or unusual patterns in the writing. For example, language models may repeat certain phrases or word combinations, or use unusual or inconsistent sentence structures.
• Check for lack of originality: Another way to detect whether a language model was used to generate a piece of text is to check for a lack of originality in the writing. If a piece of text appears to be copied from another source, or if it contains information that is widely available on the internet or in other sources, it could be a sign that it was generated by a language model.
• Use a plagiarism checker: Finally, you can use a plagiarism checker to check whether a piece of text appears to be copied from another source. While a plagiarism checker may not be able to definitively determine whether a language model was used to generate a piece of text, it can help you identify instances of copying or paraphrasing from other sources.
• Note when the answer is obviously wrong: I talked about this in my Notion AI review , where I spotlighted some text the AI wrote with seeming authority, but which was blatantly wrong. If a student or writer doesn't have full command of the topic being discussed, they may not spot the inaccuracies and leave them in the AI-generated response. Of course, incorrect statements aren't just the purview of an AI writing tool. Many bloggers and commenters, for example, repeat statements made by other bloggers, creating an echo chamber of completely "false facts", showing that while intelligence may be artificial, stupidity is a universal trait.

Keep in mind that it can be difficult to definitively determine whether a language model was used to generate a piece of text, and these methods may not always be effective. However, they can be useful tools to help you identify potential instances of language model-generated text.

In this set of tests, only the italicized content above was run through the checker suite.

• GPT-2 Output Detector:  99.98% fake
• Content at Scale AI Content Detection:  Passes as human
• GPTZero: 100% AI
• ZeroGPT:  99.69% AI GPT Your Text is AI/GPT Generated
• Writefull GPT Detector: 79% likely this comes from GPT-3, GPT-4 or ChatGPT
• QuillBot:  100% of text is likely AI-generated

AI-written content: 5-of-7 correct

List three plagiarism checkers that can detect ChatGPT text

It is worth noting that there is currently no plagiarism checker that is specifically designed to detect text generated by ChatGPT or other language models. While some plagiarism checkers may be able to identify certain characteristics of language model-generated text that could indicate its artificial origin, there is no guarantee that they will be able to definitively determine whether a piece of text was generated by a language model.

With that said, here are three plagiarism checkers that you might consider using to help identify potential instances of language model-generated text:

• Turnitin: Turnitin is a popular plagiarism checker that is widely used by schools and universities. It compares a piece of text to a database of other texts to identify instances of copying or paraphrasing. While it may not be able to definitively determine whether a piece of text was generated by a language model, it could potentially identify certain characteristics of language model-generated text that could indicate its artificial origin.
• PlagScan: PlagScan is another plagiarism checker that compares a piece of text to a database of other texts to identify instances of copying or paraphrasing. Like Turnitin, it may be able to identify certain characteristics of language model-generated text that could indicate its artificial origin, but it is not specifically designed to detect language model-generated text.
• Copyleaks: Copyleaks is a plagiarism checker that uses advanced machine learning algorithms to scan a piece of text and compare it to a database of other texts to identify instances of copying or paraphrasing. While it may be able to identify certain characteristics of language model-generated text, it is not specifically designed to detect language model-generated text.

It is worth noting that no plagiarism checker is completely foolproof, and there is always the possibility that a piece of language model-generated text could escape detection. Therefore, it is important to use plagiarism checkers as just one part of a larger strategy to detect and prevent plagiarism.

• GPT-2 Output Detector:  99.58% real
• ZeroGPT:  100% AI GPT
• Writefull GPT Detector: 86% likely this comes from GPT-3, GPT-4 or ChatGPT

Online AI plagiarism checkers

Most plagiarism detectors are used to compare writing against a corpus of other writing. For example, when a student turns in an essay, a product like Turnitin scans the submitted essay against a huge library of essays in its database, and other documents and text on the internet to determine if the submitted essay contains already-written content.

However, the AI-writing tools generate original content, at least in theory. Yes, they build their content from whatever they've been trained on, but the words they construct are somewhat unique for each composition.

