acceptable plagiarism percentage for thesis

Frequently asked questions

What is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism.

Your work should not contain any  plagiarism . Even if your score is 1%, you will need to review each similarity and decide whether it’s necessary to revise your work.

But  contrary to popular belief, plagiarism checkers work by detecting similarities, not plagiarism . Not all similarities are plagiarism. Similarities can be:

• Properly cited quotes
• In-text citations or your reference list entries
• Commonly used phrases

What should I do with a found similarity?

Frequently asked questions: Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

The free report tells you if your text contains potential plagiarism and other writing issues. The premium report gives you the resources you need to review issues in detail and resolve them.

Scribbr’s free plagiarism checker estimates the risk of plagiarism by calculating the percentage of text in your document that’s similar to other sources.

A moderate or high risk of plagiarism means that the plagiarism software detected several similarities worth reviewing.

Note that similarities are not necessarily plagiarism. You will need to decide on your own whether your text needs revision or citation.

Information can often be found in more than one place. For this reason, other sources citing the same information you used can come up in your Sources Overview.

The important thing is to make sure you’ve cited the source of the material. Try to find the original source, but if you can’t find it, it’s best to cite the source where you found the information.

Similarities in your document are highlighted for quick and easy review. Each color corresponds to a source in your Sources Overview at the right side of your report.

Extensive testing proves that Scribbr’s plagiarism checker is one of the most accurate plagiarism checkers on the market in 2022.

The software detects everything from exact word matches to synonym swapping. It also has access to a full range of source types, including open- and restricted-access journal articles, theses and dissertations, websites, PDFs, and news articles.

No, you will never get a 100% match because the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker does not store documents in a public database.

You can change the settings of your report by clicking on the gear icon which is displayed just above the similarity score.

The settings allow you to exclude search repositories or ignore small matches, quoted material, or references in your bibliography.

No, the Self-Plagiarism Checker does not store your document in any public database.

In addition, you can delete all your personal information and documents from the Scribbr server as soon as you’ve received your plagiarism report.

Are you not satisfied with the results of the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker , or are you experiencing difficulties with the document? Find out what to do when…

• you cannot see your plagiarism results: Try opening the results in Google Chrome, or request a PDF copy .
• you see an error message in the header of your document: Don’t worry – you can ignore the error message .
• you see “Error! Bookmark not defined” in your table of contents: Don’t worry – this error doesn’t affect your results .
• you are not satisfied with your similarity score: The similarity score shows you what percentage of your text the software found in sources in the Turnitin database. That means we cannot change your score.However, you can reduce the similarities yourself by following our simple guides to interpreting the report and avoiding plagiarism . Then the similarity score of your submitted paper will be much lower. If you want to see your new score after following these guides, you can purchase a second check .
• you are not 100% happy with our service: Read about our 100% happiness guarantee and fill in the feedback form. We will contact you within 24 hours.

If you copied a fragment from a source and the Plagiarism Check did not find it, there are four possible explanations.

You paraphrased the fragment

If you paraphrased the original text by using different words and/or changing their order, the fragment will no longer be detected by the plagiarism software.

You can test this by searching the fragment in double quotation marks on Google. If no results are returned, you successfully paraphrased. Note that you still need to cite the source of the original idea.

However, if Google did return a result but our software did not highlight it, this might mean that…

The source is not part of our database

The Turnitin database used by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker contains 99.3 billion current and historical webpages and 8 million journal articles and books. However, it’s possible that the source you used is an inaccessible publication or a student paper that is not part of our database. Even if you’re certain that the source is publicly accessible, it might not yet have been added to the database. Turnitin is constantly updating its database by searching the internet and adding new publications. You can expect the source to be added in the near future.

To cater to this, we have th e Self-Plagiarism Check er at Scribbr. Just upload any document you used and start the check. You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest!

The “Exclude Small Matches” number is set too high

By default, the plagiarism report shows similarities of 9 words or more. If the fragment you copied is shorter than that, it will not be shown in the report.

You can manually adjust the minimum length in order to show shorter similarities. Find out how to do that here .

Your document was not readable

If you uploaded a PDF file, it is possible that your document is not machine readable or was converted to an image instead of text. As a result, no similarities will be found.

To test if the text in your PDF is readable, you can copy and paste the document into a text editor (e.g. Microsoft Word, Notepad, TextEdit). If the text editor shows the same text as the PDF, then the text will also be readable by our plagiarism software.

If you know that you used a fragment, but it wasn’t found by our plagiarism software, it’s best to paraphrase or quote it anyway (and be sure to cite the source ). It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Yes, Scribbr offers a limited free version of its plagiarism checker in partnership with Turnitin. It uses Turnitin’s industry-leading plagiarism detection technology and has access to most content databases.

Run a free plagiarism check

If you’re a university representative, you can contact the sales department of Turnitin .

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

Your document will be compared to the world’s largest and fastest-growing content database , containing over:

• 99.3 billion current and historical webpages.
• 8 million publications from more than 1,700 publishers such as Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis.

Note: Scribbr does not have access to Turnitin’s global database with student papers. Only your university can add and compare submissions to this database.

Scribbr’s plagiarism checker offers complete support for 20 languages, including English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Dutch.

The add-on AI Detector and AI Proofreader are only available in English.

The complete list of supported languages:

If you purchased a Plagiarism Checker in combination with our Proofreading & Editing service, you can start the Plagiarism Checker anytime at your convenience.

Scribbr recommends using the Plagiarism Checker after you have received your document and gone through all of the edits. Then you can upload the most recent version of your paper and avoid having to manually transfer changes from one document to another.

No, your teacher, professor, or admissions officer will not be able to see your submissions at Scribbr because they’re not added to any shared or public databases.

Your writing stays private. Your submissions to Scribbr are not published in any public database, so no other plagiarism checker (including those used by universities) will see them.

If your university uses Turnitin, the result will be very similar to what you see at Scribbr.

The only possible difference is that your university may compare your submission to a private database containing previously submitted student papers. Scribbr does not have access to these private databases (and neither do other plagiarism checkers).

To cater to this, we have the Self-Plagiarism Checker at Scribbr. Just upload any document you used and start the check. You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest!

Yes, if you are interested in buying more than 25 plagiarism checks, please fill in the form below. Depending on the size of your request, you will be contacted by a representative of either Scribbr or our partner Turnitin .

For questions you can mail [email protected] .

Request volume pricing

Name * Email * Institution Name * Institution's website * Country * Phone number Give an indication of how many checks you need * Please indicate how you want to use the checks * Depending of the size of your request, you will be contacted by a representative of either Scribbr or Turnitin. * Required

You can download or print your plagiarism report using the “Share” button in the bottom-left corner of your plagiarism report.

Exclude similarities : Step 1: Open your Plagiarism Check results. Step 2: Click on the highlighted similarity that you would like to exclude. Step 3: Click on the “Exclude” button on the right.

The similarity is now excluded from your total similarity score.

If you have excluded multiple sources from your total similarity score, then you might see an error message in your Plagiarism Check results. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot fix at the moment.

If you encounter this issue, you can simply ignore all irrelevant similarities and subtract their score from your total similarity score. This allows you to calculate your actual similarity score by yourself.

Review every similarity for plagiarism, and decide whether or not you need to revise your text.

• Review the similarity, and think about whether or not the match makes sense to you.
• Revise the snippet if necessary. You can do so by paraphrasing or quoting . Always cite your sources.

If you accidentally uploaded the wrong document to the Plagiarism Checker , Scribbr will not refund you for this check or give you a discount for another check. The check starts automatically upon payment, which is why we cannot change your document anymore.

A similarity score of 0% means that our plagiarism software didn’t find any similarities between your document and other documents in our database .

On average, only 1 out of 150 students achieve this. Congratulations!

Your similarity score shows you what percentage of your text is found within sources in the comparison database.

For example, if your score is 15%, then 15% of the content you wrote is unoriginal, as it matches text in the database.

You will have to review each similarity and decide whether or not you need to revise your work.

What is a good score?   How do I update my work?

If you’re unable to view the Plagiarism Check results in your browser, please try the following two solutions:

1. Are you using Google Chrome?

We’ve found that using Google Chrome resolves most issues related to the results page. First, try using Google Chrome to open your Plagiarism Check results. If you are already using Google Chrome, or if this solution does not work, then proceed to the second solution.

2. Contact support for a PDF copy of the results.

If the first solution doesn’t work, you can contact our support team via chat or email and request a PDF copy of the results via email. This way, you can still review and process the results. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Scribbr checks your document for plagiarism only once. You can use the “exclude text” feature to exclude similarities that you’ve resolved, which automatically updates your similarity score.

If you would like to recheck your entire document, you can purchase a new plagiarism check at the regular price. We don’t currently offer a subscription service.

Sometimes a quote is marked as a similarity by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker . A quote is not a form of plagiarism , but you do have to ensure you have properly cited the original source.

If you’re certain that you have correctly quoted and cited, you can exclude the similarity from your plagiarism score.

Below we briefly explain the rules for quoting in APA Style .

Quotes under 40 words

When quoting fewer than 40 words, use double quotation marks around the quote, and provide an APA in-text citation that includes the author, the year, and a page number or range.

Quotes over 40 words

If the quote contains 40 words or more, format it as a block quote , which begins on a new line and is indented in its entirety. Include an in-text citation  after the period.

Sometimes it is necessary to quote a source at length:

The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker detect similarities between your paper and a comprehensive database of web and publication content . Because many students write their references in the same way (for instance in APA Style ), a plagiarism checker finds many similarities with these sources.

A reference found by the check is not a form of plagiarism. Therefore, there is no need to take action.

How to exclude your reference list from your results:

You can exclude matches from your reference list in your Plagiarism Check results. However, please be aware that this might not always work, depending on your document.

No worries! This error does not influence the accuracy of your Plagiarism Check results.

If you have inserted a chapter or section title in the header of your document, then you might see an error message in your Plagiarism Check results.

Instead of the title, you will see an error message like the one above. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot fix.

Our check may flag these error messages as similarities. You can ignore these similarities.

If you have an automatic table of contents and/or list of figures and tables, then you might see an error message instead of the page numbers. The error message might look like this: “Error! Bookmark not defined.”

Unfortunately, this is something we cannot fix. Our check may flag these error messages as similarities. You can ignore these similarities.

The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker is able to work with the following file formats:

The format you use doesn’t influence the final result. If you’re working with a format not listed here, we recommend converting it prior to submitting.

At the moment we do not offer a monthly subscription for the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker. This means you won’t be charged on a recurring basis – you only pay for what you use. We believe this provides you with the flexibility to use our service as frequently or infrequently as you need, without being tied to a contract or recurring fee structure.

You can find an overview of the prices per document here:

Please note that we can’t give refunds if you bought the plagiarism check thinking it was a subscription service as communication around this policy is clear throughout the order process.

