Instances of Internet plagiarism for many types of materials can be detected with online plagiarism checkers. These utilities detect online plagiarism, which is the use of original material without the permission of the author, artist, or owner. Materials falling prey to this brand of intellectual theft include articles, short stories, images and music among others.

A particular problem area is the sale of black market term papers, essays and reports to students. Although many of these academic creations are indeed pirated, others are specifically written to sell. The buyers do not realize, however, that the same paper may be sold more than once and that teachers are actively on the lookout for this kind of activity. Even if students are doing their own work, it is not unusual for them to plagiarize materials online either with full knowledge of what they are doing or because they do not understand how to use source material to compose original essays.

Bloggers are often guilty of copying information word for word and not giving a link to the original source, which is more or less the etiquette of the blogosphere for this kind of usage. Without that link or clear attribution to a source, those blog posts or other use of copied material on a personal website constitute plagiarism.

Tools for Scanning Material for Plagiarism

There are quite a few different online plagiarism checkers that can help you to detect online plagiarism. Listed here are some of the more popular ones. If you have ever asked yourself “Is there a website that detects plagiarism?” or “Is there something I can use to make sure nobody is plagiarizing my work?” then here is your answer.

Plagiarism-Finder

Plagiarism-Finder (www.m4-software.com) is a Windows application. You enter documents and the software will find copies of those documents from the Internet and report its findings. The software retails for approximately $125.

Copyscape

Copyscape (www.copyscape.com) is a handy online tool to check for plagiarism, however the material you are checking must exist online. If you want to check a document or file, it will have to be uploaded to a server before it can be checked. The Copyscape interface requires the user to enter a webpage address to perform its evaluation.

Eve2

Eve2 (www.canexus.com/eve) is software that can be used to find out if material has been plagiarized from the Internet. It accepts materials either in plain text, Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect formats and finds links to online material that is similar. The package costs approximately $30.

iThenticate

iThenticate (www.ithenticate.com) is mainly used by the owners of intellectual property. It helps publishers, news agencies and other corporations ensure that the work they receive is original.

Plagiarism Checker

Plagiarism Checker (www.plagiarismchecker.com) is a free service on the Internet that helps you find out whether student papers have been copied from the Internet. The user enters phrases from different parts of the questionable document and the interface searches for duplicate texts online.

Plagium

Plagium (www.plagium.com) is a free service on the Internet. You paste your original text in a box, and Plagium will find any copies on the Internet.

Turn It In

Turn It In (www.turnitin.com) is an anti-plagiarism software that focuses mainly on education. It looks at documents and identifies those which contain material that is not original. It is often used by educational facilities, such as schools, colleges and universities.

WCopyFind 2.6

WCopyfind2.5 is an anti-plagiarism software package that looks at documents and compares them for matching words. However, this packages does not search the Internet. It is free to download.

Tips on Confronting Plagiarists

If you do find that your work has been plagiarized, you then need to decide what to do about it. The first step is to keep details of the work that has been plagiarized and the source from which it was plagiarized. Get any proof necessary, including proof that shows that you wrote the work before it was plagiarized by the other party. Take down any links, contact details or other relevant information. Note all this information, even if you decide not to take action at this time, as it may come in handy later, should you change your mind.

Once you have your proof and are satisfied that the work was plagiarized, you then need to decide what action you want to take. You might consider serving a DMCA notice, requesting that the material be removed. Alternatively, you could just contact the person who has plagiarized your work, telling them that the work was not used with your authorization and asking them to remove it. Even though you may be very angry, it is important to be courteous and not to display your anger in your letter.

Conclusion

The Internet is a useful source for a wealth of information, however, this also means that some of the material may eventually be plagiarized. Educators have long had a problem with plagiarism and online education is no different. The Internet makes it easier to research material, but unfortunately it also makes it easier for students to copy essays and term papers. Using a plagiarism checker online has been very handy for teachers wishing to check that their students work is original, but it can also be very useful for writers to detect online plagiarism regarding their own work. Online plagiarism checkers help to ensure that copyrighted work is not used without authorization.