Checking for Plagiarism
December 18, 2011 7:04 AM Subscribe
Term Paper: What are the best sites/programs to check my term paper for plagiarism? It really should be free but i guess i'd be open for very cheap alternatives.
It's 15 Pages and im on a mac if that helps.
Yeah, it sounds like you plagiarized part of your paper and now want to make sure that you've sufficiently hidden that fact before you turn it in. Is that accurate?
If so, this might not be the best crowd to be asking.
If not, a followup for clarity would be awesome!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:09 AM on December 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
If so, this might not be the best crowd to be asking.
If not, a followup for clarity would be awesome!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:09 AM on December 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
always so cynical, you guys. I've written it myself but i just want to double check that nothing slipped through.
posted by freddymetz at 7:22 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by freddymetz at 7:22 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I assume the issue is either that you don't recall where the wording for some of your research notes came from or that you're not sure you have a sufficiently original paraphrase of some source or that you're stating facts that seem difficult to re-word and wonder if you'll be called a plagiarist.
The leading plagiarism detector is Turnitin.com, and the version they offer for students is Writecheck.com.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 7:25 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
The leading plagiarism detector is Turnitin.com, and the version they offer for students is Writecheck.com.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 7:25 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
Keep in mind that electronic services can return false positives. The best way to ensure your writing conforms to academic integrity standards is to keep detailed research records to check your paraphrases and quotations against your sources.
posted by audi alteram partem at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by audi alteram partem at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2011 [5 favorites]
thank you monsieur caution. Do you know if they keep your paper afterwards or anything else one should know about?
posted by freddymetz at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by freddymetz at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2011
I think you might be underestimating how blatantly people plagiarize. I have a friend who's a professor and man, people are really shameless, it's kind of incredible.
If you haven't deliberately plagiarized anything, and are a competent enough writer that you're thoughtfully integrating your notes into your paper, I really doubt you'll have any problems. And if your professor DOES end up frysquinting a little at something? Your ability to talk intelligently about the subject for a couple of minutes will put them at ease.
Basically, if you aren't half-rewriting entire Wikipedia articles you are probably going to be fine.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:38 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you haven't deliberately plagiarized anything, and are a competent enough writer that you're thoughtfully integrating your notes into your paper, I really doubt you'll have any problems. And if your professor DOES end up frysquinting a little at something? Your ability to talk intelligently about the subject for a couple of minutes will put them at ease.
Basically, if you aren't half-rewriting entire Wikipedia articles you are probably going to be fine.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:38 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Going forward, let's just stick to answering to the question please; anyone uncomfortable with the question can pass it over, and those with other advice, please mail the OP. Thanks.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:45 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 7:45 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
The best method is the cheapest (free) alternative: go over your paper, and check it page by page to make sure you know where you got your ideas. If you do that, you'll know for certain that you don't have any unattributed passages in your paper. It takes time. There's no automated alternative.
I see you're in Germany. I initially read your question as one submitted by a student who had someone else write a term paper for them and was now panicking about its contents. I teach in the US, where that kind of cheating is very common among students who have the money to pay.
posted by vincele at 7:49 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
I see you're in Germany. I initially read your question as one submitted by a student who had someone else write a term paper for them and was now panicking about its contents. I teach in the US, where that kind of cheating is very common among students who have the money to pay.
posted by vincele at 7:49 AM on December 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
When I'm not sure whether a sentence I've written is too close to the original source, I cite it. My school takes plagiarism very seriously, and all my profs have said it's better to over-cite than under-cite. One is a little annoying for the reader, but the other is academically dishonest.
posted by smirkette at 7:59 AM on December 18, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by smirkette at 7:59 AM on December 18, 2011 [8 favorites]
Go to your supervisor or professor and ask them to help you with this. Likely your university has an in-house solution (the system I know (Sweden) processes the documents in a day or so, and then spits the result out onto a previously agreed e-mail address).
Vincele's method can in cases of doubt be enhanced by google phrase searches. A little depending on your methods of research, this may be all you need.
no matter what, manually checking the document can be done. I mean 15 pages, takes you half a day.
posted by Namlit at 8:02 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Vincele's method can in cases of doubt be enhanced by google phrase searches. A little depending on your methods of research, this may be all you need.
no matter what, manually checking the document can be done. I mean 15 pages, takes you half a day.
posted by Namlit at 8:02 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
vincele has it -- there's no good automated way to do this. You really need to manually check through your paper, and ensure that you're citing sources correctly. This page covers some of the more common ways in which plagiarism in papers occurs, and ensuring that you're not crossing any of the lines described in the bullet points is probably your best bet.
posted by ellF at 8:03 AM on December 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by ellF at 8:03 AM on December 18, 2011 [4 favorites]
In my community college all papers I have written have to be submitted to turnitin.com and then handed in with the score that turnitin.com assigns. I thought it was free. I don't remember if they kept my paper but I didn't care if they did. I would think all the info you are seeking would either be on their website or your professor could tell you.
posted by cairnoflore at 9:00 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by cairnoflore at 9:00 AM on December 18, 2011
turnitin.com keeps your paper within their database to compare future submissions against. It appears that WriteCheck doesn't keep papers after you submit them, but it's not free (and honestly the WriteCheck FAQ is a little hazy; they say it doesn't go into the turnitin database but I'd bet they keep it within their own database for future reference). Your school may have in-house software to check for plagiarism that might be available for use. Otherwise, vincele's method really is best. It will probably take you another 2.5 hours at most to go through it all carefully.
posted by lilac girl at 10:20 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by lilac girl at 10:20 AM on December 18, 2011
In the EU, institutions are likely to subscribe to services from Plagscan, Plagaware, Ephorus, or Urkund. IIRC, they do not offer a free option for students.
posted by evoque at 8:33 AM on December 19, 2011
posted by evoque at 8:33 AM on December 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:06 AM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]