Plagiarism is serious business, and any mistake can lead to job loss, legal troubles or worse. It is a concern for writers, editors and publishers alike.
If you have the resources of a large news organization, you can likely afford expensive software. However, smaller newsrooms or organizations don't have the same access. These tools are all free and easy to access online.
Dupli Checker
This plagiarism checker has a clean, easy-to-use interface and is absolutely free. Users have the option to create an account, which will allow them up to 50 searches per day. Without a free account, users are only allowed one. To check content, users can either upload a .docx or .txt file, or simply paste the text.
Plagiarisma
Although the interface is outdated, the tool has a great deal of features that make it worth using. Plagiarisma supports over 190 languages, and allows users to check their content by uploading computer files, pasting text into the field or providing a URL. Users have a limited number of checks per day, and can pay to do more.
Grammarly
Grammarly can be used to check for plagiarism and proofread for grammatical and spelling errors. It is available in an online app or Chrome extension, and annotates errors that it identifies. Users are required to create an account to use it, but most features are available for free.
Search Engine Report Plagiarism Checker
This is a clean, simple and straightforward plagiarism checker that is available for free. Users can paste, upload documents from their computer or connect to dropbox. After the plagiarism checker runs through your work, it will be highlighted green and red — green for plagiarism free and red for content that has already been published.
Paperrater
This proofreader and plagiarism checker does not require any account information. Users simply paste their text, and it will be analyzed for already-published material, grammar mistakes and vocabulary suggestions. A limited number of checks and pages are free, before users are required to pay.
Edubirdie
Edubirdie is an online, paid, essay-writing service that has a feature for checking for checking plagiarism. Although users are constantly receiving messages for paid plans and other services with Edubirdie, the plagiarism checker is free. Users receive a highlighted copy of their text, with links to places where it matches previously-published content.
Plagium
This online plagiarism checker is free up to 5,000 characters. Users simply paste the text they want to analyze, and receive a report. The paid version allows users to upload documents, without character limit.
Main image CC-licensed by Unsplash via Markus Spiske.
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