Perhaps, almost everyone heard about plagiarism detection software used by college professors to check papers of their students for plagiarism. This makes someone tremble, some people do not pay attention to them, and some use them for their own profit.
 
The latter way is the most correct one. Even if you wrote your paper independently, you should know how to check a paper for plagiarism. Everyone can unintentionally plagiarize (and this really happens very often), so you need to be sure that your paper is unique, non-plagiarized.
 
Thus, let us consider the most common ways of how to check a paper for plagiarism.
 
How to check a paper for plagiarism: free online services.
 
Most of online services that check papers for plagiarism are free. So, this is the simplest way to check a paper for plagiarism before submitting it. Plagiarism detectors will highlight all phrases in your text that match those found online. So, you can easily get rid or paraphrase all those parts to avoid accusations of plagiarism.
 
How to check a paper for plagiarism: paid services
 
Naturally, there are also specialized plagiarism detection services for which you have to pay. They check your paper not only against the online database, but also against their own database of books and journals. Such services are mostly used by colleges.
 
How to check a paper for plagiarism: search engines
 

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Are you the one who likes using the services of custom writing companies, or downloading free papers, or using some other a bit “illegal” ways to complete school assignments?
 
Well, we are here not to judge you or talk about academic honesty. The choice is always up to you.
 
We are here to remind you about plagiarism detectors that are widely used by teachers today. Plagiarism detector software allows teachers to spot easily whether you have completed an assignment independently or stolen someone’s ideas.
 
Let us explain you something about plagiarism detectors so that you know how they work and how to keep your secrets unrevealed.
 
Plagiarism detectors: how they work
 
In a few words, plagiarism detectors compare submitted documents with a huge number of other documents on the Web. If some parts in the submitted document match with the parts in online documents, a paper is considered plagiarized.
 
Different types of plagiarism detectors
 
There are free plagiarism detectors that anybody can download such as Plagiarismdetect, eTblast, Plagium, and some others.
There are also commercial plagiarism detectors like Turnitin, Copyscape, SafeAssign, and others.
 
Is it possible to “cheat” plagiarism detectors?
 
You know, everything is possible, and deceiving computer programs is possible as well.
 
You should just take some precautions every time you decide to “cheat”.
 

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Everything has to be perfect. And that essay or term paper you worked on the entire night as well. So, you sit in front of your computer, type in something like “how to check for plagerism”, and nothing happens. Well, the first thing you should remember is: the word “plagiarism” is written with “ia”. Such silly mistake as misspelling might hamper the progress of your work.
 
Let us move on. Luckily for you, there are plenty of ways how you can check for plagiarizing pretty much everything written. You can choose from a number of services and can either pay for them or find those that offer services for free. We choose a budget swap.
 
The question how to check for plagiarism is simple to answer with today’s technologies. A lot of plagiarism detection engines have a database of already scanned and published texts, so whenever a new one appears, you can detect pretty much everything – from a 100 percent plagiarism to just a tiny bit of it. In many ways an answered question “How to check a paper for plagiarism?” has saved a lot of time and nerves, because before these services appeared students had to Google every sentence, trying to answer the question “How to check for plagiarism.”
 
So, how to check for plagiarism:

• register on a chosen software site;
• upload your paper;
• wait while it is being scanned;
• get a report.

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It seems that these days the problem of plagiarism is associated with teachers, students, and schools most of all. Many students refer to cheating when it comes to completing their assignments, and teachers want to stop it.
 
Basically, they do it with the help of plagiarism check or detection programs that are, actually, quite effective. This means that plagiarized papers and cheaters who have submitted them are spotted at once.
 
If you are a busy student who is looking for a bit illegal ways of completing his/her papers, this article about plagiarism detection programs will be useful.
 
How do teachers use plagiarism detection programs?
 
Everything is very simple. There are a lot of such free and commercial plagiarism detection programs as Turnitin, Copyscape, Plagiarism-Detector, Chimpsky, and others.
 