Also:  OpenAI pulls its own AI detection tool because it was performing so poorly

As such, the plagiarism checkers mentioned above probably won't work because the AI-generated content probably didn't exist in, say, another student's paper.

In this article, we're just looking at GPT detectors. But plagiarism is a big problem, and as we've seen, some choose to define plagiarism as something you claim as yours that you didn't write, while others choose to define plagiarism as something written by someone else that you claim is yours.

That distinction was never a problem until now. Now that we have non-human writers, the plagiarism distinction is more nuanced. It's up to every teacher, school, editor, and institution to decide exactly where that line is drawn.

• GPT-2 Output Detector: 99.56% real
• GPTZero: 98% human
• ZeroGPT: 16.82 AI Your text is human written
• Writefull GPT Detector: 7% likely this comes from GPT-3, GPT-4 or ChatGPT
• Originality.ai: 84% Original 16% AI
• QuillBot:  0% of text is likely AI-generated

Human-written content: 7-of-7 correct

Overall results

Overall, test results this time are dramatically better than they have been with previous tests. 

In our previous runs, none of the tests got everything right. This time, three of the seven services tested got the results correct 100% of the time.

While the overall results have improved dramatically, I would not be comfortable relying solely on these tools to validate a student's content. As has been shown, writing from non-native speakers often gets rated as generated by an AI , and even though my hand-crafted content has no longer been rated as AI, there were a few paragraphs flagged by the testers as possibly being AI-based. So, I would advocate caution before relying on the results of any (or all) of these tools.

Also: Could someone falsely accuse you of using AI-generated text? This could be why

Let's look at the individual testers and see how each performed.

GPT-2 Output Detector (Accuracy 60%)

This first tool was built using a machine-learning hub managed by New York-based AI company Hugging Face . While the company has received $40 million in funding to develop its natural language library, the GPT-2 detector appears to be a user-created tool using the Hugging Face Transformers library. Of the six tests I ran, it was accurate for four of them.

Writer.com AI Content Detector (Accuracy N/A)

Writer.com is a service that generates AI writing, oriented towards corporate teams. Its AI Content Detector tool can scan for generated content. Unfortunately, I found this tool unreliable, and it failed to generate results -- exactly the same way it did in January 2023.

After this article was originally published in January, the folks at Writer.com reached out to ZDNET. CEO May Habib had this comment to share:

Demand for the AI detector has skyrocketed. Traffic has grown 2-3x per week since we launched it a couple months ago. We've now got the necessary scaling behind it to make sure it doesn't go down, and our goal is to keep it free - and up to date to catch the latest models' outputs, including ours. If AI output is going to be used verbatim, it absolutely should be attributed.

Content at Scale AI Content Detection (Accuracy 40%)

The third tool I found was also produced by an AI content generation firm. Content at Scale pitches itself as "We Help SEO-Focused Content Marketers by Automating Content Creation." Its marketing call to action is, "Upload a list of keywords and get 2,600+ word blog posts that bypass AI content detection -- all with no human intervention!" Disturbingly, the results got worse from January -- back then, it was 50% accurate. It has not improved since.

GPTZero (Accuracy 100%)

It's not entirely clear what drives GPTZero . The company is hiring engineers and sales folks, and it runs on AWS, so there are expenses and sales involved. However, all I could find about a service offering was a place where you could register for a free account to scan more than the 5,000 words offered without login. If you're interested in this service for GPT detection, you'll have to see if they'll respond to you with more details. Accuracy has increased since the last time I ran these tests.

ZeroGPT (Accuracy 100%)

ZeroGPT seems to have matured as a service since we last looked at it. When we last looked, no company name was listed, and the site was peppered with Google ads with no apparent strategy for monetization. The service worked fairly well but seemed sketchy as heck.

That sketchy-as-heck feeling is now gone. ZeroGPT presents as any other SaaS service, complete with pricing, company name, contact information, and all the rest. It still performs quite well, so perhaps the developers decided to turn their working code into more of a working business. Accuracy increased as well. Good for them.

Writefull GPT Detector (Accuracy 80%)

Writefull sells writing support services, as well as a free taste of its tools. The GPT detector is fairly new and worked fairly well. Although not fully accurate, it did improve from 60% accurate to 80% accurate with my tests.