By default, the plagiarism report only shows similarities of 9 words or more.

You can change the minimum length of a similarity yourself in order to exclude small matches from the plagiarism report.

What is the best value for the “Exclude Small Matches” setting?

The ideal minimum length of similarities is different per case. In general, we believe that setting the minimum to 8 words results in too many small similarities that are unlikely to be plagiarism. That’s why the default value is set to 9.

However, if you believe that your document contains many small similarities that are not plagiarism ( like these ), you can try changing the setting to 10 or 11 to get a more accurate view of the potential plagiarism in your document.

Proceed with caution , since increasing the number might hide potential plagiarism in your report.

How can I change this “Exclude Small Matches” setting?

1) Click on the gear icon on the top right of the plagiarism report

2) Fill in your desired minimum similarity length

3) Click “Done” to go back to the “Sources overview”

When should I change the “Exclude Small Matches” value?

For most people, there is no need to change this value. However, if you want more control over the similarities shown in your report and you think that most of the small similarities are not relevant, you can increase this number.

Please proceed with caution, since increasing this number might hide potential plagiarism in your report. Decreasing the value is not recommended.

What happens when you decrease the “Exclude Small Matches”?

If you decrease this number, shorter similarities will be included in the report. This means you will see more similarities and a higher similarity percentage.

However, most of these extra similarities are unlikely to be instances of plagiarism. Short similarities are often the result of common phrases that appear in many different sources.

What happens when you increase the “Exclude Small Matches”?

If you increase this number, only longer similarities will be included in the report. This means you will see fewer similarities and a lower similarity percentage.

Since the similarities are longer, the similarities you now see are more likely to be plagiarism.

However, by excluding the smaller similarities, you might miss some instances of potential plagiarism.

Ask our team

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Our team helps students graduate by offering:

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Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

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The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

Turnitin Percentage: What Is The Acceptable Percentage?

Perhaps you just ran your assignment through Turnitin to check for plagiarism and the result indicates a certain percentage but you don’t even know what that means, then you should read this article.

Whether you’re writing an essay or thesis, it is important to know the acceptable Turnitin percentage or similarity index. This is to avoid getting your work rejected or getting a low grade.

Turnitin percentage tells you the amount of matching or similar text present in your work on a scale of 0 to 100% (0 being the least and 100% being the highest).

In short, it detects if you copied someone’s work closely or verbatim. However, there’s more to plagiarism than matching text.

Learn what a good similarity score is as well as other factors instructors consider when determining plagiarism in this article.

What is the acceptable Turnitin percentage?

While there is no universally specified Turnitin percentage , a similarity index of 10% and below is okay and widely accepted . However, different universities and colleges have their own reference and citation guidelines.

The acceptable Turnitin percentage also varies by course of study. For instance, law students may be allowed 40% to 60% of references for certain assignments because certain legislations or case materials cannot be rephrased without changing their entire meaning.

The percentage also varies for each academic degree level. For instance, a master’s thesis may allow up to 20% plagiarism because the paper heavily depends on citing existing authorities.

Whereas a doctorate original dissertation should have less than 10% reference. In fact, Ph.D. students would be required to synthesize materials to produce 100% original content in case of dissertations.

If we also consider the type of paper, the acceptable percentage for essays like literature is 5% and below. Acceptable publication manuscripts must be within 5-7% of referencing also.

What does the Similarity Index percentage indicate?

Is plagiarism good.

Although plagiarism is unethical, having a decent amount of matching text in your work proves that it is well-researched and links to other sources. So, yes, the right amount of plagiarism is good.

Failure to have a few matching texts in your work means that you didn’t use any reference or any other source in your work which is not possible.

So, a similarity index of 1% to 10% is okay except in unavoidable cases when the names of books, government bodies, and organizations may increase the score significantly.

Difference between similarity and plagiarism

To be clear, Turnitin doesn’t scan for plagiarism, rather it scans for matching text. Plagiarism is actually determined by your instructor.

Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work and passing them as your own and that depends on many factors of which the similarity index is one.

Having a high percentage of similarity score may not necessarily be counted as plagiarism. Instructors use the highlight of matching text in your work as an investigative tool to determine if the match is acceptable or not.

If the sources in your work are attributed and quoted rightly, then that isn’t considered plagiarism. However, you shouldn’t have too many references in your work, so your own ideas can shine through.

A good research paper shouldn’t contain more than 45 references. Systematic reviews could have as many as 49 references but a good case study doesn’t need more than 29 references.

What causes plagiarism?

Since a high Turnitin percentage doesn’t necessarily translate into plagiarism, what factors then determine plagiarism?

Here are some of the reasons why your work may be flagged for plagiarism:

1. Not crediting the source

This is the first and major cause of plagiarism. Refusing to reference other people’s ideas in your work is in fact an academic crime. It is interpreted as claiming ownership of someone else’s work.

One mistake students make is thinking that by paraphrasing they would not have to quote or acknowledge a source. Conversely, even if you put an idea from a particular source in your own words, you still have to reference it to avoid plagiarism.

2. Paraphrasing too closely

Another thing that can contribute to plagiarism is by using almost the same word as the source, even after referencing the source.

So, instead of changing a few words or the order of the original words of the author, write yours in completely different words. Better still, you could use the exact words from the source but make sure that you quote the text.

3. Using statistics without reference

If you’re using statistics, charts, and tables in your work, it is important that you credit the owner else you’d be guilty of plagiarism. By citing the source of your statistics, table, or chart you can support your claim and strengthen your argument.

Keep in mind that the most reliable statistics come from government reports, scholarly journal articles, conference papers, and the like.

4. Using images without citing the sources

As surprising as it may seem, attaching an image you got online in your work without citing the author counts as plagiarism. Any image downloaded online has a creator who deserves credit for their work.

Additionally, if you use a photograph taken by you, it is best that you cite yourself as the creator so your instructor can know where the image is coming from.

5. Copying or buying someone else’s paper

Outsourcing your research work to someone else or lifting an already published work from the net is a grievous academic crime. By hiring someone to write your research paperwork, you risk having a large part of your work plagiarized.

If you also take someone else’s work from the net or copy a large part of it, you can be sure that your work will contain a high similarity score.

The punishment for such academic misconduct could be harsh. As such, I will advise that you work hard to ensure originality in your work by all means.

6. Padding your bibliography or reference list

This means compiling a fake list of bibliography or references to show that you have researched when you haven’t. As a result, the paper will highlight a lot of bibliographies or references not related to the work.

Students could be charged with gross academic misconduct which could lead to serious consequences. So, it’s important that you painstakingly highlight a bibliography that pertains to your work.

What Turnitin percentage is too high?

If your work has a matching text that’s above 25%, that’s a really high Turnitin percentage. This could be the result of copying another person’s work word for word, a lengthy bibliography, or direct citations.

What does a Turnitin percentage of 100% mean?

A similarity score of 100% means that Turnitin found a 100% matching text to your work in its database.

What does a 50% Turnitin score mean?

A similarity score of 50% means that half of your work has a matching text to another source in the Turnitin database.

Is a 1% Turnitin score good?

Yes , it is .

However, a score of 1% may be suspectable, because it may mean that you didn’t reference all your source and a good research paper should have at least a 5% similar index.

Final Thoughts

Plagiarism is unethical and can result in disciplinary action from your institution so you want to avoid it at all costs. By running your work through Turnitin, you can get to reduce the percentage of matching texts in your work.

Although Turnitin can help with plagiarism, keep in mind that it doesn’t detect plagiarism. So, it is best that you read this article to know the factors that cause plagiarism and avoid them.

Lastly, you should read the article on the differences between an academic GPA and a total GPA .

I hope this article helped. Thanks for reading.

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Acceptable Plagiarism Percentage: Turnitin or SafeAssign in College

• by Joseph Kenas
• January 18, 2024

Plagiarism is a type of academic fraud or cheating. It typically involves the use of someone’s work, whether published or unpublished, without the permission of the author or creator.

While plagiarism does not necessarily involve breaking the law, it is widely considered to be unethical and unacceptable in the academic, business, and wider communities.

A significant range of penalties exists for plagiarism, depending on the severity of the offense, the type of plagiarism, and the jurisdiction within which an offense takes place.

As much as plagiarism is wrong, sometimes it is unavoidable and thus there is an acceptable plagiarism percentage.

What Percentage of Plagiarism is Acceptable

The allowed similarity score varies from institution to institution. For instance, it may be acceptable to have a certain percentage of a college research paper deemed plagiarized, but it would be acceptable for high school essays. 

The acceptable plagiarism percentage is any score of 15% and below because this similarity shows little or low or no copying.

However, there is no widely accepted criteria on which plagiarism level is acceptable because different industries and institutions have different originality policies.

However, the plagiarism percentage you should avoid at all times is more than 15%. Any percentage above that will be enough to get you into trouble.

For instance, if you have 15% plagiarism in a research paper, then you have the risk to be reported by your tutor for academic dishonesty. In a nutshell, the acceptable plagiarism percentage is between 0 and 15% for all kinds of papers.

What Every Percentage Score Means

A summary of matching or substantially similar text detected in a submitted paper is provided in a Similarity Report. A similarity score percentage will be displayed when a Similarity Report is available for viewing.

A grayed-out icon in the Similarity column represents Similarity Reports that have not yet completed generating. Reports that aren’t available may not have yet been generated, or assignment settings may be preventing the report from being generated.

The report icon’s color represents the paper’s similarity score, which is calculated on the basis of matching or comparable text found. The following are some probable similarity ranges from 0% to 100%.

• Blue: there is no matching text 
• Green: A single word to 24% matching text.
• Yellow: Text that matches 25-49%
• Orage: Text matching 50-74%
• Red: indicates that the text is 75-100 percent identical

Factors Determining Acceptable Plagiarism Score

The percentage of plagiarism is a critical issue for students, teachers, and educational institutions. In some cases, plagiarism is an accidental mistake, but in the majority of cases, it is a deliberate action.

Considering research papers are one of the most important factors that determine your grade, they must be crafted without plagiarism.

Most academic industries, faculties, and professors have developed an extensive guide on what percentage of plagiarism is acceptable in different situations.

Here will go over the factors that determine the percentage of plagiarism acceptable in research papers.

1. Your Field of Study 

In colleges or universities, there are several fields of students each with its own running and set of rules and regulations. Since these filed are independent, their acceptable plagiarism percentage varies.

For example for a law student, a plagiarism percentage of 10% is already a very serious matter whereas such a percentage may be acceptable in other fields.

It is also important to note that fields that deal with factual scientific data (sciences and maths), may accept a large plagiarism percentage than other fields.

2. The Type of Assignment

When it comes to plagiarism, different types of assignments have different acceptable plagiarism percentages

That means the acceptable plagiarism percentage varies based on the type of assignment, and this is because while some types of assignments can be completed in a short time, others take up a lot of time.

