Online Plagiarism Detection Tools in the Digital Age: A Review

Abstract

Academic and research institutes are engaged in teaching and formulation of new research. The major problem in research publication is plagiarism, copying of published work without proper citation of source. Academic integrity breaches downloading, copying, and pasting paragraphs whole or part of assignments from the Internet. University Grant Commission (UGC) has introduced the "Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Education Institutes" regulation in 2018 to prevent plagiarism submitted by students, staff, and researchers. UGC has determined four levels of plagiarism based on percentages, using the anti-plagiarism checker software. Plagiarism has become a significant concern, and researchers seek to protect their work. Different commercial plagiarism checker tools are available to check the originality of content, e.g., Turnitin, URKUND, iThenticate, etc. This review will discuss plagiarism, types of plagiarism, reasons for plagiarism among the research community, University Grant Commission rules and regulations for preventing plagiarism, plagiarism levels, plagiarism detection, and how the plagiarism checker software works. We have also discussed the comparison between various commercial and online free plagiarism detecting and preventing software in detail, the librarian's role for avoiding plagiarism, etc. Besides, guidelines, suggestions, the percentage for avoiding plagiarism, awareness among the research community discussed.