PlagiarismDetect.com searches the web for phrases within the document and then displays a percentage of how much of the content is plagiarized. The results also include links to sources that match the plagiarized text: websites, books, pdfs, and blogs. This free tool is a great way for older homeschool students to check their assignments.

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Jennifer Bolton is married with two boys, both special needs. She is the owner of the Special Needs in Homeschooling. Jennifer uses free resources for teaching whenever she can, to keep her boys’ interests and to tailor their learning experiences to their individual learning styles and special needs.

Name of Product: PlagiarismDetect.com

Description of Product: “Hi guys, My name is Jeffrey. I’ve developed this plagiarism detection service, since I was having BIG problems in my papers. Using this website-you can easily detect plagiarized essays, term papers, research papers, etc.” 

Note: This FREE service is aimed at students who wish to make sure that their papers do not contain any accidental plagiarism.

Jennifer’s Description of Product: I received an email from my eldest son’s science teacher accusing him of plagiarism. The online school he attends uses a software program to compare assignments against written works. The content in my son’s assignment was an 85% match to websites where he performed his research.  Imagine my shock and surprise when my son’s teacher emailed me the results as proof!

My son has Auditory Processing Disorder and because of this, he has extreme difficulty with language. He truly talks the same way he reads. He does read at a college level, but it’s very difficult for him to reiterate content in his own words because he tends to mimic outside phrases and sentences in his speech.  In order to ensure that his future assignments do not contain plagiarism, I set out to find a FREE tool that will find plagiarism in his writings.

PlagiarismDetect.com has two options: one program is a Microsoft Word Plug In (Beta) that you can download to check your document while using Word.  The other option is to use the online version, which allows you to run the program without a download. You do not need Microsoft Word 2007 to use the online version, just copy and paste the text you would like to check, or upload the content in .txt or .doc format.  PlagiarismDetect.com searches the web for phrases within the document and then displays a percentage of how much of the content is plagiarized.  The results also include links to sources that match the plagiarized text: websites, books, pdfs, and blogs.

Homeschool Uses: This free tool is a great way for older homeschool students to check their assignments.  Plagiarism is a very serious offense in colleges and universities.  If students are planning to attend higher education, it would be beneficial to begin using this tool now so they can see how much of their work might be considered plagiarism.  This will also help with composition skills.  If a student discovers that a large percentage of their paper matches the sources they used, then it’s time to put some thought into rewording content and using citations accurately.

Jennifer’s Experience Using the Product:  Overall we had a great experience using this site and plan to use it again in the future.  However, there was one downfall.  If you attempt to check an entire paper or assignment, it will turn up with a high percentage of plagiarism for short phrases like ‘the french and’. Obviously that would be common phrase if writing a paper on the French.

If you copy and paste only certain pieces or main phrases of the written piece, it works wonderfully!

Tutorial or Promotional Video of the Product:  PlagiarismDetect.com does not have a tutorial but you can browse the blog for the latest updates, where the product will be going in the future, and give your own ideas! He promises to keep the program FREE!

Summary: I found PlagiarismDetect.com extremely easy to use and created an account for my son to use.  He wrote a history essay today and used the program to help him with phrases and sentences that were too similar to his research websites. I already see an improvement in his writing because he is able to see the similarities and differences for himself. This frees up a lot of time for me because I am not re-reading everything he has written. He can check his own work!

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