Once a teacher hesitates whether a student has prepared a work independently, he/she uses one of the plagiarism detection programs. A program checks a submitted paper against hundreds of other works on the Web. So, if you have downloaded a paper or copy-pasted some passages, a plagiarism detection program will detect this.
 
How do students use plagiarism detection programs?
 

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Even if you do not know a dictionary definition of plagiarism, you definitely can explain it in your own words. If to be short and precise, plagiarism is defined as stealing – stealing someone’s ideas, words, etc.
 
For the great majority of people, stealing is an immoral act that should lead to some kind of punishment. Then why so many students continue plagiarizing?
 
Let us once again talk about this problem and give some explanations.
 
What is the definition of plagiarism?
 
Most probably, you have your own interpretation. However, we want you to know a dictionary definition of plagiarism.
 
According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary definition of plagiarism, it is:

1. “an act or instance of plagiarizing”;
2. “something plagiarized”.

It is also important to explain what plagiarizing means. Well, according to the same dictionary, plagiarizing is defined as:

• “stealing and passing off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: use (another’s production) without crediting the source”;
• “committing literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source”.

What are the reasons for plagiarism?
 
Well, you know the dictionary definition of plagiarism. But what do you know about the reasons for this phenomenon? Are students not afraid of failing their courses or being expelled from school?
 
Sure they are, but the nature of plagiarism is a bit different. Here are several common reasons:


• Students are short of time to complete all their assignments;
• They see some of their peers plagiarizing without being caught;
• They just see no point in paraphrasing the words of reputable scholars, like “I cannot do it better”.

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Plagiarism is a serious offense that usually leads to a severe punishment. If you are a student, the minimal punishment you can get for plagiarizing is a zero grade on a paper/course.
 
Cheating is nowadays one of the ways to complete written assignments. Some smart guys figured this out and decided to take counter-measures. Now, students have to struggle not only with their assignments but also with online plagiarism detection tools.
 
Let us explain you something about online plagiarism checkers, the ways teachers use them, and how you can benefit from online plagiarism checkers.
 
Online plagiarism checkers and teachers
 
Unfortunately, nowadays teachers cannot rely on students’ conscience and devotion to studies. This is why they use online plagiarism checkers almost each time while checking your essays and other works.
 
Such online plagiarism checkers as TurnitIn, EVE, or MyDropBox allow detecting plagiarized works quickly and easily. So, you should think twice before submitting someone’s work or copying someone’s ideas.
 
Online plagiarism checkers and students
 
Online plagiarism checkers can also be very beneficial for students in at least two ways.
 
Way #1
 
You are a dedicated student and academic honesty is your policy. You complete all your assignments independently. If you borrow someone’s ideas, you always cite them.
 
However, some mistakes in citing, which happens rather frequently, usually lead to accusations of plagiarism. So, online plagiarism checkers can help you avoid unnecessary problems.
 
Way #2
 

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You have heard many stories when students failed their courses just because they were caught plagiarizing. Well, here is one more story to convince you to never-ever plagiarize.
 
“I am basically an A student: I always do my homework, I try to plan my time, so that all my assignments are done ahead of time. But this time I got really overwhelmed with the homework I have received. Any of you would…
 
For that week, I had to finish three research papers - for my History, Biology and English Literature class. I was so stressed; I felt that I needed to do something about it. So, I decided to find some good paper online that I could use for my History class. I remember my History class teacher mentioning some online plagiarism detector, but I guess I did not think about it at all when I was going to find that paper online.
 
Fortunately or not, I found a paper that was exactly what I needed. So, when it came to paraphrasing I thought that I did not really have to do that, since my teacher would not probably use this online plagiarism detector.
 
So, the next day I submitted the paper - I was happy that I could focus on my other assignments now. However, in the evening our telephone rang - it was my History teacher. He told my parents that I failed the course, because I stole a paper. He said that a plagiarism detector found this online paper…”
 
This is a sad story… And you should realize that your teachers do take advantage of online plagiarism detectors. If you do not want to fail, you should produce your own piece, instead of stealing.