For example, while a 5% plagiarized book review will get you a failing grade, a 5% plagiarized term paper will get you a passing grade.

Additionally, there are many different types of papers, and there are many different types of assignments. Sometimes an assignment will have a different requirement than another.

For example, a term paper will have a much higher acceptable plagiarism percentage than a 500-word essay.

3. The Strictness of Your Professor

How strict your professor is, is also a factor that determines how much plagiarism percentage you are allowed. This all boils down to the choices and preferences of your instructor.

Professors with a strict grading policy will tell you to keep the plagiarism percentage as low as 1% while those with a lenient grading policy may accept even original papers with 25% similarity score. However, to be on the safer side, also ensure you keep your plagiarism as low (less than 5%)

The Strictness of Sour school Rules

Different institutions of study have different rules and policies.

For example, there are those schools that require their grading be made by the institution itself as opposed to those who task individual professors with the grading.

Again, some colleges require papers to be marked and reviewed by a panel of professors who will then award you the grade.

Other schools have a portal where you submit your paper, and the portal has strict guidelines (such as acceptable plagiarism percentage) which the professor uses to grade your paper. All these school factors determine the acceptable plagiarism percentage. 

Technically, plagiarism is wrong. However, there is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism that is allowed. The acceptable percentage of plagiarism is considered to be 10%. If you go beyond that percentage, then your thesis will be plagiarized.

If you do not want to be accused of plagiarism, then avoid copying the work of others. Either cite your sources or paraphrase the idea of others. Even when giving a speech, you can avoid patchwork plagiarism by citing your sources while speaking.

You can do this if you use quotation marks correctly. Note that you should always referee to your school guidelines to avoid severe plagiarism consequences.

What is the acceptable plagiarism percentage for Turnitin?

Turnitin does not have an acceptable percentage threshold for plagiarism. There are two elements that are assessed when you submit work to Turnitin to check for originality. The first is the text itself, and the second is the structure or design, so plagiarism is assessed by both the text and the presentation. 

However, Turnitin levels of 15% or less are widely considered appropriate. It is also important to note that there is no universally defined similarity score because plagiarism policies differ by institution.

Is 32 similarity on Turnitin bad?

32 similarity is usually the maximum similarity level the Turnitin system will determine. It means that at least 32% of your paper is plagiarized from existing sources. You should check your paper as soon as possible.

If your paper is not your own work, you may face serious consequences. The Turnitin system is used by most universities and colleges, so if your instructor catches you cheating, you will be expelled without a doubt.

What is the acceptable plagiarism percentage for a thesis?

According to various universities, students are advised to avoid plagiarism as much as possible. The acceptable level of plagiarism varies from university to university.

Some universities accept 25% or even 20% plagiarism, while others say it should not exceed 5%. To avoid your paper not being accepted, refer to your university guideline and apply the percentage of plagiarism that you are allowed to use.

What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable by Google?

The answer to this question is not yet clear. Google’s policy about duplicate content is very strict these days. You should avoid repeating the same content on your web pages. But it doesn’t mean you cannot copy the content from other websites.

The best thing is to share the knowledge with your visitors. Don’t forget, Google is a search engine that generates data from the web. You can use aggregation in your favor. You can add links to the original content when you re-share the information.

Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.

Plagiarism and what are acceptable similarity scores?

Dec 1, 2020 • knowledge article, information.

The Similarity Report is a flexible document that provides a summary of matching or similar text in submitted work compared against a huge database of Internet sources, journals and previously submitted work, allowing students and instructors to review matches between a submitted work and the database scanned by Turnitin. Therefore, the Turnitin Similarity Report does not define whether or not a student's work is plagiarized. The instructor responsible for the course - as a subject matter expert - has a duty to exercise academic judgement on the work that is submitted to Turnitin for their classes. The percentage that is returned on a student's submission (called similarity index or similarity score) defines how much of that material matches other material in the database, it is not a marker as to whether a student has or has not plagiarized. Matches will be displayed to material that has been correctly cited and used, which is where the instructor's academic judgement must come into play. Please find our guide links below on how to interpret the Similarity Report and its similarity score: If you are a student, click here . If you are an instructor, click here . 

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What is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism.

Your work should not contain any  plagiarism . Even if your score is 1%, you will need to review each similarity and decide whether it’s necessary to revise your work.

But  contrary to popular belief, plagiarism checkers work by detecting not plagiarism, but similarities . Not all similarities found by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker constitute plagiarism. Our check sometimes flags the following:

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To help you decide which checker to use, we conducted in-depth research comparing popular plagiarism checkers to find out which one is best.

Best plagiarism checker comparison

Extensive testing proves that Scribbr’s plagiarism checker is one of the most accurate plagiarism checkers on the market in 2022.

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Note: Scribbr does not have access to Turnitin’s global database with student papers. Only your university can add and compare submissions to this database.

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If your university uses Turnitin, the result will be very similar to what you see at Scribbr.

The only possible difference is that your university may compare your submission to a private database containing previously submitted student papers. Scribbr does not have access to these private databases (and neither do other plagiarism checkers).

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• v.35(27); 2020 Jul 13

Similarity and Plagiarism in Scholarly Journal Submissions: Bringing Clarity to the Concept for Authors, Reviewers and Editors

Aamir raoof memon.

Institute of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah (Shaheed Benazirabad), Sindh, Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION

What constitutes plagiarism? What are the methods to detect plagiarism? How do “plagiarism detection tools” assist in detecting plagiarism? What is the difference between plagiarism and similarity index? These are probably the most common questions regarding plagiarism that many research experts in scientific writing are usually faced with, but a definitive answer to them is less known to many. According to a report published in 2018, papers retracted for plagiarism have sharply increased over the last two decades, with higher rates in developing and non-English speaking countries. 1 Several studies have reported similar findings with Iran, China, India, Japan, Korea, Italy, Romania, Turkey, and France amongst the countries with highest number of retractions due to plagiarism. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 A study reported that duplication of text, figures or tables without appropriate referencing accounted for 41.3% of post-2009 retractions of papers published from India. 5 In Pakistan, Journal of Pakistan Medical Association started a special section titled “Learning Research” and published a couple of papers on research writing skills, research integrity and scientific misconduct. 6 , 7 However, the problem has not been adequately addressed and specific issues about it remain unresolved and unclear. According to an unpublished data based on 1,679 students from four universities of Pakistan, 85.5% did not have a clear understanding of the difference between similarity index and plagiarism (unpublished data). Smart et al. 8 in their global survey of editors reported that around 63% experienced some plagiarized submissions, with Asian editors experiencing the highest levels of plagiarized/duplicated content. In some papers, journals from non-English speaking countries have specifically discussed the cases of plagiarized submissions to them and have highlighted the drawbacks in relying on similarity checking programs. 9 , 10 , 11 The cases of plagiarism in non-English speaking countries have a strong message for honest researchers that they should improve their English writing skills and credit used sources by properly citing and referencing them. 12

Despite aggregating literature on plagiarism from non-Anglophonic countries, the answers to the aforementioned questions remain unclear. In order to answer these questions, it is important to have a thorough understanding of plagiarism and bring clarity to the less known issues about it. Therefore, this paper aims to 1) define plagiarism and growth in its prevalence as well as literature on it; 2) explain the difference between similarity and plagiarism; 3) discuss the role of similarity checking tools in detecting plagiarism and the flaws on completely relying on them; and 4) discuss the phenomenon called Trojan citation. At the end, suggestions are provided for authors and editors from developing countries so that this issue maybe collectively addressed.

Defining plagiarism and its prevalence in manuscripts

To begin with, plagiarism maybe defined as “ when somebody presents the published or unpublished work of others, including ideas, scholarly text, images, research design and data, as new and original rather than crediting the existing source of it. ” 13 The common types of plagiarism, including direct, mosaic, paraphrasing, intentional (covert) or unintentional (accidental) plagiarism, and self-plagiarism have been discussed in previous reviews. 14 , 15 , 16

Evidence suggests that the first paper accused for plagiarism was published in 1979 and there has been a substantial growth in the cases of plagiarism over time. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 8 , 17 Previous studies have pointed that plagiarism is prevalent in developing and non-English speaking countries but the occurrence of plagiarism in developed countries suggests that it is rather a global problem. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 18 , 19 , 20 As of today (1 April 2020), the search conducted in Retraction Database ( http://retractiondatabase.org/RetractionSearch.aspx ?) for papers retracted for plagiarism found 2,280 documents. Similarly, Scopus search for plagiarism in title of journal articles found 2,159 results. This suggests that the papers retracted for plagiarism are in fact higher than the papers published on this issue. However, what we see now may not necessary be true i.e., the cases of plagiarism might be higher than we know. Certainly, database search for papers tagged for plagiarism is limited to indexed journals only, which keeps non-indexed journals (both low-quality and deceptive journals) out of focus. 5 , 21 Moreover, journal coverage may vary from one database to the other as reported in a recent paper on research dissemination in South Asia. 22 Therefore, both the prevalence of plagiarism and literature published on it as reported by database search are most likely “ understated as of today .” 5

Reasons for plagiarism: lack of understanding and poor citing practices

Although reasons for plagiarism are complex, previous papers have suggested possible causes for plagiarism by authors. 16 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 One of the major but less known reason for this might be that the students, naïve researchers, and even some faculty members either lack clarity about what constitutes plagiarism or are unable to differentiate similarity index versus plagiarism. 24 , 26 , 27 For example, a recent online survey conducted on the participants in the AuthorAID MOOC on Research Writing found that 84.4% of the survey participants were unaware of the difference between similarity index and plagiarism, though almost all of them had reported having an understanding of plagiarism. 24 The same paper reported that one in three participants admitted that they had plagiarized at some point during their academic career. 24 Therefore, it is important to have clarity about what constitutes plagiarism and the difference between similarity index and plagiarism so that the increasing rates of plagiarism could be deterred.

The ‘existing source’ or ‘original source’ in the definition of plagiarism refers to the main (primary) source and not the source (secondary) from where the author extracts the information. For example, someone cites a paper for a passage on mechanism of how exercise affects sleep but the cited paper aims to determine the prevalence of sleep disorders and exercise level rather than the mechanistic association. A thorough evaluation finds that the cited paper had used the text from another review paper that talked about the mechanisms relating sleep with exercise behavior. This phenomenon of improper secondary (or indirect) citations may be common among students and novice researchers, particularly from developing countries, and should be discouraged. 27

SIMILARITY INDEX

Plagiarism vs. similarity index and the role of similarity checking tools.

