# Plagiarism Detection

Alfred Scholar's plagiarism detection checks your manuscript for unintentional similarity against all documents uploaded to the platform. Your manuscript is compared against every paper in the system, not just your own uploads. Run a check before submitting to ensure originality and avoid academic integrity issues.

> **Note:** Plagiarism Detection is currently in **Beta**. The feature is functional but may be refined over time.

## Running a plagiarism check

Plagiarism checks are available for manuscripts in **Final** status:

1. Open your manuscript in the editor.
2. Set the manuscript status to **Final** if it is still in draft.
3. Click the **Plagiarism Check** button in the sidebar panel.
4. Alfred Scholar analyzes your manuscript and generates a report.

> **Note:** Plagiarism checks count toward your plan's monthly limit. See [Plans & Billing](/docs/v1.x/plans-and-billing) for details.

## Understanding the report

After the check completes, you see a plagiarism report with:

### Overall similarity score

A percentage indicating how much of your text matches other sources. The score is displayed as a colored ring:

- **Green (0-20%)** - Low similarity. Your text is largely original.
- **Yellow (20-50%)** - Moderate similarity. Review the matched passages.
- **Red (50%+)** - High similarity. Significant portions match other sources.

### Matched passages

The report lists each passage in your text that matches another source:

- **Matching source** - The document that contains similar text, with a link to view it.
- **Similarity percentage** - How closely the passages match.

Click on a match to see more details.

## Report statuses

| Status | What it means |
|--------|--------------|
| **Pending** | The check is queued and will start shortly. |
| **Processing** | Your manuscript is being analyzed for similarity. |
| **Completed** | The report is ready to view. |
| **Failed** | The check could not be completed (for example, if the manuscript has insufficient content). |

## Viewing past reports

All plagiarism reports are saved and accessible from the **Plagiarism Check** page in the sidebar:

1. Go to **Plagiarism Check** in the sidebar.
2. Browse your previous reports.
3. Click on a report to view its details and matched sources.

You can search reports by manuscript title.

## Important limitations

- **Text-based** - The check analyzes text content only, not images, tables, or equations.
- **Beta feature** - The accuracy and scope of detection may improve over time.

## Best practices

- **Run checks before submission** - Always check your final manuscript before submitting to a journal.
- **Review all flagged passages** - Not every match is plagiarism. Direct quotes (with proper citation), common phrases, and standard methodology descriptions may trigger false positives.
- **Check after revisions** - If you make significant changes based on peer review feedback, run the plagiarism check again on the revised version.

## Next steps

- **[Check your plan's limits](/docs/v1.x/plans-and-billing)** to ensure you have remaining plagiarism checks.
- **[Review your manuscript](/docs/v1.x/peer-reviews)** with colleagues before the final check.