Learn How to Check Paper For Plagiarism Easy and Nice

What is Plagiarism and Why Do We Need Detection Tools?

Contrary to the popular belief, the majority of plagiarism cases take place when a student or researcher fails to check their work for originality while thinking that everything is alright. The practice shows that even if we double-check everything and provide paraphrased content, it's still possible to fall into the trap of low similarity even if it's not intentional. Learning how to check paper for plagiarism, you will see that there are many times when you may miss something! It’s a reason why every learner should check papers for plagiarism to ensure that there are no problems since there are many types of issues one can find.

While we think that plagiarism is the direct copying of someone else's work by either claiming that the final content has been created by you or using too many quotes in your original research, there are also types of accidental plagiarism or cases of poor citation. As an average learner may be unable to catch every issue, turning to plagiarism detection tools appears to be the only solution that helps to keep your writing original and avoid unfortunate accidents! 

Should I check an assignment for plagiarism before submitting it?

Absolutely! Checking your paper for plagiarism will help you to avoid issues of poor citation or things like accidental plagiarism, weak paraphrasing, or self-plagiarism as you are working with a lengthy term paper. It only takes about five minutes to check your writing and edit things to perfection as you get a detailed report exactly the same way your school or college professor would.

The Ways On How to Check Your Paper for Plagiarism

Detecting plagiarism in the academic environment is mostly done with a mixture of personal editing and a list of professional automatic tools that helps to compare your writing to millions of pages online. There are also specific ways to detect plagiarism for teachers as they implement relevant tools that scan through various databases. Depending on your situation, objectives, and budget, there are methods that will fit you the best way.

Since many students ask how to check paper for plagiarism, our experts have shared several solutions that are used both by successful students and educators as they evaluate the content:

• Use of Plagiarism Checkers.

The most important solution is the use of plagiarism detection tools. You might have heard of them before as you submit your assignment on campus and wait for the results. The teachers will provide you with a report where you will have some parts highlighted and the grade that may not make you happy. As a way to avoid trouble, you can use the FixGerald plagiarism checker for students and stay safe by checking as much as you wish before you submit your work. The system won’t store your content anywhere and will keep your data confidential. It also has a built-in grammar correction tool, so you also receive a special editor to make things perfect. There are no ads or limitations as you work with this amazing solution! Just paste your content or upload it in a file and wait for the final report! Once you make your editions, you can check the results again and see the originality percentage.

• Paraphrasing Correctly.

Another way how to check for plagiarism in a paper is to apply correct paraphrasing techniques. Many college students these days believe that paraphrasing is simply changing several words that go without a reference. In truth, when you have to paraphrase, it stands for keeping the original meaning and explaining why and how some idea is helpful for your writing. When some idea is not yours, you must provide a reference to the original authors. If you have the highlighted part that has been paraphrased, you should take a closer look at the original content and try to paraphrase once again. Keep the original meaning and provide an introduction with an explanation to help your readers understand the idea or an assumption.

• Taking Care of Writing Styles.

Another important aspect is to check up on the grading rubric and the writing style. If you are dealing with the APA or MLA style formats, check how to provide in-text citations and make sure that every reference that you have in your text is also present in the Works Cited or References page. If you are planning to get your writing ready for publishing, you are most likely to use the Chicago Manual of Style. It has footnotes and endnotes with more than one citation style. Check with the rules and make sure that you have every essay idea cited or quoted. Make sure that your citations are complete. If you provide poor references that are incomplete, it is also considered a type of plagiarism that can seriously deduct your grade.

• Double-checking Bibliography Page.

If you are working on the Literature section for a dissertation, remember to check your Bibliography page as well and sort the entries according to the style. As you learn how to check your paper for plagiarism, every part of your research should be referenced in full. It also relates to multimedia parts, pictures, YouTube references, and more. All of it should be mentioned in your References section. It is essential for dissertation and research writing. For example, the parts of Annotated Bibliography should also be cited with correct references. If you take a quote from the critique writing or biography reviews, it’s one of those aspects where things must be referenced both in your text and the references page.

• Mixing Your Unique Voice and Citations.

The best way to avoid plagiarism in practice is a healthy mixture of your ideas and content that is not yours. When you are working on a complex engineering assignment or starting with a social campaign, it is only natural to provide statistical data or cite information from the interviews. The trick is to calculate the word count and create an outline for your introduction and the body parts. When you have only one citation for a brief section, it is acceptable. Take a logical look at the writing and introduce your reference first by explaining why it matters and how it helps to understand your main argument. The key is to use the “an introduction - citation - analysis part” template as you write. It will help to keep the originality ratio high.

Since there are also self-plagiarism issues that may happen, always check your writing twice by approaching the FixGerald tool to see if some content appears anywhere. The most important in learning how to check paper for plagiarism is to provide credit to every idea that is not yours and avoid using too many citations when you write a research paper.

The same relates to reflective assignments that must be personal. Although you may implement quotes if they are relevant, your paper may end up with a high similarity percentage. The typical academic integrity and plagiarism percentage that is acceptable is usually 15%, yet your college may have different rules. It’s always better to check by asking! If something is still unclear, talk to your academic advisor, and don’t be afraid to ask additional questions. 

The Importance of Editing and Proofreading

Although we may know how to check paper for plagiarism, it's essential to allocate additional time for editing and proofreading. When you are working with the final report of a plagiarism detection tool, make sure that you check each sentence and evaluate the readability. For example, when you work on some paraphrased paragraph, you should keep the original message and make it clear. The same relates to the cases when you focus on the SEO aspect and add related keywords to your blog post.

While we all wish to offer unique content, it's also necessary to make your writing accessible and logical. When you get the originality report and make corrections, start with additional editing in a separate file, and run the plagiarism checker again for safety's sake. It will show you the originality of your writing and highlight grammar issues that can be corrected right away! Do not ignore checking for plagiarism as it only takes about five minutes to stay safe!

Article By

Madeline Shields

[email protected]

Content Lead. Writing and plagiarism detection expert with a deep understanding of academic integrity and plagiarism cases.