Plagiarism as defined above refers to the intentional (covert) or unintentional (accidental) theft of published or unpublished intellectual property (i.e., words or ideas), whereas similarity index refers to “ the extent of overlap or match between an author's work compared to other existing sources (books, websites, student thesis, and research articles) in the databases of similarity checking tools. ” 9 , 24 The advancements in information technology has helped researchers get help from various freely available (i.e., Viper, eTBLAST/HelioBLAST, PlagScan, PlagiarismDetect, Antiplagiat, Plagiarisma, DupliChecker) and subscription-based (i.e., iThenticate, Turnitin, Similarity Check) similarity checking tools. 8 , 24 Many journal editors use iThenticate and/or Similarity Check (Crossref) for screening submitted manuscripts for similarity detection whereas Turnitin is commonly used by universities and faculty to assess text similarity in students' work; however, there is a fairness issue that not every journal or university, particularly those from developing countries, can afford to pay for using these subscription-based services. 28 For instance, an online survey found that only about 18% participants could use Turnitin through their university subscription. 24 Another problem is the way these tools are commonly referred to as i.e., plagiarism detection tools, plagiarism checking software, or plagiarism detection programs. However, based on the function they perform, it would be appropriate to call them differently, such as similarity checking tools, similarity checkers, text-matching tools, or simply text-duplicity detection tools. 5 , 8 , 23 This means that these tools help locate matching or overlapping text (similarity) in submitted work, without directly flagging up plagiarism. 24

Taking Turnitin as an example, these tools reflect the text similarity through color codes, each linked to an online source of it; details for this have been described elsewhere. 23 , 28 Journal editors, universities and some organizations consider text above specific cutoff values for the percentage of similarity as problematic. According to a paper, 5% or less text similarity (overlap of the text in the manuscript with text in the online literature) is acceptable to some journal editors, while others might want to put the manuscript under scrutiny if the text similarity is over 20%. 29 , 30 Another paper observed that journal editors tend to reject a manuscript if text similarity is above 10%. 31 The study on participants completing the AuthorAID MOOC on Research Writing also found that some participants reported that their institutions consider text similarity of less than 20% as acceptable. 24 As an example, the guidelines of the University Grants Commission of India allow for similarity up to 10% as acceptable or minor (Level 0), but anything above is categorized into different levels (based on the percentages), each with separate list of repercussions for students and researchers. 32 This approach might miss the cases where the acceptable similarity of 10% comes from a single source, especially if the editors relied on the numbers only. In addition, this approach has the potential for punishing authors who have not committed plagiarism at all. To illustrate this, the randomly written text presented in Fig. 1 would be considered plagiarism based on the rule of cutoff values. Some authors opine that text with over four consecutive words or a number of word strings should be treated as plagiarized. 28 , 33 This again is not a good idea as the text “the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure …” would be same in several papers, but this is definitely not plagiarism because the methodology of different papers on the same topic could be similar; so, the decision should not be based on the numbers reflected by similarity detection tools. 28 Therefore, it would be prudent not to set any cutoff values for text similarity as it will lead to a slippery slope (“a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences” –defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary ) and give “a sense of impunity to the perpetrators.” 32

Drawbacks of similarity checking tools

There are a few drawbacks on completely relying on the similarity checking tools. First, these tools are not foolproof and might miss the incidents of translational plagiarism and figure plagiarism. 24 Translational plagiarism is the most invisible type of copying in non-Anglophone countries where an article published in languages other than English is copied (with or without minor modifications) and published in an English journal or vice versa. 10 This is indeed extremely difficult type of plagiarism to detect, and different approaches (e.g., use of Google translator) to address it have been recently reported. 34 , 35 Nevertheless, there might be some cases where this practice maybe acceptable, such as publishing policy papers (see “ Identifying predatory or pseudo-journals” – this paper was published in International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , National Medical Journal of India , and Biochemia Medica in 2017 by authors affiliated with World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) – or “The revised guidelines of the Medical Council of India for academic promotions: Need for a rethink” – this paper was published in over ten journals during 2016 by four journal editors and endorsed by members (not all) of the Indian Association of Medical Journal Editors, for example). Second, text similarity in some parts of manuscript (i.e., methods and results) should be weighed differently from other sections (i.e., introduction and discussions) and its conclusions. 31 In addition, based on the personal experience of the author of this paper, some individuals might use a sophisticated technique to avoid detection of high similarity through the use of inappropriate synonyms, jargon, and deliberate grammatical and structural errors in the text of the manuscript. Third, plagiarism of ideas may be missed by these tools as they can only detect plagiarism of words. 23 , 32 Therefore, similarity checking tools tend to underestimate plagiarized text or sometimes overestimate non-plagiarized material as problematic ( Fig. 1 ). 24 , 36 It should be noted that these tools serve as only an aid to determine suspected instances of plagiarism and the text of the manuscript should always be evaluated by experts, so “a careful human cannot be replaced.” 31 , 37 A few papers published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science have presented the examples where plagiarized content was missed by similarity checking tools and later noticed after a careful examination of the text. 9 , 10 Finally, plagiarism of unpublished work cannot be detected by these tools as they are limited to online sources only. 23 This is particularly important in the context of developing countries where research theses/dissertations of students are not deposited in research repositories, and where commercial, predatory editing and brokering services exist. 10 , 38 For example, the research repository of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan allows deposition of doctoral theses only, and less than five universities (out of over 150) across the country have a research repository allowing for deposition of scholarly content. 38 Recently some strange trend of predatory editing and brokering services has emerged that offer clones of previously published papers or unpublished work to non-Anglophone or some lazy authors demanding quick and easy route to publications for promotion and career advancement. 10 Although plagiarism of unpublished work would not be easy for experts to detect, this may be possible through their previous experience and scholarly networks.

TROJAN CITATION: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

A recent experience worth discussion in context to plagiarism comes in the shape of the Trojan citation where someone “ makes reference to a source one time to in order to evade detection (by editors and readers) of bad intentions and provide cover for a deeper, more pervasive plagiarism. ” 39 This practice is particularly common in those with an intent of deceiving the readers and playing with the system. A few months ago, the author of this paper was invited to review a manuscript on predatory publishing by a journal. The content of the manuscript appeared suspicious but was not labelled “plagiarized” during the first round of the review. However, during the second round, it was noticed that this was a case of Trojan citation where the author(s) cited the main source for a minor point and copied the major part of the manuscript from a paper published in Biochemia Medica (a Croatian journal) with slight modification in the content. 40 The editor of the journal was informed about this and the manuscript was rejected further processing. This example suggests that careful human intervention by experts is required to highlight the cases of plagiarism.

In conclusion, what we know about the growth in the prevalence of plagiarism may be ‘just the tip of the iceberg’. Therefore, collective contribution from authors, reviewers, and editors, particularly from Asia-Pacific region, is required. Authors from the Asia-Pacific region and developing countries, with an expertise on this topic, should play their role by supporting journal editors and through their mentorship skills. Furthermore, senior researchers should encourage and help their honors and master students to publish their unpublished work before it gets stolen by commercial, brokering agencies. They should also work in close collaboration with universities and organizations related with higher education in countries where this issue is not properly addressed, and should facilitate education and training sessions on plagiarism as previous evidence suggests that workshops and online training sessions may be helpful. 5 On the other hand, journal editors from Asia-Pacific region and developing countries should not judge the manuscripts solely on the basis of percentage of similarity as reflected by similarity checking services. They should have a database of their own where manuscripts about plagiarism in scientific writing, for example, should be sent for review to the experts on this subject. As journal editors may not be experts in all fields, networking and seeking help from experts would be helpful in avoiding the cases of plagiarism in the future. It would be appropriate that the journal editors and the trainee editors, particularly from the resource-limited countries, are educated about the concept of scientific misconduct and the advancement in knowledge around this area. Moreover, journal editors should publish and publically discuss the cases of plagiarism as a learning experience for others. The Journal of Korean Medical Science has used this approach regarding cases of plagiarism, which other journals from the region are encouraged to adopt. 9 , 10 Likewise, a paper discussing case scenarios of salami publication (i.e., “ a distinct form of redundant publication which is usually characterized by similarity of hypothesis, methodology or results but not text similarity ”) serves as a good example of how journal editors may facilitate authors to utilize their mentorship skills and support journals in educating researchers. 41 There should be strict penalties on cases of plagiarism, and safety measures for security of whistleblowers should be in place and be ensured. By doing so, evil and lazy authors who bypass the system would be punished and honest authors would be served. Thus, the take-home message for editors from Asia-Pacific region is that a collective effort and commitment from authors, reviewers, editors and policy-makers is required to address the problem of plagiarism, especially in the developing and non-English speaking countries.

Disclosure: The author has no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

How much plagiarism is allowed?

The world is constantly changing, and so are our beliefs about it. That is why we need to establish an independent mindset and critical thinking to rely on. Originality in our manifestation, including writing, is a crucial part of it. That is why educators and content creators need to check their papers for similarity to avoid plagiarism.

What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable ? The question is worth 10.3 billion search results. Well, to those looking for a simple answer: no, there’s no single benchmark. Or could zero plagiarism count? Different universities, colleges, and high schools have different standards. What is good and allowed for one, will be a red flag for another one.

Mostly, no more than 20% of text coincidence can be tolerated, while more means the text is not original. Although, even if that 20% is just a single copy-pasted piece of text, it’s considered borrowed.

What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable in university

How much plagiarism is allowed also depends on the type of the paper. The acceptable percentage varies within the limit of the mentioned 20%. Each case is individual, and the educational institution, the teacher, and the nature of the detected similarities should be taken into account. However, obviously, how much plagiarism is allowed in research paper differs when we talk about a regular essay or a dissertation.

One should keep in mind that the similarities found may be unintentional plagiarism. It happens that the students accidentally copy someone else’s ideas out of pure coincidence or based on the resources they have studied without realizing they are repeating the information.

That’s why if you notice plagiarism in your student’s work, it’s time to talk to them, figure out the reasons, and map the possible ways out. To help you do this, we’ve prepared a checklist you can share with your students. You can send it to them the way it is, or use it as an inspiration to create your own one—it’s up to you.

A Comprehensive Checklist on How to Avoid Plagiarism

The obvious answer is to produce original content. But cases might differ, so check out a few tips to polish your writing.

#1. Avoid Direct Quotes and Paraphrasing

First, say your goodbyes to copy-pasting or rephrasing someone else’s thoughts. Instead, read different sources of information on your topic, jot down key points, and then write their essence in your own words. Examples:

#2. Proper referencing

To err is human. Spotting and fixing the mistakes (and learning from them) can make you superhuman. Double-checking the text can enable you to find those “Oh, I’ve already read it somewhere” parts. Here, I mean that sometimes you can mimic your own style, even not knowing that.  Reviewing the same content after a while can help you have a fresh look at it and find those self-plagiarized sentences or paragraphs. It can also allow you to discover tricky referencing issues when you might have missed citing something properly. In case you don’t trust yourself, ask one of your mates to review your paper.

