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Plagiarism

Ensuring Originality: A Step-by-Step Plagiarism Check Guide

Navigate the challenge of ensuring originality and avoiding plagiarism. Proactive steps for writers, students, and professionals to maintain integrity in their work

Trusted By Industry Leaders
Trusted By Industry Leaders

Introduction

Our text compare tool is a fantastic, lightweight tool that provides plagiarism checks between two documents. Whether you are a student, blogger or publisher, this tool offers a great solution to detect and compare similarities between any two pieces of text. In this article, I will discuss the different ways to use the tool, the primary features of the tool and who this tool is for. There is an FAQ at the bottom if you run into any issues when trying to use the tool.

What makes Originality.ai’s text comparison tool stand out?

Keyword density helper – This tool comes with a built-in keyword density helper in some ways similar to the likes of SurferSEO or MarketMuse the difference being, ours is free! This feature shows the user the frequency of single or two word keywords in a document, meaning you can easily compare an article you have written against a competitor to see the major differences in keyword densities. This is especially useful for SEO’s who are looking to optimize their blog content for search engines and improve the blog’s visibility.

Ways to compare

File compare – Text comparison between files is a breeze with our tool. Simply select the files you would like to compare, hit “Upload” and our tool will automatically insert the content into the text area, then simply hit “Compare” and let our tool show you where the differences in the text are. By uploading a file, you can still check the keyword density in your content.

URL compare

Comparing text between URLs is effortless with our tool. Simply paste the URL you would like to get the content from (in our example we use a fantastic blog post by Sherice Jacob found here) hit “Submit URL” and our tool will automatically retrieve the contents of the page and paste it into the text area, then simply click “Compare” and let our tool highlight the difference between the URLs. This feature is especially useful for checking keyword density between pages!

Simple text compare

You can also easily compare text by copying and pasting it into each field, as demonstrated below.

Features of Originality.ai’s Text Compare Tool

Ease of use

Our text compare tool is created with the user in mind, it is designed to be accessible to everyone. Our tool allows users to upload files or enter a URL to extract text, this along with the lightweight design ensures a seamless experience. The interface is simple and straightforward, making it easy for users to compare text and detect the diff.

Multiple text file format support

Our tool provides support for a variety of different text files and microsoft word formats including pdf file, .docx, .odt, .doc, and .txt, giving users the ability to compare text from different sources with ease. This makes it a great solution for students, bloggers, and publishers who are looking for file comparison in different formats.

Protects intellectual property

Our text comparison tool helps you protect your intellectual property and helps prevent plagiarism. This tool provides an accurate comparison of texts, making it easy to ensure that your work is original and not copied from other sources. Our tool is a valuable resource for anyone looking to maintain the originality of their content.

User Data Privacy

Our text compare tool is secure and protects user data privacy. No data is ever saved to the tool, the users’ text is only scanned and pasted into the tool’s text area. This makes certain that users can use our tool with confidence, knowing their data is safe and secure.

Compatibility

Our text comparison tool is designed to work seamlessly across all size devices, ensuring maximum compatibility no matter your screen size. Whether you are using a large desktop monitor, a small laptop, a tablet or a smartphone, this tool adjusts to your screen size. This means that users can compare texts and detect the diff anywhere without the need for specialized hardware or software. This level of accessibility makes it an ideal solution for students or bloggers who value the originality of their work and need to compare text online anywhere at any time.

Whether you're a content writer, student, journalist or professional, being able to ensure originality in your work and sidestep plagiarism is becoming a major challenge. With the availability of so much information at our fingertips and especially with AI, writing with integrity and originality means taking proactive steps to check for and avoid plagiarism.

In this article, we're going to give you a step-by-step guide on how to check for plagiarism in articles and other types of content.

What Exactly Is Plagiarism?

Although it's often used as a broad, blanket term to mean copying and pasting someone else's text and trying to pass it off as your own, plagiarism goes much deeper. Of course, it includes direct plagiarism (also known as verbatim plagiarism), which is copying text word-for-word without citing the author or using quotation marks. But did you know that there are other types of plagiarism as well?

