How can I check my plagiarism rate before submitting my thesis/dissertation?

From the very first year, every school warns about plagiarism. The infamous legend of "if you plagiarize, you're expelled and can never enroll anywhere else." We don’t know if it’s true, and we’re not asking you to test it out. Instead, we’re here to give you some tips and help you navigate the obstacle course that is submitting your thesis or dissertation 💪

The absolute basics to avoid plagiarism? Cite your sources. Why cite your sources? First, so your work isn’t labeled as plagiarism—makes sense, right? But also to back up your arguments. The number and relevance of your sources give readers an idea of how reliable your work is (so yeah, let’s skip the classic Wikipedia 😉). It’s also crucial for copyright reasons. After all, other people didn’t go through the trouble of writing their work just for you to ignore them in yours.

❗️When you quote someone, don’t forget to put the passage in quotation marks. If you're unsure how to do it properly, check out our article on APA citation rules.

To check your plagiarism rate before submitting your work, you can use online plagiarism checkers—some free, some paid.

For 100% reliability, we recommend the paid ones. But there are also free tools that are pretty solid.

1. At the top of the list: Compilatio. You need to buy credits, which correspond to a number of words. We recommend getting 200 credits for €25, which covers 50,000 words—perfect for a dissertation. For smaller papers, a €15 plan should be enough. You upload your document, and the platform scans it against its database, highlighting plagiarized sections, showing the sources, and giving you a plagiarism score.
2. Quetext is another paid plagiarism checker. But this sneaky tool can even detect plagiarism when words have been modified. You get 1,500 words for free, then you’ll have to pay.
3. Duplicate Content Checker is an English website, but don’t worry—it analyzes French texts too. The good news? It’s completely free!
4. EasyBib is the most comprehensive. In addition to plagiarism detection, it can also correct your spelling. The downside? You only get a 3-day free trial before it becomes paid.
5. Plagscan compares your document with those available online and gives you a plagiarism percentage. The first 2,000 words are free, then you’ll need a subscription.
6. Plagramme analyzes your work and provides a plagiarism percentage. The good news? It doesn’t store your work afterward. The bad news? It’s paid.

Good luck!

Also worth reading:

Where to find scientific articles for academic work

Quick tips for successful exam preparation