#4. Enriching vocabulary to avoid clichés

Another common reason for plagiarism is using the same phrases you can come across on thousands of websites. It’s not about some industry-specific terms you might desperately need in your physics, nursing, marketing, or any other assignment. I mean rather generic phrases and idioms like “as easy as a pie,” “sky’s the limit,” “sad but true,” etc. Not to mention some of them might be inappropriate for academic writing, if you overuse them, they’ll drop your content originality. To avoid that, we recommend:

• Reading more books, scientific journals, and so on to expand your general knowledge and vocabulary, as a result.
• Jotting down new words and phrases you haven’t known before and trying to use them in your speaking or writing. If applicable, of course.
• Using synonyms to eliminate tautology. You can find some good ones in the Thesaurus , or Power Thesaurus . Feel free to use those tools whenever you see some repeated words or idioms.

#5. Scanning texts with plagiarism checkers

To be on the safe side, I would advise checking your paper with specialized tools, like PlagiarismCheck.org before submitting it. This will help you make sure you’ve produced an original piece of content. A huge plus of such tools is that they can define all possible types of plagiarism, including copying your own style. For example, PlagiarismCheck.org delivers a report with highlights of the matching parts and links to the sources those pieces of text come from.

Let’s wrap it up

If we come back to our initial question: “ How much plagiarism is allowed ?”, the answer is still “None in a perfect world.” Yet, we live in reality, so up to 20% might be tolerated. We suggest minimizing even those numbers by educating your students on how to produce unique content.

Anyways, if you need to scan for plagiarism , try PlagiarismCheck.org . We’ve built it with academic integrity in mind, so it includes AI checker GPT and can spot ghostwriting by comparing student’s writing style from previous works and the current ones. And if you have any questions—be sure to get in touch with our team.

Discover how PlagiarismCheck.org can empower your workflow!

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Is 15% Plagiarism a Lot? What Percentage of Plagiarism is Acceptable?

• October 31, 2023

Plagiarism is an offense that can have dire consequences. Academic and professional writing values originality. What’s acceptable? Is 15% plagiarism a lot? This blog discusses good plagiarism percentages, opinions, and policies. This article will help you understand plagiarism, avoid it, and create original work.

Intentional vs. Unintentional Plagiarism

There is a difference between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. Deliberate plagiarism is when someone knowingly copies another person’s work and presents it as their own. In contrast, accidental plagiarism is when someone unknowingly uses someone else’s work without proper citation [ 1 ].

Examples of unintentional plagiarism include paraphrasing without proper citation or using common phrases without attribution. These types of plagiarism may happen because the author must be unaware of the correct citation format or need help paraphrasing without copying too closely [ 2 ].

Understanding Plagiarism Percentages

Understanding how plagiarism percentages are calculated is necessary to determine how much is acceptable and minimize it. Online Plagiarism checker detect similarities between a submitted text and other sources and calculate a similarity score. This score represents the percentage of text that matches other sources. 

Differentiating between similarity and plagiarism is crucial. Not all similarities constitute plagiarism, since common phrases or coincidental word choices account for some similarities. If a paper includes a lot of commonly used phrases or words, it may show up with a high similarity score. Still, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the paper is guilty of plagiarism [ 3 ].

If the matching text is one continuous block of borrowed material, even a 15% similarity score can be considered plagiarism. This kind of plagiarism is more severe than when several short phrases are similar. It’s essential to understand that the higher the similarity score, the more likely it is that the paper has plagiarism [ 4 ].

What Percentage of Plagiarism is Acceptable?

You may wonder what plagiarism percentage is acceptable as a writer or student. Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer to this question, as acceptable levels of plagiarism can vary depending on the industry and institution.

The context of the writing assignment is also a key factor to consider. In some cases, a higher percentage of plagiarism may be deemed acceptable. For example, a higher rate of similarity may be allowed in research papers due to the inclusion of common references or quotes.

It is essential to recognize that there is no universally accepted standard for what percentage of plagiarism is acceptable. It is crucial to check with your instructor or employer to determine their policies and standards [ 5 ]. 

Is 15% Plagiarism a Lot?

A 15% or less similarity index is considered acceptable in academic settings. However, in professional settings, the standards for acceptable levels of plagiarism are typically stricter. Many industries require writers to maintain a 5-10% similarity index or even lower [ 6 ]. 

Is 20% Plagiarism a Lot?

In some situations, a 20% plagiarism rate may be acceptable, depending on the context of the writing and the work setting. For instance, a medical research paper with a 20% plagiarism rate may be unacceptable, while a news article with the same percentage could be more acceptable [ 6 ].

Turnitin Acceptable Plagiarism

Turnitin flags any content with a similarity score ranging from 1% to 24% as green, which falls in the acceptable range. This classification allows for reviewing and editing the text to eliminate even this level of similarity [ 7 ][ 8 ].

SafeAssign Acceptable Plagiarism

SafeAssign, on the other hand, considers 15% or lower similarity score as an acceptable level of plagiarism [ 9 ].

In conclusion, while a 15% plagiarism rate may be acceptable in some academic settings, it is advisable to aim for a lower similarity percentage. It is essential to keep in mind that different industries and institutions have other policies and that the context of the writing assignment matters. The key is to be vigilant about plagiarism and strive to produce original work.

Why is 0% Plagiarism Ideal?

Plagiarism is considered intellectual theft in academic and professional settings and can harm reputation and credibility. To avoid these consequences, striving for 0% plagiarism and following proper citation practices is essential.

Finally, plagiarism is unacceptable whether it is 15%, 20%, or 25%. Intellectual honesty and ethical writing practices are essential for the success of your writing [ 10 ].

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. It can ruin your reputation as a student or writer. Is there a limit to plagiarism? 15% plagiarism—is that a lot? Plagiarism is unacceptable in any way.

To minimize unintended plagiarism, follow these guidelines:

• Use plagiarism checkers to verify your work is original.
• Cite your sources in the correct style.

This requires acknowledging the source of information, whether it’s a book, journal article, website, or personal correspondence.

To avoid plagiarism, good habits are essential. These include taking correct notes, paraphrasing information, and resisting the urge to copy and paste. Always attempt to create creative work that reflects your thoughts and ideas.

It’s also important to know what audiences and institutions expect. Citation and referencing requirements vary by field. Discuss any questions with your instructor or supervisor.

There are plenty of resources available to assist you in avoiding plagiarism, such as writing centers or academic integrity guides. Feel free to seek help if you need clarification on any aspect of the writing process.

Remember, plagiarism of any kind is not worth the risk. It’s best to produce original, high-quality work highlighting your ideas and contributions [ 11 ].

This article discusses plagiarism, its types, how it is calculated, and what plagiarism percentage is acceptable in academic and professional settings. It also provides tips on how to avoid plagiarism, such as taking correct notes, paraphrasing information, and resisting the urge to copy and paste. 

Additionally, it recommends seeking help from resources such as writing centers or academic integrity guides and discussing any questions with instructors or supervisors. Plagiarism, in any form or percentage, is not acceptable. 

Originality and Creativity are crucial to producing high-quality work. If you’re a student or professional writer, take plagiarism seriously and aim for 0% plagiarism in your work.

How can I make sure my work is original?

Use plagiarism checker tools to ensure your work is original, properly cite your sources, and paraphrase information. It’s also essential to take careful notes and avoid copying and pasting from other sources.

What is self-plagiarism, and is it considered plagiarism?

Self-plagiarism is when an author reuses their previous work without proper citation or permission. While self-plagiarism is not illegal, it is considered unethical and can harm the integrity and credibility of the work.

Can I use someone else’s ideas without citing them?

No, you must cite sources when using someone else’s ideas, even if you paraphrase or summarize them. Failing to cite sources can result in plagiarism when using other people’s ideas.

Is plagiarism acceptable in research papers?

Plagiarism is never acceptable in any type of writing, including research papers. However, the fair percentage of similarity may be higher due to the inclusion of standard references or quotes.

What are some common examples of plagiarism?

Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting from a source without citation.
• Paraphrasing too closely without citation.
• Submitting someone else’s work as your own.

Can you plagiarize images or videos?

Yes, using images, videos, and other multimedia without permission or proper citation can constitute plagiarism.

• Intentional & Unintentional Plagiarism – Citing Sources – LibGuides at Holy Family University
• Difference Between Unintentional and Intentional Plagiarism | Cram
• https://www.editage.com/insights/what-is-the-acceptable-percentage-of-plagiarism-report
• What is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism? (scribbr.com)
• https://www.remodelormove.com/how-long-until-im-not-shadowbanned/
• How much % of plagiarism is allowed? Will my references be excluded? | ResearchGate
• Acceptable plagiarism Percentage: Turnitin or SafeAssign in College (learnpar.com)
• https://eat.scedt.tees.ac.uk/bb8content/resources/recipes/interpretTurnitin.pdf
• https://gradebees.com/read-safeassign-scores-how-accurate/
• How Much Plagiarism Is Allowed in Academic Papers? — EduBirdie.com
• Why is Plagiarism Less than 19% allowed? Is there any logic of 19%? | ResearchGate

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UGC guidelines for plagiarism | Levels of plagiarism as per UGC regulation 2018

This blog post aims to provide details regarding UGC guidelines for plagiarism .

Page Contents

UGC REGULATIONS, 2018 for PROMOTION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PREVENTION OF PLAGIARISM IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The following rules related to Plagiarism shall apply to the students, faculty, researchers and staff of all Higher Educational Institutions in the country.

• To create awareness about responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and prevention of misconduct including plagiarism in academic writing among student, faculty, researcher and staff.
• To establish institutional mechanism through education and training to facilitate responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and deterrence from plagiarism.
• To develop systems to detect plagiarism and to set up mechanisms to prevent plagiarism and punish a student, faculty, researcher or staff of HEI committing the act of plagiarism.

Similarity checks for exclusion from Plagiarism

The similarity checks for plagiarism shall exclude the following:

• All quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or attribution.
• All references, bibliography, table of content, preface and acknowledgements.
• All generic terms, laws, standard symbols and standards equations.

The research work carried out by the student, faculty, researcher and staff shall be based on original ideas, which shall  include abstract, summary, hypothesis, observations, results, conclusions and recommendations only and shall not have  any similarities. It shall exclude a common knowledge or coincidental terms, up to fourteen (14) consecutive words.

  Levels of Plagiarism

Plagiarism would be quantified into following levels in ascending order of severity for the purpose of its definition:

Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor similarities, no penalty

Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

Level 3: Similarities above 60%

  Penalties in case of plagiarism in submission of thesis and dissertations

Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) shall impose penalty considering the severity of the Plagiarism.

i. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor Similarities, no penalty.

ii. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40% – Such student shall be asked to submit a revised script within a stipulated time period not exceeding 6 months.

iii. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60% – Such student shall be debarred from submitting a revised script for a period of one year.

iv. Level 3: Similarities above 60% -Such student registration for that programme shall be cancelled.