Originality.ai (Accuracy 100%, sort of)

Originality.ai is a commercial service that bills itself as both an AI checker and a plagiarism checker. The company sells its services based on usage credits. To give you an idea, all the scans I did for this article used a total of 30 usage credits. The company sells 2,000 credits a month for $12.95 per month. I pumped about 1,400 words through the system and used only 1.5% of the monthly allocation.

Results were great for the AI checker, but they failed 3 out of 5 times when it came to using the service as a plagiarism checker. The following screenshot claims that the text pasted in was 0% plagiarised:

That's wrong since all the text pasted into it was from this article, which has been published online for 18 months. I thought, perhaps, that the plagiarism scanner couldn't read ZDNET content, but that's not the case, as this screenshot shows:

To be fair, I didn't set out to check plagiarism checkers in this article. But since I'm using source material I know I pulled from my existing article, I figured the plagiarism checker would have slammed all of them as 100% plagiarized. In any case, Originality.ai did well on the part we set out to test, the AI checker. They get points for that.  

QuillBot (Accuracy 80%-ish)

Nothing is ever easy. The first time I ran my first test through QuillBot , it said that 45% of the text was likely generated by an AI. It wasn't. I wrote it. But then, after completing all the other tests, I returned to QuillBot to grab a screenshot for this section, fed it the same text that generated the 45% score, and, as you can see, it now reports 0% AI.

So, what are we to make of this result? Sadly, I didn't grab a screenshot of the first time I tested this text, but it highlights the concern with relying too much on AI detectors because they are also quite capable of hallucination. 

What about OpenAI's own ChatGPT detector?

Well,  OpenAI pulled it last year because the detector wasn't particularly accurate. Now, it's supposed to be 99% accurate . That's a little tough to believe because ChatGPT itself is far from 100% accurate. 

Also:  Will OpenAI's new AI detection tool put an end to student cheating?

But, in any case, as my ZDNET buddy Steven Vaughan-Nichols writes, it's not available yet. We'll give it a spin when it's released for public use. Stay tuned.

Final thoughts

First, I'll let ChatGPT have its say:  AI-driven plagiarism is a growing problem, as AI tools like Notion AI and ChatGPT can generate text that is difficult to distinguish from that written by humans. There are several ways to detect whether a piece of text was generated by an AI, such as looking for repetitive or unusual patterns, checking for a lack of originality, or using a plagiarism checker. Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin, PlagScan, and Copyleaks may be able to identify certain characteristics of language model-generated text, but they are not foolproof.

Even the specialty tools I found were woefully unsuited to the task. There was some limited improvement over my tests in January. However, I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable threatening a student's academic standing or accusing them of cheating based on the results of these tools.

Also: Surprise! AI chatbots don't increase student cheating after all, research finds

At this point, I don't think we're ready to let AI fight AI. Instead, we'll have to rely on human perception (which means folks have to pay attention) to identify works generated by an AI.

Don't immediately assume that something is machine-generated. Just because something is stupid, or wildly inaccurate, doesn't mean it was not written by a human. As we all know, humans can write some bad stuff on their own.

Also: Can Perplexity Pro help you code? It aced my programming tests - thanks to GPT-4

So, what do you think? Can you tell if a piece is AI-generated? Have you used these AI writing tools in the months since they suddenly became available? Do you think they're a help or hindrance to education and journalism? Let us know in the comments below. Here's how ChatGPT answered this:

As a language model, I can't see or interact with physical pieces of writing, so I can't tell if a piece is AI-generated or not. However, I can tell you that there are several AI writing tools that are available, and they can be used to generate a wide range of written content, including news articles, fiction, poetry, and more.

I don't have personal experience using these tools since I am just a computer program and don't have the ability to browse the internet or use physical tools. However, I can tell you that some people have found AI writing tools to be helpful in education and journalism, as they can save time and effort by automating certain tasks. Others have expressed concerns about the potential for these tools to be used to produce misleading or biased content or to replace human writers. Ultimately, whether AI writing tools are a help or hindrance depends on how they are used and the context in which they are used.

