Plagiarism

Chegg Plagiarism Checker Review

In addition to maintaining academic integrity, being able to check your writing for plagiarism also has ethical and professional considerations to keep in mind. In the worst-case scenarios, plagiarism can damage your reputation and may lead to legal action. Even if you don’t intend to plagiarize, checking your work regularly with a plagiarism checker helps

In addition to maintaining academic integrity, being able to check your writing for plagiarism also has ethical and professional considerations to keep in mind. In the worst-case scenarios, plagiarism can damage your reputation and may lead to legal action. Even if you don’t intend to plagiarize, checking your work regularly with a plagiarism checker helps you see areas where your writing can improve and where you may have borrowed a bit too much from others’ ideas.

One well-known plagiarism checker used by many in academia is Chegg. But what does it have to offer against competing tools and does it really work? We take a closer look at this in-depth Chegg plagiarism checker review.

What is Chegg Plagiarism Checker?

Chegg Plagiarism Checker is a small section of what is a large and well-known academic-oriented company. Chegg is more than just a plagiarism checker and offers e-textbooks, online tutoring, math solver, and more to help students in a variety of courses.

The Chegg Plagiarism Checker works like many online plagiarism detectors in that it helps students and professionals alike check their work for plagiarism. Chegg can check many different types of file formats including plain text, PDF, DOC, and DOCX. You can also link to a file on Google Docs and then let Chegg scan your paper for plagiarism.

Chegg Plagiarism Checker Features

In addition to supporting multiple file formats, Chegg also offers a number of other features that make it a decent plagiarism checker for students. Using a combination of AI and an extensive database of millions of websites, academic journals, and databases, Chegg gives submitted pieces an originality score once the plagiarism check is complete.

As part of a paid account, Chegg also delivers a final detailed report that highlights any found instances of plagiarism along with suggestions on how better to paraphrase or cite the information. It does this in a matter of seconds whether you choose to upload your document or copy and paste it.

The interface is also very simple and easy to understand. Like Grammarly and other writing tools, Chegg also gives you insights on how to improve your writing and grammar.

How to Use Chegg Plagiarism Checker

Using Chegg’s plagiarism checker is easy and straightforward:

  1. Go to the Chegg website and click on the Plagiarism Checker option from the top navigation bar.
  2. On the plagiarism checker page, click Select File to choose the file from your computer that you want to check for plagiarism. You can optionally copy and paste the text directly or link to a Google doc.
  3. Choose the document language from the dropdown menu as well as the type of document (for example, essay, research paper, etc.)
  4. Select the education level of the document from the options and then click the Check Plagiarism button.
  5. The scan will take a few minutes to conclude. The time it takes depends on the length of the document and the sources being checked.
  6. Once the scan is complete, you’ll receive a report that includes an originality percentage, any sources that match the text in the document, and a side-by-side comparison of your text with the highlighted sources.
  7. From here you can optionally make changes on a result-by-result basis. The plagiarism checker will give you suggestions on how to better paraphrase your content or how to accurately cite the text you’re referencing.

Running a plagiarism check on Chegg is as simple as pressing a button

Chegg Plagiarism Checker Pros and Cons

As with any online plagiarism checker, Chegg comes with its own pros and cons.

Pros

  • Chegg’s comprehensive search database includes millions of websites and other online sources including academic research and other student papers to detect instances of potential plagiarism.
  • Chegg’s full plagiarism detection scan is easy to understand and intuitive, making it easy for students to check their work and cite it correctly.
  • The user interface is clean and simple, making Chegg easy to use, even for beginners.
  • Results with Chegg’s plagiarism checker are generally shown within minutes (although this depends on the length of the paper being checked).

Cons

  • Chegg’s plagiarism checker is extremely limited for users who aren’t paying members of the service. A comprehensive scan can only be done if you’re a paying customer.
  • The plagiarism checker isn’t 100% accurate and there may be some false positives.
  • Like most plagiarism checkers, Chegg cannot identify every possible instance of plagiarism.
  • Only a few file formats are supported.

Chegg’s complete plagiarism check is locked beyond a premium account.

Alternatives to Chegg Plagiarism Checker

Generally speaking, other plagiarism detectors, such as Grammarly and Originality.AI offer a more thorough scan at a lower price point. Although Grammarly and Originality.AI are paid services compared to Chegg’s basic free plagiarism checker, the results are much more thorough and include additional services that students and professionals alike will find helpful.

For example, Grammarly offers suggestions on how to improve writing style and tone, whereas Originality.AI scans for AI-written content in addition to content that may be plagiarized from other sources.  

What is Originality.AI?

Originality.AI is a plagiarism detection platform that goes beyond your average plagiarism checker to include the ability to check for AI-written content with a high degree of probability. Although not specifically designed for academia, Originality.AI nevertheless can help professors detect AI-written content and essays from students, including those written with the latest version of ChatGPT and other AI-writers.

How Does Chegg Compare to Originality.AI?

Chegg claims to search millions of online sources, but it pales in comparison to Originality.AI which spans over 70 billion web pages. What’s more, although Chegg’s user interface is simple and uncluttered, Originality.AI’s color-coded matching system and highlighted text make it easy to spot potential plagiarism or AI-written content at-a-glance.

Because Chegg is oriented toward educators, it works with a number of learning management software like Canvas and Blackboard, whereas Originality.AI is a standalone platform. And last but not least, Chegg is limited to per-document pricing, while Originality.AI offers both a subscription-based plan and a per-document plan, making it much more flexible for those professionals who want to run multiple scans, or who want to choose between scanning for plagiarism, scanning for AI writing or both.

How Does the Originality.AI Algorithm Work?

Originality.AI’s sophisticated algorithm leverages the power of artificial intelligence algorithms to detect the tell-tale signs of content written by AI services like ChatGPT. Through consistent training and machine learning, as AI writing services like this evolve, Originality.AI also evolves to spot potential instances of AI content.

Originality.AI’s algorithm first breaks down the text into smaller chunks, which it then compares to its billions of documents in its database. The algorithm also identifies areas of similarity and through its machine learning ability, looks to determine if a text is actually plagiarism or not. For example, a quote or a common expression would not be flagged as plagiarism from Originality.AI because it is sophisticated enough to know the difference.

Once the scan is complete, which takes just a few minutes, a color-coded report is given to the user that highlights any potential matches on a case-by-case basis, making it easy to correct.

The Bottom Line: Should You Use Chegg’s Plagiarism Checker?

Chegg is a decent albeit very basic plagiarism checker. Overall, when compared to other tools on the market, it sadly lags behind in terms of its database size and price point. If you only need to run a precursory plagiarism check from time to time, Chegg’s tool may be useful, but when compared to more advanced, AI and machine language-powered tools like Originality.AI, Chegg simply doesn’t have the computing power or the intelligence to make a smart guess as to what plagiarism is beyond a direct text match.

Start using Originality.AI now to scan your documents for as low as one cent per 200 words. With flexible per-document or subscription-based pricing and the ability to scan for plagiarism or AI detection, Originality.AI makes it easy to ensure your documents are high quality, human-written, and free of plagiarism.

Sherice Jacob

Plagiarism Expert Sherice Jacob brings over 20 years of experience to digital marketing as a copywriter and content creator. With a finger on the pulse of AI and its developments, she works extensively with Originality.AI to help businesses and publishers get the best returns from their Content.

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