How to check your report for originality before you submit it
A simple routine to catch accidental plagiarism, weak paraphrasing and missing citations before your university report is marked.
Why originality checks matter
Most universities run submitted work through similarity software. Matching text is not always plagiarism, but a high score means a marker will look closer. Checking yourself first lets you fix problems while there is still time.
Step 1: Find the passages that match
Paste your finished text into an originality checker and look at which passages are flagged, not only the overall percentage. Quotes and reference lists often match legitimately; long unquoted sentences copied from a source do not.
Step 2: Rewrite, do not just swap words
Replacing a few words with synonyms is still too close to the source. Read the idea, close the source, and explain it in your own structure. Then add the citation, because a paraphrase still needs one.
Step 3: Quote and cite properly
If the exact wording matters, use quotation marks and a page or paragraph reference. Check that every in-text citation has an entry in your reference list, and the other way round.
Step 4: Check grammar last
Fix originality first, then run a grammar and style pass, because rewriting changes your sentences. Re-read the final version once from start to finish.
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