Q. Do we have plagiarism checkers/detectors I can use?

Here is a resource to help you understand what exactly constitutes plagiarism.

 

The library does not provide mediated access to any plagiarism-detection software.

 

However, Darden Business School has a page on avoiding plagiarism, including links to three readily-available plagiarism detectors: WriteCheck, Plagramme, and Grammarly. The pros and cons of each software are listed and should be taken into careful consideration before using. These resources are provided on an individual level, so you would need to create an account for any of them and contact them if you have any technical difficulties with them.

 

Also, iThenticate is a cloud-based, anti-plagiarism software available to faculty and graduate students conducting research to check theses, dissertations, grant proposals, articles, books, etc.  Administrators manually create accounts for researchers.  At this time, we do not yet have the system integrated for single sign on access but that is a goal soon. Support is provided by iThenticate via the web at ithenticate.com, email at ithsupport@ithenticate.com or phone at (866) 816-5046 x241. Training is also provided by iThenticate. customer training videos, FAQ's, and manuals can all be found at ithenticate.com/training.

Once you’ve logged in, you will be taken directly to your iThenticate account dashboard. Once you upload a document into a folder, iThenticate will begin scanning it, according to the settings on that folder. To upload a file, select “Upload a File” from the “Submit a document” menu to the right of your iThenticate screen. Once a file has been scanned, a report will be available. This report will provide you with an overview of all potential matches that iThenticate has found when it scanned its repositories of published works. Each match is an area of the scanned document that might represent significant overlap with another published document. This is a possibility of plagiarism only and requires that users look closely at the instance to determine if the instance is correctly cited, if the instance represents an accidental match, or if the instance needs amelioration to avoid ethical conflicts.

When the user has the paper in the left portion of the screen, there is typically list of sources on the right that contains potential matches to investigate. You can view the match in context within the document or view the original source. For a detailed walk-through of the Document Viewer and how to view matches, visit iThenticate’s training resources.

Currently, requests for use of anti-plagiarism software by members of UVA’s research community may be directed to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Director of Research Integrity and Ethics, Kristen Schwendinger, amd8hc@virginia.edu.