So, yeah, there's that.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly update newsletter , and follow me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

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• Content Creation

The 6 Best AI Content Checkers To Use In 2024

Can you tell AI-generated content from human-written content? These tools can. Here are the six best AI content detectors to use in 2024.

Today, many people see generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others as indispensable tools that streamline their day-to-day workflows and enhance their productivity .

However, with the proliferation of AI assistants comes an uptick in AI-generated content. AI content detectors can help you prioritize content quality and originality.

These tools can help you discern whether a piece of content was written by a human or AI – a task that’s becoming increasingly difficult – and this can help detect plagiarism, and ensure content is original, unique, and high-quality.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the top AI content checkers available in 2024. Let’s dive in.

The 6 Best AI Content Checkers

Launched in 2022, GPTZero was “the first public open AI detector,” according to its website – and it’s a leading choice among the tools out there today.

GPTZero’s advanced detection model comprises seven different components , including an internet text search to identify whether the content already exists in internet archives, a burstiness analysis to see whether the style and tone reflect that of human writing, end-to-end deep learning, and more.

Its Deep Scan feature gives you a detailed report highlighting sentences likely created by AI and tells you why that is, and GPTZero also offers a user-friendly Detection Dashboard as a source of truth for all your reports.

The tool is straightforward, and the company works with partners and researchers from institutions like Princeton, Penn State, and OpenAI to provide top-tier research and benchmarking.

• The Basic plan is available for free. It includes up to 10,000 words per month.
• The Essential plan starts at $10 per month, with up to 150,000 words, plagiarism detection, and advanced writing feedback.
• The Premium plan starts at $16 per month and includes up to 300,000 words, everything in the Essential tier, as well as Deep Scan, AI detection in multiple languages, and downloadable reports.

2. Originality.ai

Originality.ai is designed to detect AI-generated content across various language models, including ChatGPT, GPT-4o, Gemini Pro, Claude 3, Llama 3, and others. It bills itself as the “most accurate AI detector,” and targets publishers, agencies, and writers – but not students.

The latter is relevant because, the company says, by leaving academia, research, and other historical text out of its scope, it’s able to better train its model to hone in on published content across the internet, print, etc.

Originality.ai works across multiple languages and offers a free Chrome extension and API integration. It also has a team that works around the clock, testing out new strategies to create AI content that tools can’t detect. Once it finds one, it trains the tool to sniff it out.

The tool is straightforward; users can just paste content directly into Originality.ai, or upload from a file or even a URL. It will then give you a report that flags AI-detected portions as well as the overall originality of the text. You get three free scans initially, with a 300-word limit.

• Pro membership starts at $12.45 per month and includes 2,000 credits, AI scans, shareable reports, plagiarism and readability scans, and more.
• Enterprise membership starts at $179 per month and includes 15,000 credits per month, features in the Pro plan, as well as priority support, API, and a 365-day history of your scans.
• Originality.ai also offers a “pay as you go” tier, which consists of a $30 one-time payment to access 3,000 credits and some of the more limited features listed above.

3. Copyleaks

While you’ve probably heard of Copyleaks as a plagiarism detection tool, what you might not know is that it also offers a comprehensive AI-checking solution .

The tool covers 30 languages and detects across AI models including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude – and it automatically updates when new language models are released.

According to Copyleaks, its AI detector “has over 99% overall accuracy and a 0.2% false positive rate, the lowest of any platform.”

It works by using its long history of data and learning to spot the pattern of human-generated writing – and thus, flag anything that doesn’t fit common patterns as potentially AI-generated.

Other notable features of Copyleaks’ AI content detector are the ability to detect AI-generated source code, spot content that might have been paraphrased by AI, as well as browser extension and API offerings.

• Users with a Copyleaks account can access a limited number of free scans daily.
• Paid plans start at $7.99 per month for the AI Detector tool, including up to 1,200 credits, scanning in over 30 languages, two users, and API access.
• You can also get access to an AI + Plagiarism Detection tier starting at $13.99 per month.

