Can you use Turnitin for free?

Question 1

Answer

The consequences of plagiarism vary depending on the severity of the infraction. Some types of plagiarism, such as direct plagiarism, are more serious than others, such as self-plagiarism.

If you’re a student, then you might fail the course, be suspended or expelled, or be obligated to attend a workshop on plagiarism. It depends on whether it’s your first offense or whether you’ve done it before.

As an academic or professional, the consequences are more serious. Aside from the fact that plagiarizing seriously damages your reputation, you might also lose your research funding and/ or your job.

Plagiarizing is a serious offense, and knowing how to avoid plagiarism is therefore important. Read more about the consequences of plagiarism and use a plagiarism checker to detect plagiarism yourself.

Question 2

Are plagiarism checkers accurate?

Answer

The accuracy depends on the plagiarism checker you use. Scribbr is the most accurate plagiarism checker. Many free plagiarism checkers fail to detect all plagiarism or falsely flag text as plagiarism.

Take a look at this comparison of free and paid plagiarism checkers for students to find the most accurate plagiarism checker.

The accuracy is determined by two factors: the algorithm (which recognizes the plagiarism) and the size of the database (with which your document is compared).

Size of the database

Many free plagiarism checkers only check your paper against websites – not against books, journals or papers previously submitted by other students. Therefore, these plagiarism checkers are not very accurate, as they miss a lot of plagiarism.

Algorithm

Most plagiarism checkers are only able to detect “direct plagiarism”, or instances where the sentences are exactly the same as in the original source. However, a good plagiarism checker is also able to detect “patchwork plagiarism” (sentences where some words are changed or synonyms are used).

Question 3

Is it plagiarism if you cite the source?

Answer

If you correctly cite the source you do not commit plagiarism. However, the word ‘correct’ is vital in this sentence. In order to avoid plagiarism you must adhere to the guidelines of your citation style (e.g. APA citation style or MLA citation style).

Plagiarism checker software can be used to check your text for plagiarism. This software compares your text with billions of webpages, books and articles.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Question 4

What is the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing?

Answer

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s work or ideas without crediting the original author and thereby pretending it’s your own.

Paraphrasing means rephrasing the original text in your own words.

So, where does the confusion come from?

When using someone else’s work, you can either quote or paraphrase it to prevent plagiarism. Paraphrase a text if you want to clarify or shorten the original text. Quote the text if you want to keep the exact wording and meaning of the original source.

Question 5

Is paraphrasing considered plagiarism?

Answer

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is considered plagiarism and therefore has serious consequences.

However, if you do credit the original author correctly using an in-text citation or footnote citation and include the full source in the reference list, then you do not commit plagiarism.

In order to avoid plagiarism, you must always cite the source in the correct citation format; otherwise, you are presenting something as your own work, even though it’s not.

The difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism

Question 6

Can you plagiarize yourself?

Answer

Although it sounds contradictory, you can indeed plagiarize yourself. This is called self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism goes against the expectations of the reader that the paper you submitted is new.

You can plagiarize yourself by, for instance:

Submitting a document you previously submitted for a different course
Using a section of a previous paper without correctly citing yourself as the source

Although self-plagiarism is often unintentional, it can have serious consequences. Be sure to cite your previous work or discuss the decision to use your old paper with your professor.

Read more about self-plagiarism

Question 7

Should I check my paper for plagiarism before submitting it to my instructor?

Answer

If you’ve correctly cited all the sources you used, then you do not need to use a plagiarism checker before submitting your paper to your instructor. However, if you want to be sure that you didn’t forget to cite anything, then you can use a plagiarism checker yourself.

There are both free plagiarism checkers and paid plagiarism checkers, such as the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker.

To help you, we compared popular plagiarism checkers to find out which one is best.

Best plagiarism checker comparison

Question 8

What type of documents does Scribbr check?

Answer

Scribbr is specialized in editing study related documents. We check:

Theses
Graduation projects
PhD dissertations
Essays
Admissions essays
College essays
Application essays
Personal statements
Reports
Process reports
Reflections
Internship reports
Academic papers
Interviews
Proposals
Research proposals
Prospectuses

Calculate the costs

Question 9

How does Scribbr handle confidential documents?

Answer

At Scribbr, we are committed to protecting your personal information. That’s why our employees and editors follow specific guidelines to ensure the confidentiality of your work:

Pledge of secrecy
Signed statement prohibiting publication or third-party sharing
Obligation to delete files
Secure connection (SSL)

Both the original and edited versions of your document are saved on our secure server for 12 months. After this period, the files are automatically deleted. However, you can manually delete your files at any time via your user profile.

Tip: If you still have concerns about confidential information in your document, you can take additional measures to anonymize this data. We advise you to do the following:

Change company names and other identifying details
Delete data and analyses that do not need proofreading

Can I ask Scribbr to sign an NDA?

As a policy, we do not sign NDAs. Every NDA is complex and unique, and our legal team does not have the capacity to review each individual contract we receive.

However, we take extensive measures to protect the confidentiality of your documents. You can learn more about how we handle confidential information on our privacy policy page.

Question 10

Can I have my thesis edited during weekends and holidays?

Answer

Yes, our editors also work during the weekends and holidays.

Because we have many editors available, we can check your thesis 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, all year round.

If you choose a 72 hour deadline and upload your thesis on a Thursday evening, you’ll have your thesis back by Sunday evening!

Frequently asked questions

Can you use Turnitin for free?

Frequently asked questions: Plagiarism Knowledge Base

Size of the database

Algorithm

So, where does the confusion come from?

Questions?

Ask our team

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask Scribbr to sign an NDA?