Penalties in case of plagiarism in academic and research publications

I. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% – Minor similarities, no penalty.

II. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

i) Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

III. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

ii) Shall be denied a right to one annual increment.

iii) Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of two years.

IV. Level 3: Similarities above 60%

ii) Shall be denied a right to two successive annual increments.

iii) Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of three years.

Detection and Handling of Plagiarism | Charges of Plagiarism

If any member of the academic community suspects with appropriate proof that a case of plagiarism has happened in any document, he or she shall report it to the Departmental Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP). Upon receipt of such a complaint or allegation the DAIP shall investigate the matter and submit its recommendations to the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) of the HEI.

The authorities of HEI can also take suomotu notice of an act of plagiarism and initiate proceedings under these regulations. Similarly, proceedings can also be initiated by the HEI on the basis of findings of an examiner. All such cases will be investigated by the IAIP.

UGC guidelines for phd thesis format

How to  start a Ph.D. research  program in India?

UGC assistant professor eligibility/ selection criteria

Free and Paid plagiarism checkers for research papers/ thesis

Sources: UGC

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What percentage of plagiarism is accepted for a dissertation?

• Dissertation

Going by the custom, the content below 10-15% of plagiarism is acceptable, but it also varies and depends upon the requirement of particular universities. Sometimes, even in the case of 15% content similarity, and to know, the content is borrowed from another website, it’s considered as plagiarism. Sticking to 10% or below is favourable to a writer.

I’ve been writing thesis and dissertation from months and firstly, do have research point in the first place, so you do organize the stuff accordingly to write in the required format you’ve been asked. Draft the idea of content that you need to add for dissertation, check-in for online proofreading tools for sentence phrases (eg. Grammarly), and rephrase whenever you see that plagiarized and be creative in writing, alike storyteller.

What is your PhD thesis in one sentence?

Thesis given to name a title or tell the whole story it in one sentence is always mind boggling thing. But, when you start to draft the thesis, pen down the research points that you doing first.

For eg. I’ve done my thesis topic in philosophy. I just want to see the effect of money – what alters the millennials draw through. My topic i chose is classified and focused on both positives and negatives of a coin, that why money is so crucially plotted into younger generations mind. If i’d to summarise the whole thesis in on sentence i.e.., Money is uncannily similar to Jelly.

I made research under so many things in subplots as, money as emotion, why money takes guards in people’s mindset for taking a life in proper standards, etc…

As you research and finalize thesis, show the impact of whatever line you mend to write. NOTE: BE ALWAYS PRACTICAL AND LOGICAL IN WRITING.

Is it possible to write a PhD thesis under 3 months?

Yes, it’s possible to write a PhD thesis within a timeframe under 3 months, when you have a clear structure and direction. I solely examine my papers, divide them indeed and connect all at last connecting all these chapters together. 

Following assumptions and some techniques, and if needed a gradual help from online and journals that keep engaging will definitely lower your time and set the task before time. Here are a few things to heed and write a PhD thesis effectively:

• Prepare a schedule for every section if needed to get a clear hand to write.
• Divide the records and outline them to be focused on crucial aspects that you can develop the subsections of your thesis.
• Have alternatives for writing the introduction, at last, basing upon your literature review, the methodologies, and chapters.
• Use online proofreading tools like Grammarly, Hemmingway, etc for the English errors that an individual commits without his/her prior knowledge in the thesis. 

What is the secret to writing a good dissertation?

The secret to writing a good dissertation is to avoid the mistakes or fix your dissertation mistakes that, you will be invoiced to the task of writing a dissertation there will be a high possibility to draw the attention of a reader. Few tips:

• Minimize the number typos and obvious punctuation mistakes
• Incorporate the figures and table of contents.
• Do not daunt by task “writing up always”
• Use an appropriate and consistent style of formatting that goes with University guidelines as well.

Will a mistake in my PhD thesis cause my PhD degree to be revoked?

To revoke a PhD degree by the thesis happens when only there are flaws made in any certain experiments or the data, and taking someones credit upon too.

For example, if an experiment is falsified or deliberately goes wrong in doctoral student thesis, then it can be revoked.

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Turnitin: What percentage is the cutoff for plagiarism?

A revamp of Teche’s most popular post of all time answering questions on interpreting similarity reports and if there is a specified cut off to determine plagiarism.

In my third version of this article originally published in 2015, I continue to address this highly Googled question. I believe the ongoing popularity of this article (over 6800 hits!) reflects just how pertinent the issue of academic integrity in higher education continues to be. From plagiarism to the increasing sophistication of file sharing sites and contract cheating, academic integrity is an evolving and complex field we must keep up with.

As to the question of a neat percentage cutoff for plagiarism, there remains no specific answer. After many years of experience with Turnitin, I can however offer plenty of guidance and support on how to interpret the Turnitin similarity score and similarity report in order to make your own judgement about plagiarism. In addition to this, there are many resources available to help both staff and students make the most of Turnitin as a tool for improving academic writing.

How does Turnitin work?

Turnitin is a system that looks for matching text in an assignment from its massive database of academic publications, websites and other submitted papers. Any matches and their sources are highlighted in different colours in the Similarity Report, along with the similarity score percentage.

What is the similarity percentage?

The similarity percentage figure represents the proportion of the paper found to be matched elsewhere . It is not a rating or judgement of how much the paper is plagiarised. There are many examples where a high percentage is absolutely fine. An assessment that calls for research using several sources, direct quotes and a large bibliography (if not excluded by the instructor) will naturally find several matches in the database. As will simple short answer questions where most students’ answers will be alike.

How do I tell if there is plagiarism?

The only way to really tell if plagiarism has occurred is to look at the Similarity Report and use your own academic judgement. If there are several different coloured matches but each is written and cited correctly then that is fine. However, if there are large blocks of text highlighted in the same colour, it is worth checking for the different types of plagiarism that commonly occur.

Some things that can artificially increase a similarity score include having a template or cover sheet that all students have to use and the bibliography or references.

How is Turnitin used at Macquarie?

At Macquarie, Turnitin can be used as a tool for ensuring the academic integrity of electronically submitted assessments as required by the Assessment Procedure (Section (6) under Designing for Academic Integrity ).

In iLearn, Turnitin can be used as the standalone Turnitin activity, and also in the iLearn Assignment and Forum activities.

Can students check their assignment before submitting to Turnitin?

Yes, MQ students have access to Turnitin Draft Coach , a tool that allows students to check the similarity score and similarity report for their work themselves. This can be a valuable step in the assignment submission process by highlighting to students where they might need to improve their writing. MQ students can access Draft Coach through Google Docs when logged in with their MQ OneID.

This 2.5 minute video shows you the student view of Draft Coach.

Draft Coach guides and videos are available here.

In addition to this, Turnitin’s default setting to allow student to see their similarity report in iLearn was set to ‘yes’ to encourage the use of Turnitin similarity reports as a learning tool for student academic writing.

Where can I get more help?

The Turnitin and Feedback Studio Staff Quick Guides show you how to set up and use Turnitin checking, as well as how to use Feedback Studio for providing online feedback to students.

The Student Quick Guides help students navigate iLearn and Turnitin to submit their assignments, access feedback and use Turnitin Draft Coach.

This article was originally published in 2015. It was updated in November 2017 and now again in September 2022.

• Posted in: Learning Technologies , Teaching Practice
• Tagged in: academic integrity , Turnitin

Posted by Amanda Parker

Learning Enhancement Manager, PVC L&T

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Understanding Plagiarism in Review Papers

The world of academia takes plagiarism very seriously. The copying of others’ works without appropriate citation is not only unethical but can also harm a student’s academic career. But what about review papers? How much is too much? Let’s dive in and find out.

How Much Plagiarism is Allowed in Review Papers?

In most academic journals, the acceptable similarity percentage is 15% . If you’re hovering around 17%, you’re in the clear but should still exercise caution. Although journals conduct their own plagiarism checks, they evaluate the entire manuscript context and not just the similarity percentage. However, crossing a 20% threshold often raises red flags about the originality of the content.

Different Content, Different Tolerances

Understanding the acceptable plagiarism percentage often depends on the nature of the document:

Note : It’s vital to be aware of unintentional plagiarism. Sometimes, similarities can arise purely by coincidence or unknowingly echoing studied resources.

A Checklist to Avoid Plagiarism

Keeping your academic writing original requires vigilance. Here are some steps you can follow to ensure your content is plagiarism-free:

1. Avoid Direct Quotes and Paraphrasing

• Steer clear from directly lifting or rephrasing others’ thoughts.
• Instead, understand the essence from various sources and pen them in your unique style.

2. Proper Referencing

• Citing sources can be a challenge, but it’s vital to differentiate your work.
• There are various formats like MLA, APA, Chicago, and more.
• Online tools can assist in generating citations, ensuring your references are in order.

3. Proofreading

• Review your content thoroughly, looking for familiar phrases or unintentional copying.
• Enlist a friend’s help for a fresh perspective on your paper.

4. Enriching Vocabulary

• Avoid clichés by expanding your vocabulary.
• Reading more and noting new terms can help. Synonyms can also come in handy.

5. Scanning Texts with Plagiarism Checkers

• Before submission, use specialized tools like PlagiarismCheck.org to ensure content originality.

Plagiarism is a serious issue in academic writing, and understanding its nuances is crucial for students and professionals alike. While there are guidelines on acceptable percentages, the ultimate goal should be producing genuine and original content. By following the steps mentioned above, one can ensure their work stands up to the highest standards of academic integrity. After understanding plagiarism in review papers, learn various strategies to avoid it in your academic work.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. is 25% plagiarism acceptable.

No, it’s not. Most journals and institutions only allow up to 20%. Ideal plagiarism levels in research papers should be between 0 and 10%, excluding cited references.

2. Can Review Papers Have Plagiarism?

Yes, they can. All parts of a thesis, including literature reviews, require plagiarism checks. Proper citation is mandatory to avoid plagiarism allegations.

3. What is Originality in Article Review?

Originality involves presenting unique content that reflects the author’s own insights and interpretations. In journals, it requires new contributions to the existing literature.

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How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries? pp 247–252 Cite as

How to Check for Plagiarism?

• Samiran Nundy 4 ,
• Atul Kakar 5 &
• Zulfiqar A. Bhutta 6  
• Open Access
• First Online: 24 October 2021

42k Accesses

The word ‘Plagiarism’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Plagiare’ which means ‘to kidnap or abduct’. In scientific literature, it means the ‘wrongful appropriation’ and ‘stealing and publication’ of another author’s ‘language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions’ and depicting it as one’s own creative work. Plagiarism amounts to academic untruthfulness and a breach of journalistic integrity [1].

Copying from one it’s plagiarism, copying from two it’s research. Wilson Mizner, American playwright, raconteur and entrepreneur (1876–1933).