There's mosaic plagiarism, where you use phrases or sentences from one or more sources in your work without citing them. And when you do this with multiple sources, it's often called patchwork plagiarism, which occurs when you copy sections of text from multiple sources, rearrange them, and try to pass it off as original content. There's even accidental plagiarism, which is often the case when you plagiarize yourself!

And if you use AI-generated content, you need to be extra careful about plagiarism. With so many different AI writing tools around these days, you never know if they're coming up with 100% original content. 

What Happens When You Plagiarize?

Plagiarism has wide-reaching consequences that can vary depending on your industry. Whether you're worried about copyright infringement, penalties for academic dishonesty, or upholding journalistic ethics, plagiarizing content can eat away at an individual's integrity and credibility.

For these reasons, it's crucial to check for plagiarism at every stage of your writing and publication process – not just when the work is done.

How to Check for Plagiarism in Articles and Other Types of Content

If you want to avoid any plagiarism issues with your content, simply follow the steps below.

Step 1: Before You Write a Single Word…

As you work out the outline of your content and start to write, remember that you yourself are brimming with information and ideas. So, work to express the idea or information in your own words or from your own perspective.

But if you do need to quote an expert on a topic, then be sure to use quotation marks and cite the source. If you're writing an academic paper or a paper for publication, use the formatting (such as MLA or APA) suggested by your professor, university or editor.

To help keep you organized, we also recommend using an online tool like Mendeley or Zotero to collect and organize citations. This will help you avoid the pitfall of accidentally plagiarizing someone else's work.

Step 2: Read Through Your Work Yourself

Although it may be tempting to jump right to a plagiarism tool to double-check your work, it's always a good idea to look it over with your own two eyes first. Besides, you never know what else you may catch during your plagiarism search!

You'll want to pay special attention to quotations, and make sure that they're properly cited. And if you have rephrased someone else's idea or content, make sure that your version is considerably different than theirs. Remember, even unintentional plagiarism can have consequences.

If you find yourself unable to focus during your check, don't be afraid to step away from your content, rest, and come back to it with fresh eyes. You may even want to let a colleague look it over. It's entirely possible to catch things that may have been overlooked the first time.

Then, and only then, is it time to turn to technology - at least, after you do your research. While they may claim to have similar effects, not plagiarism detection tools are created equal. So if you really want to avoid the potential consequences of plagiarism, it's important to get it right the first time.

Step 3: Use a Plagiarism Checker

When deciding on the best online plagiarism checker, it's a good idea to choose one that can check a wide range of databases for the most accurate results. After all, if you want to ensure that you have some truly original content on your hands, then you need to consider as many sources as possible.

Next, you'll need to think about what you want to get out of your plagiarism detection software. Are you just looking for a similarity percentage that tells you how similar your content is to others online? Or a detailed plagiarism report that goes a step further and highlights any potential sources of duplicate content that need to be corrected? If it's the latter, then the average free plagiarism checker tool won't do - you need something like Originality.AI's tool.

Unlike more basic scanners, Originality.AI's accurate plagiarism checker leverages a wide range of both free and paid content databases, including academic journals, research studies, and other specific databases. This allows for a more comprehensive plagiarism check beyond what a free plagiarism detection tool can offer. And when it's done scanning your content, it will calculate your plagiarism score and provide you with exactly what you need to change in its plagiarism report.

When it comes to your plagiarism or similarity score, the higher the percentage, the more likely the text is plagiarized. You can then refer to the highlighted sections to find the text that matches - or is at least highly similar to - other sources.

Now, it's important to note that this doesn't necessarily mean that you've plagiarized those other sources. Highlights are fairly common, especially if you're using well-known idioms or other types of writing that occur more frequently.

Therefore, you'll want to go through each one of these highlighted sections individually and verify them against your list of sources. Again, make sure that any citations you've made are correctly identified, and that any paraphrasing goes beyond changing a word or two. Remember, even accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism, so be sure to cover your bases.