4. Winston AI

Another popular AI content detection tool, Winston AI calls itself “the most trusted AI detector,” and claims to be the only such tool with a 99.98% accuracy rate.

Winston AI is designed for users across the education, SEO, and writing industries, and it’s able to identify content generated by LLMs such as ChatGPT, GPT-4, Google Gemini, Claude, and more.

Using Winston AI is easy; paste or upload your documents into the tool, and it will scan the text (including text from scanned pictures or handwriting) and provide a printable report with your results.

Like other tools in this list, Winston AI offers multilingual support, high-grade security, and can also spot content that’s been paraphrased using tools like Quillbot.

One unique feature of Winston AI is its “AI Prediction Map,” a color-coded visualization that highlights which parts of your content sound inauthentic and may be flagged by AI detectors.

• Free 7-day trial includes 2,000 credits, AI content checking, AI image and deepfake detection, and more.
• Paid plans start at $12 per month for 80,000 credits, with additional advanced features based on your membership tier.

5. TraceGPT

Looking for an extremely accurate AI content detector? Try TraceGPT by PlagiarismCheck.org.

It’s a user-friendly tool that allows you to upload files across a range of formats, including doc, docx, txt, odt, rtf, and pdf. Then, it leverages creativity/predictability ratios and other methods to scan your content for “AI-related breadcrumbs.”

Once it’s done, TraceGPT will provide results that show you what it has flagged as potential AI-generated text, tagging it as “likely” or “highly likely.”

As with many of the options here, TraceGPT offers support in several languages, as well as API and browser extension access. The tool claims to be beneficial for people in academia, SEO, and recruitment.

• You can sign up to use TraceGPT and will be given limited free access.
• Paid plans differ based on the type of membership; for businesses, they start at $69 for 1,000 pages, and for individuals, it starts at $5.99 for 20 pages. Paid plans also give you access to 24/7 support and a grammar checker.

6. Hive Moderation

Hive Moderation, a company that specializes in content moderation, offers an AI content detector with a unique differentiator. Unlike most of the other examples listed here, it is capable of checking for AI content across several media formats, including text, audio, and image.

Users can simply input their desired media, and Hive’s models will discern whether they believe them to be AI-generated. You’ll get immediate results with a holistic score and more detailed information, such as whether Hive thinks your image was created by Midjourney, DALL-E, or ChatGPT, for example.

Hive Moderation offers a Chrome extension for its AI detector, as well as several levels of customization so that customers can tweak their usage to fit their needs and industry.

• You can download the Hive AI Chrome Extension for free, and its browser tool offers at least some free scans.
• You’ll need to contact the Hive Moderation team for more extensive use of its tools.

What Is An AI Content Checker?

An AI content checker is a tool for detecting whether a piece of content or writing was generated by artificial intelligence.

Using machine learning algorithms and natural language processing, these tools can identify specific patterns and characteristics common in AI-generated content .

An important disclaimer: At this point in time, no AI content detector is perfect. While some are better than others, they all have limitations.

They can make mistakes, from falsely identifying human-written content as AI-generated or failing to spot AI-generated content.

However, they are useful tools for pressure-testing content to spot glaring errors and ensure that it is authentic and not a reproduction or plagiarism.

Why Use An AI Content Detector?

As AI systems become more widespread and sophisticated, it’ll only become harder to tell when AI has produced content – so tools like these could become more important.

Other reasons AI content checkers are beneficial include:

• They can help you protect your reputation. Say you’re publishing content on a website or blog. You want to make sure your audience can trust that what they’re reading is authentic and original. AI content checkers can help you ensure just that.
• They can ensure you avoid any plagiarism.  Yes, generative AI is only getting better, but it’s still known to reproduce other people’s work without citation in the answers it generates. So, by using an AI content detector, you can steer clear of plagiarism and the many risks associated with it.
• They can confirm that the content you’re working with is original.   Producing unique content isn’t just an SEO best practice – it’s essential to maintaining integrity, whether you’re a business, a content creator, or an academic professional. AI content detectors can help here by weeding out anything that doesn’t meet that standard.