You have full access to this open access chapter,  Download chapter PDF

1 What Is Plagiarism?

The word ‘Plagiarism’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Plagiare’ which means ‘to kidnap or abduct’. In scientific literature, it means the ‘wrongful appropriation’ and ‘stealing and publication’ of another author’s ‘language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions’ and depicting it as one’s own creative work. Plagiarism amounts to academic untruthfulness and a breach of journalistic integrity [ 1 ].

2 Why Is Plagiarism So Rampant in India?

There are many reasons why plagiarism is common in India. There is the compulsory thesis before the final postgraduate examination which students need to finish in time so they find the ‘cut and paste’ technique to be a convenient shortcut to writing the manuscript or even doing the research. The other reason is that they have never attended research methodology workshops where plagiarism is discussed. They do not know that plagiarism is a serious offence that can be punished with suspension or expulsion from their institution in other countries. The unfamiliarity with the English language, lax checking by their supervisors and an absence of punishment are other reasons for this. Plagiarism reflects the poor standards of our medical publications [ 2 ]. However, it is also a global phenomenon and not unique to India [ 3 ].

3 What Action Can Be Taken Against you if your Manuscript Is Found to be Plagiarized?

All types of plagiarism can attract disciplinary action which may range from removing the published paper, legal and monetary repercussions and academic and professional damage to your reputation. All good journals and many universities check the manuscripts for this through online checking systems which are now widely available. We should have a ‘zero tolerance policy’ for such acts.

4 Does Plagiarism Apply Only to Written Text?

No, this statement is not true as plagiarism applies to text in manuscripts as well as images, clinical photographs, tables, graphs, and pictorial data.

5 Is There a Gazette of India Notification on Plagiarism?

Yes , the University Grants Commission (UGC) has a regulation, dated 31 July 2018 regarding promotion in academic institutions and on the prevention of plagiarism. It defines 20 terms like plagiarism, author, academic integrity, script, source, etc. It also describes a penalty for a plagiarized thesis and dissertation. It also mentions that all students should submit a soft copy of their theses or dissertations to some central information and library centre [ 4 ].

6 What Is the UGC’s Classification of Plagiarism?

In 2018, it classified plagiarism in educational institutions into various levels. If similarity is less than 10%, no action is taken. However, if the level of plagiarism increases above this, the action given below is recommended [ 4 , 5 ].

Level 1—10–40% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. The revised manuscript should be re-submitted within 6 months.

Level 2—40–60% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. The student is entitled to resubmit the revised script after 1 year but not exceeding 18 months.

Level 3—above 60% similarity. No marks or credits shall be awarded for the plagiarized script. Registration for the course itself is cancelled.

7 What Are the Sections in Articles which Are Excluded from Plagiarism Checks?

The areas which are excluded are: [ 4 ].

Quoted statements (quoted work can be reproduced with all the necessary permissions).

References/Bibliography.

Table of Contents.

Preface/Acknowledgements.

Standard symbols/Generic terms.

8 What Do Words Quote, Paraphrase and Similarity Mean?

A quote is using or repeating the same words as in the original text. If this is done it should appear under inverted commas. For example, Hippocrates stated ‘I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous’.

A Paraphrase is rewriting the original idea in our own words. While doing paraphrasing the central concept or the meaning of the text is not changed.

Similarity is copied text and is like the original text. The original and the text written are exactly the same.

9 What Are the Various Types of Plagiarism? [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]

Total or Complete Plagiarism

This depicts a severe form of plagiarism. In this, the investigator passes off someone else’s script or study as his own, and submits it under his own name.

Direct Plagiarism

Direct or verbatim plagiarism is a type of complete plagiarism when one section of the text is copied rather than the whole text.

Self- or Auto-plagiarism

Auto-plagiarism, also known as self-plagiarism or duplication, happens when authors reuse sizeable portions of their previously published work without attribution.

Paraphrasing plagiarism

This is the most common type of plagiarism seen among students. It involves the use of the original author’s manuscript after making some minor changes in the sentences and creating a new article.

‘Cut and paste’ plagiarism

This type of plagiarism is becoming common among students because of the easy accessibility of scientific information on the internet.

Mosaic/patchwork plagiarism

Mosaic plagiarism may be difficult to detect because it interposes someone else’s a few sentences or paragraphs within the text.

Accidental Plagiarism

This can be either intended or unintended. Even for this, there is no excuse and the consequences are often the same.

10 How Can we Check for Plagiarism?

Many sites are now available - free or paid. Grammarly©, Whitesmoke©, Prewriting aid©, Duplichecker©, Plagarism © Check.org©C, Quetext ©, small SEO plagiarism checker©, copytext©, viper©, checkforplagiarism.net©, Wordpress Plugin©, Plagium©, etc.

11 How Does a Plagiarism Report Appear?

Once a check is done, the report looks similar to the Fig. 24.1 . The lines and sentences which have been copied are highlighted in various colours as is the source from which it has been copied.

Review in an article with 92% plagiarism, along with the sources (published with permission editor—Current Medical Research and Practice)

12 How Much Plagiarism Is Usually Allowed for a Paper to Be Accepted?

When it is an original paper, the author should aim at zero plagiarism. However, in many journals, a similarity of up to 15% is allowed. For a chapter in a book, this limit is about 5% and in a thesis, less than 10% is accepted.

13 What Is the Difference between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement?

Plagiarism is claiming credit for a work you did not do or using someone else’s work without proper attribution.

Copyright infringement is a broad term covered under the law. In this, an author uses someone else’s work without obtaining their permission.

14 What Are the Five Rules for Avoiding Plagiarism?

Plan to finish your project well in time before submission.

Recognize the concept behind the manuscript you need to cite.

Never do ‘copy–paste’; it seems to be a shortcut but eventually it takes double the time to correct the mistakes.

Use your own language to build up the manuscript.

Use an online plagiarism device to check before final submission.

15 Conclusions

Plagiarism is a type of research delinquency that consists of copying someone else’s work or idea without giving him proper credit.

Plagiarism extends not only to the text but also to tables, charts and pictures.

An awareness about the risks of plagiarism is low among the students and researchers in developing countries.

To avoid the copy–paste culture, students should be instructed to read articles completely and carefully and then write a paper in their own words.

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). How to Check for Plagiarism?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_24

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Turnitin: A staff guide to interpreting the Similarity Report

Introduction.

This guide describes what a similarity report shows and how to interpret matches highlighted on a student’s assignment submitted to Turnitin.

The similarity report is an effective way to:

• Check that online sources in an assignment have been properly cited and the text has not simply been copied without appropriate referencing.
• Help students as a formative learning tool around referencing and that you can use with your students to improve their skills.
• Identify collusion between students on their course and potentially from other institutions who use Turnitin in the UK.
• Ensure a level of equality and parity when checking the similarity of students’ work against the vast range of possible online sources.
• Deter students from plagiarising and encourage good academic practice.

It’s important to know that a simliarity match does not always means plagiarism . You will need to apply your academic judgment by understanding how the report works and what it shows.

The similarity report is best used in conjunction with other methods to prevent and detect plagiarism and as part of a co-ordinated approach to maintaining the academic integrity of students’ written work.

Turnitin guide:  Setting reasonable expectations for the Turnitin Similarity Score

How to interpret the Similarity Report

The similarity index percentage.

An overall percentage score (with colour code) is shown next to a student’s name under the Similarity column in the Assignment Inbox. This shows the total amount of matched text as a proportion of the assignment.

This ‘at a glance’ guide should not be used as a measure of plagiarism. Even a 1% score could potentially be plagiarised.

There is no ideal percentage to look for . Students’ work is bound to contain some words from other sources. The percentage will vary depending on the type and length of assignment and the requirements of the work involved .

Individual matches need to be investigated by opening the student’s paper and viewing the match overview and breakdown panel.

What does the Similarity Index percentage indicate?

A 100% match means the assignment has no original work . It has most probably been submitted previously to Turnitin . This can happen if the student is making a re-submission of their work and the file had already been submitted to the Turnitin database. It could be a student error and they submitted to another assignment area by mistake. It can also indicate collusion or copying an essay from another student, either in their class, from a previous year or another institution.

Types of frequently found ‘acceptable’ matched text.

There are certain types of matched text that Turnitin will find, which can be safely excluded or ignored with discretion. These matches will be included in the overall similarity score for a similarity report and be highlighted as a matches on a student’s paper.

These include:

• Quotations: Properly referenced quotations can be ignored. These can be excluded using the filter.
• References and Bibliography: Other students will have used the same references at some point and these will show up.
• Matching formats: e.g. the same essay title.
• Tables and Charts showing shared or copied data or statistics.
• Appendices may also have a large amount of matching text as other students may well have used the same sources.
• Small matches that form common phrases in a sentence or subject terminology will be detected. These can be removed using the small match filter.
• Paraphrasing text from a source will be highlighted even where words in the phrase have been changed.  If the source has been cited, it remains the academic judgment of the tutor to decide if the text has been suitably paraphrased.

Examples of common match patterns found on assignments.

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What percentage of plagiarism is acceptable?

Factors affecting plagiarism.

• The topic of writing. For example, if a common topic has already been covered hundreds of times on the Internet, even one or two copied sentences will be detected. If it is a narrowly focused topic, e.g., related to economics, politics, or medicine, even a copied paragraph with partially changed words may not be considered plagiarism.
• The amount of content copied. Again, copying as much as a whole paragraph or half a section of your text from someone else's source will be considered plagiarism. If the volume is small, and you paraphrase the copied words and fill them with your thoughts, it can only be regarded as self-written work.

Allowed plagiarism percentage may differ in different universities

• Try to study as many different references as possible, but do not copy them.
• Quoting information is also acceptable but within reasonable limits.

Avoid plagiarism necessarily and always

• Where the matches were found;
• What are the exact words they are associated with;
• Be able to redo or at least cut out non-unique text passages.

Check percentage of plagiarism with Skandy

• Skandy has free trial checks to help you determine whether the service suits you.
• Skandy has a user-friendly, intuitive interface.
• Skandy will be able to verify work quickly, irrespective of the load on the site.

• Grab a comprehensive plagiarism report
• Locate and fix grammatical errors
• Transform plagiarized content into quotes

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Learn how much plagiarism is allowed in 2023.

26 May 2022

Read our short article to find out how much plagiarism is allowed in academic work before it gets you in trouble!

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and claiming it to be yours. So, it is essentially cheating. However, it's often critical to back up your thoughts and opinions in academic writing, especially when you are specifically asked to perform research e.g., a research paper, a case study, a thesis, dissertation, or general research essay, but you must be careful how you write text to avoid getting in trouble for cheating. Students may take information from books, online documents, a friend, or another student if they reference the other’s work accurately. A student may plagiarize intentionally or unintentionally e.g., students can be accused of plagiarism for forgetting to or being unable to correctly cite sources of information and students can (in extreme cases) be thrown off their course.