Step 4: Addressing Plagiarism Flags

If the plagiarism scanner has flagged a section as plagiarism, your next step is to look at ways that you can rewrite it in your own words. The key is to take the underlying idea and share your own unique perspective on it. Don't hesitate to restructure sentences and the flow of words and language to maintain the original meaning.

Again, avoiding plagiarism means more than just changing a few words. If you end up slightly restructuring the sentence, you'll still have to credit the original source. And don't think you can use paraphrasing tools to sidestep or “trick” the plagiarism detector - while it may fly under the radar of more basic tools, Originality.AI's scanner can detect paraphrasing too.

Step 5: Run the Plagiarism Check Again

Once you've made revisions, it's time to run the plagiarism checker again. The most important thing to remember here is to recheck the document using the same plagiarism detector.

While it may be tempting to use a different tool to get different results, it really isn't in your best interest. Sure, something a little more basic may calculate a lower similarity score. But this may be because it can't detect subtle instances of paraphrasing or patchwork plagiarism, or it doesn't pull from the same number of databases.

So, if you've found an accurate online plagiarism detector that provides comprehensive reports, stick with it! By using and familiarizing yourself with the results from a quality tool, you may end up improving your writing in the long run.

Step 6: Learn From the Experience

You can learn a great deal from checking your work for plagiarism. So, once you've received your detailed report, be sure to reflect on what you've written, especially any points that were flagged as potential plagiarism. What went wrong? Did you try to paraphrase? Did you simply forget to cite the work? Or did you rely too much on direct quotes? When you take the time to understand your writing patterns and habits, you can avoid running into similar issues in the future.

Plus, checking your work for plagiarism also reinforces the importance of taking proper notes and distinguishing between your own ideas and information from other sources. That's why it's such a good idea to use a system to organize, catalog and track citations as you do your research and writing, as it can help you avoid many instances of plagiarism.

Step 7: Improve and Practice

It doesn't matter if you're doing some academic writing, blog posts, or news articles - if you want to avoid the consequences of plagiarism, it's essential to ensure that you're delivering unique, original content. So, to improve your skills, consider regularly practicing how to summarize and paraphrase texts. This will make it that much easier to articulate things in your own words.

No matter why you're checking for plagiarism, it's important to remember that it's not just about following the rules, but also respecting the work of others. By taking steps to avoid plagiarism in your own writing, you're contributing to the integrity, credibility and creativity of writers and content creators, as well as the industries they serve.

Sherice Jacob

Sherice Jacob is a seasoned copywriter and content professional fluent in English, Spanish, and Catalan, with over 25 years of experience crafting high-converting copy. Passionate about AI, she enjoys exploring the new innovations and possibilities it brings to the world of content creation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to fill out the entire form?

No, that’s one of the benefits, only fill out the areas which you think will be relevant to the prompts you require.

Why is the English so poor for some prompts?

When making the tool we had to make each prompt as general as possible to be able to include every kind of input. Not to worry though ChatGPT is smart and will still understand the prompt.

In The Press

Originality.ai has been featured for its accurate ability to detect GPT-3, Chat GPT and GPT-4 generated content. See some of the coverage below…

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Featured by Leading Publications

Originality.ai did a fantastic job on all three prompts, precisely detecting them as AI-written. Additionally, after I checked with actual human-written textual content, it did determine it as 100% human-generated, which is important.

Vahan Petrosyan

searchenginejournal.com

I use this tool most frequently to check for AI content personally. My most frequent use-case is checking content submitted by freelance writers we work with for AI and plagiarism.

Tom Demers

searchengineland.com

After extensive research and testing, we determined Originality.ai to be the most accurate technology.

Rock Content Team

rockcontent.com

Jon Gillham, Founder of Originality.ai came up with a tool to detect whether the content is written by humans or AI tools. It’s built on such technology that can specifically detect content by ChatGPT-3 — by giving you a spam score of 0-100, with an accuracy of 94%.

