How important really is it to run your thesis through a plagiarism checker?

Should you use a plagiarism checker?

Many students run their thesis through a plagiarism checker before printing and binding their thesis. The question as to whether or not this is necessary always comes up. One thing, however, is clear: Even if you don’t use a plagiarism checker, your university will check your Master’s thesis or dissertation for plagiarism as part of the evaluation process.

NOTE:

Even improperly quoting a source is considered plagiarism (e.g.: by forgetting to put the year). Careless errors like this can lead to serious consequences and even to getting a failing mark on your dissertation or final paper.

Running your document through a plagiarism checker verifies whether or not your text really is your intellectual property. Naturally, you’re allowed to use existing research when writing your research paper, dissertation or final paper; this is actually a requirement when writing a scientific paper. However, you have to appropriately identify every single passage you quote!

Errors are common, especially when it comes to quoting work. A plagiarism detector allows you to check if you correctly identified the literature you used. Therefore, if you are not completely certain whether you quoted a text correctly, you should seriously consider running your document through a plagiarism checker.

Plagiarism software: free or fee-based?

When you have decided on using a plagiarism checker, you will find two options online: a free software or a fee-based professional checker. Both options have their pros and cons, which is why we want to examine both ways for you

Free plagiarism checkers – Pros and Cons

When you look online for plagiarism checkers, you’ll notice that there are a lot of providers that offer a free plagiarism checker. You can’t blame anyone for being tempted by a free offer. However, it is important to be aware of the cons of a free plagiarism detector.

Pros of a free plagiarism checker	Cons of a free plagiarism checker
Free	Servers’ data protection policy unclear
	Dubious providers
	Hidden additional costs for the full version
	Limit to the number of characters or words that are checked

Of course, you’ll save money when you opt for a free plagiarism checker, but you also run the risk of your dissertation or final paper not being checked properly. Many of the free plagiarism softwares use poorly developed algorithms that only check every third or fourth sentence in your paper, so that you might still unknowingly end up with plagiarisms.

Many of the servers used by the free providers are outside of Europe and are therefore not subject to European or German data protection regulations. There is therefore a risk that your data will not be properly protected and can thus be shared. That is why there is the distinct possibility that your uploaded dissertation or Master’s thesis might be published without your permission; the worst case scenario is that this might happen before you’ve even submitted it.

There is another disadvantage related to the dubious data regulations with free plagiarism checkers: many of the free plagiarism checkers save your uploaded research paper to their databank and then share it. It is precisely for this reason that a free plagiarism checker could cause serious damage.

Warning:

If your university or post-secondary institution uses the same plagiarism checker to verify your dissertation, Master’s thesis or research paper, your entire paper might be considered as plagiarism. Some plagiarism checkers save the uploaded final paper and then add it to their databank as a source text.

Advantages of a professional plagiarism checker

Of course it’s up to you whether you opt for a free or fee-based but professional plagiarism detector. If your final paper is shorter, i.e.: a term paper or a research project, then using a free plagiarism detector might be fine, as long as you’re not too concerned about the possible lack of data protection. However, if your final paper is a major one, such as a dissertation, a Master’s thesis or a research paper, you should definitely look into a professional plagiarism software, which will probably be fee-based. Remember that the money you spend having your academic paper checked is a good investment.

Checklist: How do I find a trustworthy provider for plagiarism checking?

There are three points to watch out for, all of them relatively easy to identify:

1. How professional is the organization? Look at their Terms and Conditions or their presence on other websites. If you have a funny feeling about a provider, take this as a warning sign!

2. What are their ratings? Check out independent rating platforms.

3. How long does it take them to run a plagiarism checker? If the plagiarism detector only takes two minutes, it could never check your whole document.

Here are some more important points when selecting the right plagiarism checker:

4. Data storage: After your dissertation, Master’s thesis or research paper have been checked, your paper should be removed from the provider’s server. Carefully read through their General Terms and Conditions!

5. Price: Compare the prices of different providers. Normally, the price is based on the word count. Expensive is not synonymous with quality!

6. Registration: Registration always takes time, time you don’t need to waste. Besides, this means the provider is collecting information from you that is not necessary.

BachelorPrint’s plagiarism checker

To help you find a save and thorough plagiarism software provider, we used our checklist and found a plagiarism service that we want to recommend to you.

If we take a look at the top plagiarism software providers, BachelorPrint’s service stands out. Their plagiarism checker service is user-friendly, dependable and thorough.

You don’t have to worry about your data, either – BachelorPrint deletes all data from its server within 24 hours after checking your thesis!

Furthermore, it only takes approx. 10 minutes for BachelorPrint to run its plagiarism checker when you’re having them check your research paper, dissertation or Master’s thesis.

No lengthy registration – good value for your money – countless satisfied happy post-secondary institutions and students!

BachelorPrint plagiarism checker – 3 steps to success

In just a few clicks, you can have your dissertation, research paper or final paper checked using BachelorPrint’s plagiarism checker.

Step 1: Uploading

First you need to upload your paper to BachelorPrint’s server. There is no need for lengthy reformatting of your research paper, dissertation or Master’s thesis – BachelorPrint’s plagiarism test tool accepts all common file formats!

Step 2: Checking

When the plagiarism software checks your final paper, it will be split up into several sections with the help of an algorithm. The plagiarism detector then compares them to the billions of sources from the databank. All identified plagiarisms are then gathered.

Step 3: Improving

When all this has been done, you will receive a plagiarism report that highlights all text suspected of plagiarism. You will receive this report quickly via e-mail, which you will have provided, after checking your document for plagiarism. BachelorPrint’s plagiarism software provides an online source for every plagiarism, so that all you need to do is click on the link and improve the text in question.

The plagiarism checker: Choose wisely!

Plagiarism can be avoided! It is for exactly this reason that this topic is not a favorite among students. Especially when this is due to carelessness, dealing with accusations of plagiarism is annoying. Quoting cited work properly is something that needs to be learned when writing a scientific paper!

So to play it safe, you should run a plagiarism checker. A quick Internet search indicates that there are numerous providers, many of whom offer a free plagiarism software service. However, if your academic paper is a research paper, a dissertation or a Master’s thesis – in other words, a major paper – then you should spend a bit of money and choose a professional provider to run this check for you. The best thing to do is to trust your instinct: do you feel good about the provider you chose? If yes, then nothing can go wrong.

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