How Much Plagiarism is Allowed?

Plagiarism in general academic writing.

A plagiarism checker is used in academic writing to detect plagiarism and although educational professionals may tell a student that the allowed percentage is zero, the maximum amount of plagiarism that academic institutions generally consider acceptable in submissions is actually 15%. Academic institutions interpret the 15% statistic as unintentional plagiarism, and there is also a small percentage allowance for software faults, which can occur with such complicated and detailed technology. So, a plagiarism score of over 15% indicates that the student's work contains a significant amount of plagiarized material and that 1% more can be the difference between academic integrity and plagiarism . Worryingly, a plagiarism percentage of more than 20% is an immediate perceived indicator that text is intentionally plagiarized by the student to deceive their academic instructor or assessor and a penalty may be applied.

Plagiarism in Theses and Dissertations

When it comes to theses and dissertations, plagiarism is constantly monitored and should ideally be zero but 5% or under will normally be accepted. You may find yourself creating sentences that sound similar to those seen in other academic papers, which your teacher or lecturer may overlook, but if this happens too often you may face a penalty.

Plagiarism in Published Journals

In a published journal, plagiarism should again be zero and score of over 5% would possibly be unacceptable (just like theses and dissertations) but in the case of a published journal, legal action can be taken against plagiarized content.

Plagiarism in Blogs

Blog writing is a little more relaxed and a score of 30 percent or under will generally be considered acceptable.

Top Tips on How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Cite properly: A good student knows how to cite according to their educational establishments required citation style. Work may be cited in Harvard, APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, or another style and these can have different versions e.g., APA 6th, MLA 8th. Make sure you give in-text citations, e.g., Shelley, 2012 for every quote, fact, statistic, graph, diagram, photo, etc., that you take from another source and reference the source fully in your reference list e.g., Shelly (2012) The Meaning of Life, Blackbird Publications . Remember that direct quotes should normally be written within speech marks and paraphrased text counts as a quotation requiring citation, but you can omit the speech marks.
• Use a generator: An online citation generator can help you check you are citing work correctly and save your references as you go if you keep them open in a tab and update them each time you use a new source, but they are not completely foolproof or 100 percent accurate all the time, so be sure to double check them.
• Highlight copied text: If you copy and paste information into a document to paraphrase or refer to later, highlight the text in a distinct color (e.g., red for danger) until you have written it in your own words and cited it. This will remind you that it is copied content. It can be easy to forget and include the words of others in your work, especially when you are writing a large document.
• Proofread: Read your whole document beginning to end to check that you have included in-text citations and a reference list entry for every piece of information you have used from another source and that speech marks surround any direct quotes. 
• Detection tools: If you are worried your work could still show a result of more than 15%, try using an online plagiarism detection tool before submitting any work. This can provide you with an estimate of the plagiarism score and identify the plagiarized content for you to edit.

What is your Originality Index?

Check your text with a plagiarism checker to stay safe

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Plagiarism in academic writing or any kind of writing can be a tricky area and it’s so easy to get caught out whether you intended to cheat or not! Students can get lost in large documents, lose track of what they have written, what they have copied and pasted, and where text, quotes, statistics, and other information came from. Plagiarism accusations are best avoided so be sure to cite other people’s work correctly and accurately as you go along and find out exactly how much plagiarism is allowed in college, rather than take risks that may be embarrassing or (more worryingly) could potentially cost you penalties or your college place.

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Acceptable Plagiarism Percentage in the UK

Ashley Merit

Content writer and editor for Netus.AI

Acceptable Plagiarism Percentage in the UK. Plagiarism has been a long-standing issue in the world of academia, with instances of copied content in academic papers. Although cheating among students has always been present, the rise of the internet has made copying content much easier. It is essential for students and scholars to be aware of the acceptable plagiarism percentages in the UK, especially in their respective institutions.

Despite the availability of vast amounts of information found online, not all writers resort to copying content. Sometimes, unintentional plagiarism might seep into their work. It makes understanding the acceptable percentage of plagiarism in the UK and developing good practices for producing original content particularly important.

Key Takeaways

• Plagiarism is a pervasive issue in academic institutions, and the internet has made cheating more accessible.
• While some writers may unknowingly include copied content, it is crucial to be aware of acceptable plagiarism percentages.
• Understanding what constitutes plagiarism and developing good practices are essential to maintain academic integrity.

How are Online Plagiarism Checkers Beneficial for People?

Online plagiarism checkers generate similarity reports which reveal the presence of copied content in a document. These reports provide a plagiarism percentage , which represents the total amount of duplicated content in the document. A higher percentage typically signals the presence of unoriginal material.

Plagiarism levels of about 10 to 15% are commonly deemed acceptable, but even a 10% score may not guarantee a document’s originality. For instance, this percentage could represent a whole paragraph copied without proper citation. As such, solely relying on plagiarism percentages isn’t foolproof in determining a document’s authenticity.

Nonetheless, online plagiarism checkers are beneficial for the following reasons:

• They promote the understanding of proper citation practices.
• They provide valuable feedback to improve the writing process.
• They guide users in avoiding failure due to unintentional plagiarism.

It’s important to note that sometimes, high plagiarism percentages might result from cited passages being mistaken for plagiarized content. Hence, it’s crucial to carefully assess the generated similarity report and recognize the reasons behind the indicated level of plagiarism.

To Curb Plagiarism, Write a Plagiarism-Free Document

To effectively minimize plagiarism in academic writing, students should concentrate on crafting unique content, diligently citing appropriate references, and making sure those sources are relevant to their assignments.

In the modern age, countless online resources cover a wide array of topics. However, it is crucial to choose the most suitable references for one’s paper instead of relying solely on external information. Incorporating individual perspectives, insights, and conclusions contributes to a well-rounded essay, reducing the risk of accidental or patchwork plagiarism.

For educators, emphasizing the importance of original thought and providing a clear understanding of self-plagiarism, assessments, and academic integrity within their field of study, would help students grasp the significance of honest work in their education. In turn, this may discourage practices such as commissioning papers or paying for model essays.

Process of Avoiding Plagiarism

To effectively avoid plagiarism, adhere to these steps:

• Create a unique write-up : Focus on writing the paper without integrating any sources at first. This allows for individual ideas and conclusions to form.
• Organize and document sources : Record each source immediately to prevent forgetfulness and ensure proper citation.
• Incorporate notes : Clarify the relevance of reference passages used within the paper by explaining their significance in the notes section.
• Consistent citation format : Always use a single, institution-prescribed citation style for listing cited works.

Additionally, it is crucial to check the paper for plagiarism using a high-quality plagiarism checker. Utilize the results from the plagiarism scanner to rectify any unintentional mistakes within the paper. By following these guidelines and paying attention to the referencing process , writers can prevent plagiarism while creating well-researched, original work with proper acknowledgement of sources such as direct quotations, images, and in-text citations .

Online Services for Checking Plagiarism in Academic Papers

Manually identifying plagiarism in text files can be challenging, especially when recalling all the sources utilized while writing the paper. Unintentionally incorporating ideas from previous lessons also poses a risk for unplagiarized content.

Ensuring proper citation for influenced passages or paraphrased content is crucial; however, incomplete citations or mistakes in the works cited page might cause plagiarism issues. Errors in attributions or spelling can further aggravate these problems.

Manually checking a paper for every small error leading to plagiarism is often unfeasible. Thankfully, online tools can effectively detect plagiarism and correct grammatical or spelling mistakes. Some popular tools include:

• Grammar checkers : These tools assess the grammatical correctness of the paper.
• Plagiarism checkers : By scanning the uploaded document for copied content, these tools compare the text with multiple internet sources to identify plagiarism.

One well-known plagiarism checker is Turnitin , which is widely used in academic settings.

Upon completion of the scanning process, the duplicated sections are highlighted, and sources of the copied text are displayed. A comprehensive plagiarism report is generated, providing valuable insights into the paper’s quality.

By using these online services, writers can significantly improve the originality and quality of their academic papers, ensuring they comply with integrity standards in their respective fields.

Use Plagiarism Detector Tool

In today’s digitally connected world, finding a reliable plagiarism detection tool can be challenging. Many checkers employ basic scanning methods that may not catch intellectual theft that has been purposefully modified to evade detection. However, utilizing an AI-powered online plagiarism scanner can help identify even the most cunningly altered content^[1^].

These advanced tools are capable of identifying various types of plagiarism and are particularly beneficial in the academic sphere. By understanding the significance of plagiarism, users can work towards eliminating duplicate content in scholarly papers. Tools like plagiarism detectors simplify the process and yield similarity reports after scanning, making it easier to remove copied content.

Some effective formatting techniques for your articles include:

• Tables : Organize data in an easy-to-read format
• Bullet points : Compile lists and key points concisely
• Bold text : Emphasize important information

Adopting these strategies can help deliver information in a clear and concise manner while avoiding exaggeration or falsehoods. By using an appropriate plagiarism detection tool, users can confidently ensure the originality of their work and maintain academic integrity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Maximum threshold for plagiarism in university assignments.

Different universities and academic institutions may have varying policies regarding acceptable plagiarism levels in assignments. Generally, it is best to strive for a plagiarism percentage of 0% to ensure originality and proper citation of sources in your work.

Determining Acceptable Plagiarism Percentages in Theses

The acceptable percentage of plagiarism in a thesis varies depending on the institution, department, or the specific guidelines provided by your university. Some universities may accept a plagiarism threshold of around 10%, but it is recommended to check with your institution for specific guidelines.

Acceptable Similarity Levels in Research Papers

In research papers, the acceptable similarity percentage may depend on the publisher. For instance, Springer specifies that up to 15% similarity is permitted . It is crucial to familiarize yourself with the guidelines of the publisher or the academic institution you are submitting your research to, as different organizations may have different policies in place.

Identifying Plagiarism through Turnitin Similarity Percentage

Turnitin’s similarity percentage indicates the level of similarity in content between your submitted work and other sources. However, a high similarity percentage does not automatically indicate plagiarism. It is crucial to investigate each similar passage to determine whether it constitutes plagiarism or is a correctly cited reference.

Allowable Plagiarism Limit in a Master’s Thesis

The allowable limit of plagiarism in a master’s thesis may vary among academic institutions and departments. Nevertheless, less than 10% is generally considered an acceptable limit . Always consult your university’s specific guidelines to ensure compliance with their requirements.

Acceptable Plagiarism Levels in the University of London’s Academic Submissions

The University of London follows strict plagiarism guidelines , defining plagiarism as presenting someone else’s thoughts, words, or other output in a way that may be assumed as your own. Plagiarism in any form is considered an assessment offence, and students must adhere to the university’s policies and guidelines to avoid academic penalties.

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