Felix Rose-Collins

ranktracker.com

ChatGPT lacks empathy and originality. It’s also recognized as AI-generated content most of the time by plagiarism and AI detectors like Originality.ai

Ashley Stahl

forbes.com

Originality.ai Do give them a shot! 

Sri Krishna

venturebeat.com

For web publishers, Originality.ai will enable you to scan your content seamlessly, see who has checked it previously, and detect if an AI-powered tool was implored.

Industry Trends

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to check for plagiarism?

Tools for conducting a plagiarism check between two documents online are important as it helps to ensure the originality and authenticity of written work. Plagiarism undermines the value of professional and educational institutions, as well as the integrity of the authors who write articles. By checking for plagiarism, you can ensure the work that you produce is original or properly attributed to the original author. This helps prevent the distribution of copied and misrepresented information.

What is Text Comparison?

Text comparison is the process of taking two or more pieces of text and comparing them to see if there are any similarities, differences and/or plagiarism. The objective of a text comparison is to see if one of the texts has been copied or paraphrased from another text. This text compare tool for plagiarism check between two documents has been built to help you streamline that process by finding the discrepancies with ease.

How do Text Comparison Tools Work?

Text comparison tools work by analyzing and comparing the contents of two or more text documents to find similarities and differences between them. This is typically done by breaking the texts down into smaller units such as sentences or phrases, and then calculating a similarity score based on the number of identical or nearly identical units. The comparison may be based on the exact wording of the text, or it may take into account synonyms and other variations in language. The results of the comparison are usually presented in the form of a report or visual representation, highlighting the similarities and differences between the texts.

String comparison is a fundamental operation in text comparison tools that involves comparing two sequences of characters to determine if they are identical or not. This comparison can be done at the character level or at a higher level, such as the word or sentence level.

The most basic form of string comparison is the equality test, where the two strings are compared character by character and a Boolean result indicating whether they are equal or not is returned. More sophisticated string comparison algorithms use heuristics and statistical models to determine the similarity between two strings, even if they are not exactly the same. These algorithms often use techniques such as edit distance, which measures the minimum number of operations (such as insertions, deletions, and substitutions) required to transform one string into another.

Another common technique for string comparison is n-gram analysis, where the strings are divided into overlapping sequences of characters (n-grams) and the frequency of each n-gram is compared between the two strings. This allows for a more nuanced comparison that takes into account partial similarities, rather than just exact matches.

String comparison is a crucial component of text comparison tools, as it forms the basis for determining the similarities and differences between texts. The results of the string comparison can then be used to generate a report or visual representation of the similarities and differences between the texts.

What is Syntax Highlighting?

Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors and integrated development environments (IDEs) that helps to visually distinguish different elements of a code or markup language. It does this by coloring different elements of the code, such as keywords, variables, functions, and operators, based on a predefined set of rules.

The purpose of syntax highlighting is to make the code easier to read and understand, by drawing attention to the different elements and their structure. For example, keywords may be colored in a different hue to emphasize their importance, while comments or strings may be colored differently to distinguish them from the code itself. This helps to make the code more readable, reducing the cognitive load of the reader and making it easier to identify potential syntax errors.

How Can I Conduct a Plagiarism Check between Two Documents Online?

With our tool it’s easy, just enter or upload some text, click on the button “Compare text” and the tool will automatically display the diff between the two texts.

What Are the Benefits of Using a Text Compare Tool?

Using text comparison tools is much easier, more efficient, and more reliable than proofreading a piece of text by hand. Eliminate the risk of human error by using a tool to detect and display the text difference within seconds.

What Files Can You Inspect with This Text Compare Tool?

We have support for the file extensions .pdf, .docx, .odt, .doc and .txt. You can also enter your text or copy and paste text to compare.

Will My Data Be Shared?

There is never any data saved by the tool, when you hit “Upload” we are just scanning the text and pasting it into our text area so with our text compare tool, no data ever enters our servers.

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