AI content detectors have various use cases, including at the draft stage, during editing, or during the final review of content. They can also be used for ongoing content audits.

AI detectors may produce false positives , so you should scrutinize their results if you’re using them to make a decision. However, false positives can also help identify human-written content that requires a little more work to stand out.

We recommend you use a variety of different tools, cross-check your results, and build trust with your writers. Always remember that these are not a replacement for human editing, fact-checking, or review .

They are merely there as a helping hand and an additional level of scrutiny.

While we still have a long way to go before AI detection tools are perfect, they’re useful tools that can help you ensure your content is authentic and of the highest quality.

By making use of AI content checkers, you can maintain trust with your audience and ensure you stay one step ahead of the competition.

Hopefully, this list of the best solutions available today can help you get started. Choose the tool that best fits your resources and requirements, and start integrating AI detection into your content workflow today.

More resources: 

• The 10 Best AI Writers & Content Generators Compared
• State of SEO 2024: Disruptions, AI & Content Strategies
• Leveraging Generative AI Tools For SEO

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Prevent plagiarism, run a free plagiarism check.

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How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources

Published on October 10, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas without properly crediting the original author. Sometimes plagiarism involves deliberately stealing someone’s work, but more often it happens accidentally, through carelessness or forgetfulness.When you write an academic paper, you build upon the work of others and use various credible sources for information and evidence. To avoid plagiarism, you need to correctly incorporate these sources into your text.

You can avoid plagiarism by :

• Keeping track of the sources you consult in your research
• Paraphrasing or quoting from your sources (by using a paraphrasing tool and adding your own ideas)
• Crediting the original author in an in-text citation and in your reference list
• Using a plagiarism checker before you submit
• Use generative AI tools responsibly (outputs may be detected by an   AI detector )

Even accidental plagiarism can have serious consequences , so take care with how you integrate sources into your writing.

Table of contents

Keeping track of your sources, avoiding plagiarism when quoting, avoiding plagiarism when paraphrasing, citing your sources correctly, using a plagiarism checker, using ai tools responsibly, checklist: plagiarism prevention, free lecture slides, frequently asked questions.

One of the most common ways that students commit plagiarism is by simply forgetting where an idea came from and unintentionally presenting it as their own. You can easily avoid this pitfall by keeping your notes organized and compiling a list of citations as you go.

Clearly label which thoughts are yours and which aren’t in your notes, highlight statements that need citations, and carefully mark any text copied directly from a source with quotation marks.

In the example below, red indicates a claim that requires a source, blue indicates information paraphrased or summarized from a source, and green indicates a direct quotation.

Notes for my paper on global warming

• Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat and raise global temperatures [cite details]
• Causes more severe weather: hurricanes, fires, water scarcity [cite examples]
• Animal habitats across the world are under threat from climate change [cite examples]
• Just this year, 23 species have been declared extinct (BBC News 2021)
• “Animals are changing shape… some are growing bigger wings, some are sprouting longer ears and others are growing larger bills” in order to cool off (Zeldovich 2021)

Managing sources with the Scribbr Citation Generator

To make your life easier later, make sure to write down the full details of every source you consult. That includes not only books and journal articles, but also things like websites, magazine articles, and videos. This makes it easy to go back and check where you found a phrase, fact, or idea that you want to use in your paper.

Scribbr’s Citation Generator allows you to start building and managing your reference list as you go, saving time later. When you’re ready to submit, simply download your reference list!

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Prevent plagiarism. run a free check..

Quoting means copying a piece of text word for word. The copied text must be introduced in your own words, enclosed in quotation marks , and correctly attributed to the original author.

In general, quote sparingly. Quotes are appropriate when:

• You’re using an exact definition, introduced by the original author
• It is impossible for you to rephrase the original text without losing its meaning
• You’re analyzing the use of language in the original text
• You want to maintain the authority and style of the author’s words

Long quotations should be formatted as block quotes . But for longer blocks of text, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead.

Paraphrasing means using your own words to explain something from a source.

Paraphrasing does not mean just switching out a few words from a copy-pasted text. To paraphrase properly, you should rewrite the author’s point in your own words to show that you have fully understood it.