No wonder EVE plagiarism detection software is so popular. With all the essay databases, teachers are going crazy. To have at least some control of the situation, they use all kinds of plagiarism detection tools.
 
EVE plagiarism detection systems (essay verification engines) work following a typical scheme. It is not Internet-based. You will need to pay a certain price to use EVE plagiarism detection software or trial it for free during several days. EVE plagiarism detection software checks essays against a certain base of materials placed online.
 
Such EVE plagiarism detection system is used to check the content of an essay to discover whether a student cheated or not. Teachers use it actively these days. This is why for all of you cheaters reading this, keep in mind – even if you purchase or download not a very reliable but a very cheap essay paper, at least read it and try to rewrite sentences basing on the ideas and sources already researched for you.
 
Certainly, EVE plagiarism software is not almighty. It works only with concrete programs and formats. So, you can inhale and sigh with relief. However, EVE plagiarism detection system proved to be extremely effective even though somehow narrowed down, so the cheaters are still in danger.
 
Do not hope that the teacher will leave you along with your manipulations. An experienced one will clearly see or at least suspect something. Plus, teachers have this really weird habit to memorize each student’s style and manner of writing. So, if there are major differences in a short period of time, be sure your paper will be scanned for plagiarism, if it has not been yet.

Copyright infringement…Wow, it sounds so complicated. However, in reality, copyright infringement can be defined using three words: stealing someone’s work. Copyright infringement is usually illegal, since it violates copyright laws.
 
Let us look at some examples of copyright infringement.
 
First example of copyright infringement: downloading music and movies.
 
This is a very popular type of “sharing” music and movies, but this is actually piracy, which is illegal. This example of copyright infringement proves that the techniques and tools for fighting against piracy has not been found yet, since hundreds of people continue distributing pirated copies of movies and music. Even the warnings about copyright laws and punishment for “camming” a movie do not help today - people continue making money on stealing and selling somebody’s ideas.
 
Second example of copyright infringement: plagiarizing written works.
 
This example of copyright infringement belongs to the category of high school/university rules’ violations that can even lead to expulsion. Plagiarizing somebody’s work and presenting it as your own is another type of piracy, since you have no right to use this work unless you cite it properly. So, be careful about plagiarizing - you can get caught very easily and get punished very severely.
 
These two examples of copyright infringement are the most common ones that we face every day. However, everything is up to us - we can either ignore this issue or do something about it. Certainly, you do not find these issues appealing until you produce a worthwhile piece of writing, music, video and it gets stolen and spread over the Internet. Only then, you will realize that copyright infringement should be prevented by all possible means.
 
So, if you decide to fight against copyright infringement, you should start with yourself, never copying or recording information that belongs to somebody.

When we talk about plagiarism, there are at least two interested subjects - a student and a teacher - involved in this issue…
 
Certainly, interests of these two subjects are different, if not even opposite. This would be wrong to say that students are interested in promoting plagiarism or that teachers do everything possible to catch those who plagiarize. The issue is much more complicated: students, when under pressure, start taking advantage of plagiarism, and teachers, in order to promote justice and fairness, start inventing ways to prevent plagiarism.
 
So, let us turn to the causes of plagiarism, i.e. why students still plagiarize:

• Students are overwhelmed with assignments.

  Would it not be wiser for teachers who want to prevent plagiarism to simply give students less assignments and try to consider the fact that students have to complete assignments for other subjects as well?

• Students hope that anti-plagiarism software will not be used to check their work.

  Would it not be better for teachers to remind students about software he/she uses to prevent plagiarism?

• Students do not have good research skills to make their own findings, rather than to plagiarize.

  Would it not be smarter for a teacher who is struggling to prevent plagiarism to give students additional support in research, explaining different citation styles, research methods, etc.?

Whenever you have a problem, it is always better to start from its origin and cause. So, if these recommendations on how to prevent plagiarism were considered by teachers, this problem would not be so disturbing, continuously growing and developing.

Certainly, these causes cannot serve as good excuses for plagiarism. So, dear students, do everything possible not to plagiarize!