Sometimes the Scribbr Plagiarism Check finds similarities that are not forms of plagiarism, such as references and correctly cited sources. You can exclude these irrelevant similarities from your total similarity score.
Exclude similarities:
Step 1: Open your Plagiarism Check results.
Step 2: Click on the highlighted similarity that you would like to exclude.
Step 3: Click on the “Exclude” button on the right.
The similarity is now excluded from your total similarity score.
If you have excluded multiple sources from your total similarity score, then you might see an error message in your Plagiarism Check results. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot fix at the moment.
If you encounter this issue, you can simply ignore all irrelevant similarities and subtract their score from your total similarity score. This allows you to calculate your actual similarity score by yourself.
If you accidentally uploaded the wrong document to the Plagiarism Checker, Scribbr will not refund you for this check or give you a discount for another check. The check starts automatically upon payment, which is why we cannot change your document anymore.
Your work should not contain any plagiarism. Even if your score is 1%, you will need to review each similarity and decide whether it’s necessary to revise your work.
But contrary to popular belief, plagiarism checkers workby detecting similarities, not plagiarism. Not all similarities are plagiarism. Similarities can be:
If you’re unable to view the Plagiarism Check results in your browser, please try the following two solutions:
1. Are you using Google Chrome?
We’ve found that using Google Chrome resolves most issues related to the results page. First, try using Google Chrome to open your Plagiarism Check results. If you are already using Google Chrome, or if this solution does not work, then proceed to the second solution.
2. Contact support for a PDF copy of the results.
If the first solution doesn’t work, you can contact our support team via chat or email and request a PDF copy of the results via email. This way, you can still review and process the results. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Scribbr checks your document for plagiarism only once. You can use the “exclude text” feature to exclude similarities that you’ve resolved, which automatically updates your similarity score.
If you would like to recheck your entire document, you can purchase a new plagiarism check at the regular price. We don’t currently offer a subscription service.
Sometimes a quote is marked as a similarity by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker. A quote is not a form of plagiarism, but you do have to ensure you have properly cited the original source.
If you’re certain that you have correctly quoted and cited, you can exclude the similarity from your plagiarism score.
When quoting fewer than 40 words, use double quotation marks around the quote, and provide an APA in-text citation that includes the author, the year, and a page number or range.
Horváth and Kovács (2020) argue that “plagiarism is often a matter of confusion rather than deception” (p. 4).
A recent study of student plagiarism found that “plagiarism is often a matter of confusion rather than deception”(Horváth & Kovács, 2020, p. 4).
Quotes over 40 words
If the quote contains 40 words or more, format it as a block quote, which begins on a new line and is indented in its entirety. Include an in-text citation after the period.
Sometimes it is necessary to quote a source at length:
Block quoting is particularly useful when you want to comment on an author’s language or present an argument that you will then critique. By setting the quote on a new line and indenting it, the passage is clearly marked apart from your own words. Therefore, no quotation marks are necessary. (O’Connor, 2019, p. 38)
The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker detect similarities between your paper and a comprehensive database of web and publication content. Because many students write their references in the same way (for instance in APA Style), a plagiarism checker finds many similarities with these sources.
A reference found by the check is not a form of plagiarism. Therefore, there is no need to take action.
How to exclude your reference list from your results:
You can exclude matches from your reference list in your Plagiarism Check results. However, please be aware that this might not always work, depending on your document.
Step 1: Open your Plagiarism Check results.
Step 2: Click the settings button in the “Sources overview” (see picture below).
Step 3: Select exclude reference list (see picture below).
Step 4: Click “Done.”