Every time you quote or paraphrase, you must include an in-text or footnote citation clearly identifying the original author. Each citation must correspond to a full reference in the reference list or bibliography at the end of your paper.

This acknowledges the source of your information, avoiding plagiarism, and it helps your readers locate the source for themselves if they would like to learn more.

There are many different citation styles, each with its own rules. A few common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago . Your instructor may assign a particular style for you to use, or you may be able to choose. The most important thing is to apply one style consistently throughout the text.

The examples below follow APA Style.

Citing a single source

Citing multiple sources

If you quote multiple sources in one sentence, make sure to cite them separately so that it’s clear which material came from which source.

To create correctly formatted source citations, you can use our free Citation Generator.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

And if you’re citing in APA Style, consider using Scribbr’s Citation Checker , a unique tool that scans your citations for errors. It can detect inconsistencies between your in-text citations and your reference list, as well as making sure your citations are flawlessly formatted.

Most universities use plagiarism checkers like Turnitin to detect potential plagiarism. Here’s how plagiarism checkers work : they scan your document, compare it to a database of webpages and publications, and highlight passages that appear similar to other texts.

Consider using a plagiarism checker yourself before submitting your paper. This allows you to identify issues that could constitute accidental plagiarism, such as:

• Forgotten or misplaced citations
• Missing quotation marks
• Paraphrased material that’s too similar to the original text

Then you can easily fix any instances of potential plagiarism.

There are differences in accuracy and safety between plagiarism checkers. To help students choose, we conducted extensive research comparing the best plagiarism checkers .

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful at different stages of the writing and research process. However, these tools can also be used to plagiarize in various ways (whether intentionally or unintentionally). When using these tools, it’s important to avoid the following:

• AI-assisted plagiarism:   Passing off AI-generated text as your own work (e.g., research papers, homework assignments)
• Plagiarism :   Using the tool to paraphrase content from another source and passing it off as original work
• Self-plagiarism :   Using the tool to rewrite a paper you previously submitted

It’s important to use AI tools responsibly and to be aware that AI-generated outputs may be detected by your university’s AI detector .

When using someone else’s exact words, I have properly formatted them as a quote .

When using someone else’s ideas, I have properly paraphrased , expressing the idea completely in my own words.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

Every source I cited is included in my reference list or bibliography .

I have consistently followed the rules of my required citation style .

I have not committed self-plagiarism by reusing any part of a previous paper.

I have used a reliable plagiarism checker as a final check.

Your document should be free from plagiarism!

Are you a teacher or professor who would like to educate your students about plagiarism? You can download our free lecture slides, available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Accidental plagiarism is one of the most common examples of plagiarism . Perhaps you forgot to cite a source, or paraphrased something a bit too closely. Maybe you can’t remember where you got an idea from, and aren’t totally sure if it’s original or not.

These all count as plagiarism, even though you didn’t do it on purpose. When in doubt, make sure you’re citing your sources . Also consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission, which work by using advanced database software to scan for matches between your text and existing texts.

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

Plagiarism can be detected by your professor or readers if the tone, formatting, or style of your text is different in different parts of your paper, or if they’re familiar with the plagiarized source.

Many universities also use plagiarism detection software like Turnitin’s, which compares your text to a large database of other sources, flagging any similarities that come up.

It can be easier than you think to commit plagiarism by accident. Consider using a plagiarism checker prior to submitting your paper to ensure you haven’t missed any citations.

Some examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting a Wikipedia article into the body of an assignment
• Quoting a source without including a citation
• Not paraphrasing a source properly, such as maintaining wording too close to the original
• Forgetting to cite the source of an idea

The most surefire way to avoid plagiarism is to always cite your sources . When in doubt, cite!

If you’re concerned about plagiarism, consider running your work through a plagiarism checker tool prior to submission. Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker takes less than 10 minutes and can help you turn in your paper with confidence.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). How to Avoid Plagiarism | Tips on Citing Sources. Scribbr. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/how-to-avoid-plagiarism/

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