Papers Owl is an online “write my essay” writing assistant, which matches students with writers or editors. Additionally, the platform also offers a variety of free and low-cost writing tools.
For a fee, students can hire professional writers and editors to write essays, research papers, and other assignments.
For the purpose of this review, however, we wanted to gauge how well Papers Owl’s online plagiarism checker worked.
Papers Owl’s plagiarism checker compares uploaded content to existing material. Specifically, they state that plagiarism scans are run on “a mass of online material.”
It then generates a report that highlights potentially plagiarized text, as well as sources where similar (or the same) text can be found.
We decided to do a comparative review of Papers Owl’s online plagiarism checker to Originality.ai’s plagiarism checker.
How well does it detect plagiarism? Is it able to accurately detect complex types of plagiarism, like patchwork plagiarism? We put both tools to the test and these were our results.
Papers Owl is an online essay writing service as well as a writing assistant platform.
It offers a number of free and low-cost tools designed to help students make their essays unique or otherwise improve their writing.
For an extra fee, students can also hire professional writers to write their essays for them or hire editors to revise their research papers or other assignments.
Papers Owl is an intriguing option for students who are pressed for time or need additional writing help. The platform operates 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) and covers different subjects and assignment times.
Some students or professional writers may also use Papers Owl’s writing tools or editors to improve their writing. For instance, they may seek out editors to revise content, especially if they’re writing about an unfamiliar topic.
In regards to the plagiarism checker, students and professionals alike can use the tool free of charge.
Papers Owl bills itself as a helpful resource for students who are dealing with a heavy workload. It also offers last-minute help polishing essays to improve writing.
For students who struggle with writing or aren’t familiar with academic writing styles, Papers Owl provides a quick, easy way to either improve their writing independently, or hire a professional to handle it for them.
Keep in mind that it’s best practice to review assignment guidelines carefully before using either AI tools or working with a writer or editor to make sure you are complying with the requirements for coursework.
Read more about how to cite AI as a source and get tips for supporting students to avoid plagiarism.
For this test, we focused exclusively on Papers Owl’s plagiarism checker.
We divided the test into two parts:
Step 1: We chose two blog posts directly from the Originality.ai blog.
Step 2: We then pasted the content directly into the Originality.ai plagiarism checker and into Papers Owl’s plagiarism checker and ran each tool respectively.
We chose text samples directly from the Originality.ai blog:
Step 3: For the second part of the test, we chose examples of patchwork plagiarism, which is a more subtle example of plagiarism, that’s often harder for some plagiarism checkers to identify.
Step 4: We then ran both samples through Papers Owl and the Originality.ai Plagiarism Checker to compare results.
Originality.ai Plagiarism Checker: 100% Match
Papers Owl: 96.5% Similar
Originality.ai Plagiarism Checker 100% Match
Papers Owl: 96.0% Similar
Originality.ai Plagiarism Checker: 65% Match
Papers Owl: 52.4% Similar
Originality.ai Plagiarism Checker: 89% Match
Papers Owl: 0% Similar - 100% Original
Papers Owl did well when it came to linking verbatim plagiarism with its direct source, scoring in the mid to upper 90 percentiles on both tests.
However, on the final test, it noted the patchwork plagiarism sample as 100% original, compared to Originality.ai’s 89% Match. So, it wasn’t as effective at detecting complex types of plagiarism like patchwork.
Papers Owl’s plagiarism checker is free to use.
However, after the first two uses, it asks you to register via email. You can continue to use the service by inputting an email address, it doesn’t ask you to verify or register in order to continue using the tool.
However, the inability of the tool to detect patchwork plagiarism in the second patchwork example raises concerns.
There are several plagiarism checkers on the market, both free and paid.
If you’re looking for a reliable plagiarism checker that’s highly accurate and built for content professionals, look no further than the Originality.ai plagiarism checker.
Its ease of use, speed, and accuracy in detecting plagiarism online are best-in-class, making it an excellent option for detecting verbatim (copy and paste) plagiarism as well as the more difficult and subtle patchwork plagiarism.
Although it detected direct copy-and-paste plagiarism, Papers Owl fell short when it came to detecting more nuanced patchwork plagiarism examples.
As our test showed, it identified an entire example of patchwork plagiarism as unique, whereas Originality.ai detected a Match of 89% in comparison.
If you need a simple, fast way to check for plagiarism directly online, Papers Owl is one of many options available.
For a more accurate check that identifies complex examples of plagiarism, we recommend using the Originality.ai plagiarism checker.
Read more plagiarism checker reviews:
Papers Owl’s plagiarism checker compares the submitted text to a “mass of online material.” Through the use of its algorithms, it identifies potential plagiarism and provides a report with highlights for review.
Papers Owl’s plagiarism detector is free to use. The first two searches are completely free, however beyond two searches, the service does ask for your email address in order to continue.
Keep in mind, that you can only copy and paste text directly into the platform, which limits the ways to check for plagiarism, such as from a URL or document upload.