Before you submit an essay, a research paper or a thesis, it is worth checking it the way your teacher might. A plagiarism check shows which of your sentences match pages already published online, so you can fix a missing citation or a paraphrase that stayed too close to the source while there is still time. This page is for students who want to hand in their own work with confidence.
When to run the check
The best moment is after you finish writing and before the final proofread. If you check too early, you will have to repeat the work after every change. If you check at the last minute, you may not have time to rewrite a section properly. For a long thesis or dissertation, check each chapter as you complete it.
How to check your essay
- Upload the file (.docx, .pdf, .odt or .txt, up to 10 MB) or paste the text into the checker above.
- Leave out the title page, the table of contents, the reference list and the appendices. Titles of books and journals in your references match many pages and add nothing useful.
- Keep your quotations in the text. They will show up as matches, which lets you confirm that each one has quotation marks and a citation.
- Start the check and wait while the text is compared with pages found on the web.
- Read the share of original text, the list of sources and the matching fragments.
Understanding your result
The uniqueness score tells you how much of the text had no match in the sources that were found. It is a useful summary, but the matching fragments matter more, because they show exactly where to look. A source that shares several long passages with your essay needs attention; ten sources that each share one common phrase usually do not.
There is no universal acceptable percentage. A literature review full of properly cited quotations will have more matches than a personal reflection, and both can be completely honest. Check your course guidelines, and ask your teacher if you are not sure.
How to fix the matches
- Correct quotation: if the passage is in quotation marks and has a citation, leave it as it is.
- Missing citation: add the author, year and page in the citation style your course uses, plus an entry in the reference list.
- Close paraphrase: if you only changed a few words, rewrite the idea from your own understanding and still cite the source.
- Common wording: standard terms, definitions and set phrases do not need to be changed.
Avoid swapping words for synonyms just to lower the number of matches. It makes the text harder to read and does not fix the real problem, which is an idea used without credit.
What the check does not cover
The checker compares your text with pages found on the web. It does not see private university databases, paid journals or work that other students have submitted but not published. It also does not tell you whether a text sounds AI-generated; for that, use the AI detector. A clean result means that no web matches were found, not that your essay can never be questioned, so careful notes and citations remain your best protection.
Tips for a smooth submission
- Record the full reference of every source while you read, so that you never have to guess where a sentence came from.
- After fixing the matches, check only the changed sections again instead of the whole essay.
- Download the PDF of the result and keep it with your drafts.
You can check for free without registration within limits, and signed-in users and PRO subscribers can check more.