Checking for plagiarism is an essential step in any writing workflow, whether you are a student submitting a thesis, an educator grading assignments, or a publisher verifying content originality. Even careful writers can unintentionally include phrases or ideas that overlap with existing sources. A thorough plagiarism check catches these issues before they become problems.
Plagiarism detection also serves as a quality assurance tool. Running a check before publication or submission gives you confidence that your work is properly attributed and original. For institutions, routine plagiarism checking deters dishonest behavior and maintains academic or editorial standards across all submissions.
Before running a plagiarism check, ensure your document is in a supported file format. Plagiarism Detector accepts 12+ formats including DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, PPT, PPTX, TXT, ODT, and HTML. If your document is in a format that requires conversion, use the native "Save As" function in your word processor to export it to a supported type.
Review your document for completeness before scanning. Make sure all sections are present, including your bibliography and reference list. The plagiarism checker compares your full text against online sources, so having your references included helps the reference detection feature automatically distinguish cited material from potentially plagiarized passages.
For batch processing, organize multiple files in a single folder. The Folder Watch feature monitors a designated directory and automatically queues new documents for checking, which is ideal for educators processing an entire class of submissions at once.
Plagiarism Detector offers 7 distinct check types, each designed for a different scenario. The Internet check is the most common — it compares your text against 4+ billion web pages using Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo simultaneously. The SciPap DB check searches a dedicated database of scientific papers, making it ideal for academic research.
The PDAS check compares documents against your institution's private accumulator server, useful for detecting recycled submissions. Combined check runs Internet and SciPap checks together for maximum coverage. Local Folder check compares a document against files stored on your computer. Document Pair check directly compares two specific documents. Everything check runs all available checks in a single pass for the most thorough analysis.
Choose your check type based on your needs. Students submitting coursework should use the Internet or Combined check. Researchers preparing manuscripts benefit from SciPap DB. Teachers checking a batch of student papers can use the PDAS check to cross-reference submissions against each other and previous terms.
Launch Plagiarism Detector and use the Quick Start wizard or the document queue to load your files. Select your preferred check type from the toolbar, then click the check button to begin the scan. The application processes your document locally on your desktop — your text is never uploaded to any external cloud server, ensuring complete privacy for sensitive content.
During the scan, the software extracts text from your document, generates text fingerprints, and queries multiple search engines to find matching content online. Processing time depends on document length and the check type selected. An Internet check on a typical 5,000-word essay takes approximately one to three minutes. You can continue working while the check runs in the background.
Download a free demo or purchase a license to start checking for plagiarism and AI-generated content.
Once the scan is complete, Plagiarism Detector generates a detailed Originality Report. This report highlights every passage that matches external sources, with color-coded annotations showing the matched text and direct links to the original sources. The overall similarity score gives you a quick summary, while the detailed view lets you examine each match individually.
Pay close attention to the reference detection results. The software automatically identifies properly cited quotations and bibliographic references, distinguishing them from uncited matches. This prevents false positives on material you have already attributed correctly. Review any remaining flagged passages and decide whether they need a citation, a rewrite, or are coincidental matches.
The report also includes AI content detection results, showing whether any sections of your document appear to be generated by tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or HuggingChat. This integrated analysis provides a complete picture of document originality in a single scan.
To get the most accurate results from your plagiarism check, always scan the final version of your document rather than early drafts. Include your full reference list so the reference detection feature can work properly. If you are checking multiple documents that reference each other, use the Local Folder or PDAS check to cross-compare them.
Consider using the Microsoft Office add-ins for Word and PowerPoint to run checks directly from your word processor without switching applications. For ongoing projects, set up the Folder Watch feature to automatically scan new files as you save them. These workflow integrations make plagiarism checking a seamless part of your writing process rather than a separate step.
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