How To Check Plagiarism in Microsoft Word Document

As instructors, we all have our fair share of student essays and papers to read. And yes, occasionally we wish we had a way of confirming that their work is original. Microsoft Word online has a new tool within Microsoft Editor called the Similarity Checker that shows you how much content in your student’s document is original. It also makes it easier to insert citations using MLA or APA as necessary. Plagiarism can be a serious violation of academic ethics. When you receive a Word document that should be “original” material, you can run it through Myassignmenthelp’s plagiarism checker.

When the check is complete, the Similarity Checker shows how much of the document matches a site found online and the copied passages will display as a blue underline showing you the source. If the similarity percentage is over 10%, the document requires proper citation of sources. By having our students check their own papers before they submit them, they can be stronger writers reviewing their passages.

Similarity checker helps you create original work and cite the work of others in your Word documents. The similarity checker shows you how much content in your document is original, and it makes it easy to insert citations when necessary. With the mechanics of citations taken care of, you are freed up to focus on your writing. Your reader can tell what material originates with you, and the people you cite get credit where it’s due.

1. On the Home tab, choose Editor.
2. In the Editor pane, find Similarity, and click or tap Check for similarity to online sources.
3. When the check is complete, Editor shows you how much of your content matches text that it found online (indicated as a percent), and the number of distinct passages in the document for you to review.
4. To review the passages, click or tap Similarities reviewed. The editor takes you to the first passage, where you can choose whether or not to insert a citation. A link to the online content lets you judge for yourself whether attribution is warranted. If you decide not to add a citation, choose Ignore.

After a passage has been reviewed, Editor underlines it in green. Clicking or tapping in the passage opens the citation suggestion again, which is helpful if you want to re-read the online source or add a citation to a passage that you previously ignored.

The tool was officially announced on March 30, 2020. Since then, Microsoft has launched it in phases, with the initial beneficiaries being users of premium Microsoft 365 Education. Soon, the feature will also be available to Microsoft 365 Home and Business subscribers. Currently, it is only usable for English language texts. Given that it’s a megaproject, covering millions of Word users globally, it may take some time before it finally reaches your account.

Having a plagiarism checker that works alongside MS Word improves the usability and user experience. To enable the feature:

1. Choose Editor on Microsoft Word’s Home tab.
2. Select Similarity on the Editor pane, then tap/click Check for similarity to online sources. The tool automatically begins an in-depth plagiarism check. Once done, it shows you the percentage of your text similar to other content on the internet. The search results also indicate the number of individual passages in your document that should be reviewed.
3. To amend the passages, click on Similarities reviewed. The tool takes you from one passage to the next, suggesting where it would be appropriate to insert a citation. It also includes links to the online texts for you to decide whether attribution is necessary or not. In some cases, you may choose to Ignore it.

After a paragraph has been edited, it is underlined in green. You can always revisit it, re-read the online sources, look at the citation suggestions, and even add attributions to texts you previously chose to ignore. Consider installing an add-in to check plagiarism on Microsoft Word. An excellent example of such is Myassignmenthelp.  

Steps to Scanning your Documents for Plagiarism

1. Upload your doc file from your computer by clicking the “Attach file” button or simply dragging and dropping it into the assigned space.

2. You can also upload it if your document is saved in Google Drive or DropBox.

3. Click on the “Check Plagiarism” button and get your pdf scanned against thousand of copies within minutes.