Verdict: The results from tests carried out on the checker were good. It detected plagiarism in four out of the six test documents.
Service: www.effectivepapers.com/plagiarism-checker-for-students.html | |
| What are the subscription options? e.g. free, paid only, paid and free. If paid options, what length of subscription/price structure is offered? | Online scanner which may be used on a trial basis. Less restricted use is provided following the purchase of a custom essay. |
| Maximum word count? (if any) | Unlimited/ not specified. |
| Resubmissions allowed? If so, is this limited? | Five scans per month allowed. Customers of the site, who have purchased a custom essay, are allowed up to 100 scans a month. |
| 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 no support offered for the online plagiarism checker although there is an FAQ section focusing on the paid-for services it offers as well as a day-time contact telephone number. |
| Report / results | |
| Type of report Downloadable? Shareable? | Reports are generated within the website’s browser but these can’t be downloaded or shared. |
| Side by side comparison to plagiarism? | No. |
| 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 | Not detected. The online scanner did not identify 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 website which contained material that had been plagiarised. |
| Some words changed – copied and pasted from a website source | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified the website 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 | Detected. The online scanner correctly identified 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? | |
| Effective papers is a website which provides model answers for its student customers (for a fee of course). It provides a plagiarism checker on its website which registered users can use up to five times a month without charge and, unlike other websites offering similar services, the registration process is fairly straight-forward. Customers who have purchased a model answer can use the checker up to 100 times a month. The design of the website is professional and caters well to its potential customers. Its online scanner appears a little basic – text can only be pasted into it as there is no file upload facility – and no further options are provided other than executing the search. Unlike many scanners, which have a maximum number of words or characters which can be searched in one go, this plagiarism checker has a minimum number of characters. However, this can easily be remedied by pasting your work twice if it doesn’t hit the character count the first time. The results from tests carried out on the checker were good. It detected plagiarism in four out of the six test documents, in blanket plagiarism, in plagiarism where words had been removed or changed as well as in a document which plagiarised an electronic book. It failed to detect plagiarism in an online pdf or in a work that had been entirely paraphrased. It is a wonder whether Effective Papers realise they have one of the more effective plagiarism scanners available on the internet – if they did, they would surely charge a fee to access it instead of bundling it with every new order. The current restrictions, which limit registered users who haven’t placed an order to just five searches a month, severely limit its use. | |
