6 Types of Plagiarism Detection

When it comes to detecting plagiarism, it’s important to cite authors and ideas correctly. 

Plagiarism checkers can help you avoid common types of plagiarism (like unintentional plagiarism) while ensuring that your writing is uniquely and authentically your own. 

However, there are a variety of plagiarism checkers available. Some may scan according to the contents of specific databases, while others check for duplicate content appearing across search engine web pages. 

Understanding the different types of plagiarism detectors can help you confidently choose the best plagiarism checker for your use case. 

1. Web-Search-Based Plagiarism Checkers

Web-search plagiarism checkers scan content submissions to determine whether the text matches content that’s already published online (such as through Google’s search engine). 

Originality.ai offers an industry-leading plagiarism checker, which is web-search-based, making it a fantastic choice for editors, writers, content marketers, and web publishers.

Other plagiarism checkers that offer online plagiarism detection or web-search-based plagiarism detection include Grammarly and Copyscape.

Check out our reviews of the Grammarly plagiarism detector and Copyscape plagiarism detector to see how they compare to Originality.ai. 

As a quick snapshot of our findings:

• Originality.ai had a notable lead over Grammarly in identifying global plagiarism at a 15% threshold; Originality.ai exhibited 86% accuracy, whereas Grammarly had 80.3% accuracy. 
• Originality.ai had exceptional performance compared to Copyscape in detecting global plagiarism at a 5% threshold; Originality.ai showcased 88% accuracy, whereas Copyscape had 68.5% accuracy.

Note: A threshold refers to when a text contains more than a specific percantage of content from other sources.

2. Academic Plagiarism Checkers

Academic plagiarism checkers are often integrated into online LMS (Learning Management System) programs like Blackboard and others. 

These types of plagiarism detection tools are specifically designed to scan academic databases, student-submitted papers (both university-wide and across different campuses) and research articles. 

Safeassign is an example of an academic plagiarism checker. Learn more about Safeassign’s plagiarism detection.

3. Code Plagiarism Checkers

Some plagiarism checkers are designed and optimized specifically to check for plagiarism in code. Think code can’t be plagiarized? Think again. Developers often have a “coding style” or fingerprint, just like writers have their own style and tone. 

Code plagiarism checkers are used in computer science classes as well as by coding and development companies to check for similarities in code or to see if assignments were completed by someone else. 

4. Cross-Language Plagiarism Checkers

Cross-language plagiarism checkers make it possible to check for plagiarism in different languages.
The ability to identify plagiarism from multilanguage sources is an asset in multiple fields from marketing to education. For example, it's a great way to reduce the risk of publishing duplicate content that was previously published in a different language

For instance, Originality.ai offers multilingual capabilities with its plagiarism checker.

5. CMS-Based Plagiarism Checkers

Like academic plagiarism checkers that are built into their respective LMS programs, CMS-based plagiarism checkers are integrated into their respective CMS or Content Management Systems. 

Many such plagiarism detectors use APIs to integrate their services with different types of content management systems. 

For example, there are a variety of Wordpress plagiarism checkers. How each of these operates depends on the specifications of the particular plugin.

6. AI Powered Plagiarism Checkers

These more sophisticated plagiarism checkers use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to detect possible plagiarism.

In addition to offering web-searched-based plagiarism detection, the Originality.ai plagiarism checker uses advanced machine learning to offer industry-leading detection capabilities.

Detecting AI-generated text

As the presence of AI increases in Google search results, pairing plagiarism detection with AI detection is another important step in publishing original content.

In addition to a plagiarism detector, Originality.ai also offers an AI checker. When you sign up you can streamline your editorial process by scanning for potential instances of AI and plagiarism at the same time.

A Brief Look at How Plagiarism Checkers Work

Here’s a quick overview of how plagiarism checkers work:

• First, a user submits the text they want to check.
• Then, the system or platform divides it up into smaller pieces.
  • This helps it “digest” the information and check for specific types of plagiarism, like paraphrased content. 
• Next, it compares the chunks of content to see how similar they are to content that is already appearing in online web searches or with other sources like academic databases.
  • Whether it checks online search results, academic databases, or other sources varies by detector.

Final Thoughts

Using a plagiarism checker can help you identify potential instances of plagiarism before you publish. However, there are several kinds of plagiarism detectors, so the best type of plagiarism checker for you will depend on your use case. 

The Originality.ai plagiarism detector is a fantastic choice for content marketers and web publishers looking to publish with integrity and confidence.

Looking to learn more about plagiarism? Check out our resources:

• 8 Plagiarism Examples to Learn From
• How to Support Students to Avoid Plagiarism in Assignments
• Paraphrasing and Plagiarism — A Complete Guide
• How to Compare Two Web Pages?
• Can You Plagiarize Yourself?