Detecting plagiarism is vital when publishing scientific research work. How do you use these available plagiarism detection services, such as Turnitin and iThenticate, when reviewing a manuscript? Do you rely only on the value of the similarity/plagiarism index before making a decision about the manuscript?
Some authors insert typos and mistakes on purpose to fool the plagiarism detector.
It is recommended to check the text after some corrections. Otherwise, we may get unpleasant surprises.
Plagiarism detection software can be very flawed. Sometimes when I run a paper through one, it highlights non-issues like my name, affiliation and other general terms as being plagiarized, which increases the plagiarism score.
My suggestion is that researchers should ensure that their work is not plagiarized so that they can defend it, irrespective of whether the plagiarism score is high or low.
I think plagiarism is the basic, the originality and quality of the manuscript should be the ultimate basis for making a decision. It is a fact that a manuscript that fails the plagiarism test is definitely not original, but not all manuscripts that pass the plagiarism tests are original either. That's where the reviewers come in.
One of the best plagiarism tools is Plagius.
https://www.plagius.com/en#plagiarism-checker
It has settings and I strongly recommend people to use rigorous thresholds.
Even if the plagiarism check is low, the reviewer or editor should read the paper and investigate the links listed by the Plagius' report.
To reduce the number of false reports, one must remove author's info, keywords and references before applying a plagiarism software.
Another thing are the equations. If, like @A. P. Araujo has said, one has read the text, then the reviewer can decide if the paper cites the apropriate references and formulas.
One thing that scares the crap out of me is a text with a plethora of results and no theoretical background. This has two serious problems:
1) Makes reading the paper very difficult (especially for young researchers); and
2) Maybe a sign that the authors have plugged in data with little knowledge about the topic.
When I hear someone saying that a set of results is what matters, I get suspicious.
Some authors insert typos and mistakes on purpose to fool the plagiarism detector.
It is recommended to check the text after some corrections. Otherwise, we may get unpleasant surprises.
Thank you all for your valuable input to have a good discussion. According to all the information, it is clear that plagiarism software is a useful tool that should not be used blindly. If we are careful and wise enough, we can get the maximum benefit from the software.
Hi Indika Wickramasinghe ,
Yes, plagiarism or similarity score plays a key role in the initial editorial decision for the rejection.
The manuscript with very high plagiarized content be voluntarily rejected without review.
One more thing is that, no one can rely solely on software if it is showing average or less plagiarized content.
The editors and reviewers evaluate the manuscript thoroughly and play vital role in its publication. They also give their valuable suggestions to the authors to make it good enough.
I hope you will be benefitted.
Thanks and Good luck........
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Publishing