Verdict: When testing the scanner using premium quality searches, it detected plagiarism in four out of six sample documents, a good result.
| Service: www.plagiarismdetect.com | |
| What are the subscription options? e.g. free, paid only, paid and freeIf paid options, what length of subscription/price structure is offered? | Online checker may be used twice without a subscription package. Minimum number of credits: 1 @ 10c ($0.10)Maximum number of credits: 9999@ 10c ($999.90) |
| Maximum word count? (if any) | Unlimited/ not specified. |
| Resubmissions allowed? If so, is this limited? | Each resubmission or scan will deduct 1 credit, worth 10c. |
| Type of scanner E.g. software download, copy and paste, upload document online. Say if multiple options are offered. | “Copy and paste’ online scanner. |
| Sources checked E.g. internet, any specific journal databases mentioned, any electronic book databases such as Google docs mentioned, past submissions from other students etc | Website – no words altered; Website – some words removed; Website – some words changed; Website – fully paraphrased; Online pdf; Electronic book. |
| File types supported E.g. doc, docx, rtf, open office, pdfs, ppts | None – the user can only cut and paste text into the online scanner. |
| Extra features? E.g. grammar checker, spelling checker | None. |
| Support offered? E.g. phone, email etc | There is an FAQ section and a “contact us” section in addition to an interactive online chat facility (available during office hours). |
| Report / results | |
| Type of report Downloadable? Shareable? | Reports are produced within the browser and may also be downloaded and shared. |
| Side by side comparison to plagiarism? | Yes. |
| Accuracy of results – Which sections were detected and which were not (make sure the correct source is identified) | |
| Basic plagiarism – copied and pasted from a website source | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified the webpage which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Basic plagiarism – copied and pasted from an online pdf | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified the online pdf which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Some words removed – copied and pasted from a website source | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified the webpage which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Some words changed – copied and pasted from a website source | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified the webpage which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Full paraphrasing – copied and pasted from a website source | Not detected. The online scanner did not identify the website which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Basic plagiarism – copied and pasted from an electronic book | Not detected. The online scanner did not identify the electronic book which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| General observations Ease of use, overall experience. If other features were included (e.g. spelling, grammar check), how easy were they to use and how useful were they? | |
| Plagiarism Detect has a professional website and they claim to “check for plagiarism like nobody else”. This is refreshing at it’s one of the few paid-for services which doesn’t made grandiose claims it can’t substantiate. The layout of the website is simple but not basic and provides a lot of useful information, including an FAQ section. It also offers a full money back guarantee. The pricing structure is both clear and reasonable. A scan can cost between 10c and 50c, depending on which type is selected and, what’s notable is that users can purchase just one scan, at 10c, if they want to (of course, this doesn’t get you much!). However, this is very different from most of its subscription-based competitors who, at the minimum, require users to spend at least $5.The plagiarism scanner which features on the website doesn’t have a file upload facility so work has to be copied and pasted directly into the browser. Users can select between a premium quality scan (5 credits per 275 words) or a standard quality scan (1 credit per 275 words). The scanning of small documents is reasonably quick – all samples took less than a minute to process. When testing the scanner using premium quality searches, it detected plagiarism in four out of six sample documents, a good result. It detected blanket plagiarism, plagiarism where words had been removed and omitted and the plagiarism of an online pdf. It did not spot the plagiarism of an online ebook and, like all the other scanners tested, it did not detect entirely paraphrased work. When repeating these searches using standard quality scans, it didn’t spot the plagiarised pdf but still scored three out of six. Plagiarism Detect is one of the more efficient and cost effective online scanners. If you’re feeling flush and want to try something more than the free online scanners, it provides a cheap but reliable alternative – unlike many of its competitors. | |
