Plagiarism risk check before you submit or publish
You took notes from twenty sources and some sentences may be closer to the original than you remember. Editors also want to know if a freelancer's article was copied. This prompt has your todo.is agent search the web for your most distinctive passages, show any close matches with links, and point out where a citation or a real paraphrase is needed.
The prompt
- Run a plagiarism risk check on this text: [TEXT OR FILE]. It is a [TYPE OF TEXT]. Pick the 15 to 25 most distinctive sentences and phrases (specific claims, unusual wording, statistics, definitions) and search the web for each, in quotes and without. For any close match, show my passage, the matching text, the link and how close it is (identical, near-identical, similar idea). Also flag sentences that state facts or numbers with no citation, and paraphrases that keep the original sentence structure. Skip anything in quotation marks that is already cited. For each problem suggest a fix: cite it, quote it or rewrite it in my own words. Here are my sources, so you can compare: [MY SOURCES]. Put the results in a short PDF report.
What to change
- [TEXT OR FILE]: Attach a Word file or PDF, or paste the text.
- [TYPE OF TEXT]: e.g. "university essay", "blog article from a freelance writer", "grant application".
- [MY SOURCES]: Links or PDFs you used, or "none" if you are checking someone else's work.
Example result
- Plagiarism risk report
- University essay · 2,140 words · 22 passages checked
- Overall
- • 2 passages are near-identical to published text and need fixing before you submit
- • 1 paraphrase is too close to one of your own sources
- • 4 sentences state facts or numbers with no citation
- • 15 passages: no match found
- Near-identical matches
- 1. Paragraph 3
- • *Your text:* "Microplastics have been detected in every major ocean basin, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments."
- • *Found:* the same sentence, with one word different, on an environmental education website (link in report)
- • *Fix:* put it in quotation marks with a citation, or rewrite it from your notes and cite the source.
- 2. Paragraph 7
- • *Your text:* "The particles act as vectors for persistent organic pollutants."
- • *Found:* identical phrase in a 2021 review article's abstract (link in report)
- • *Fix:* cite the review; rephrase if it is not a technical term your field always uses.
- Paraphrase too close to your source
- Paragraph 5 follows Source 3 sentence by sentence, swapping words for synonyms. Even with a citation, many schools count this as patchwriting.
- • *Fix:* close the source, write the idea from memory in fewer sentences, then check the facts and cite.
- Claims with no citation
- • "About 80% of ocean plastic comes from land" (paragraph 2)
- • "Fish in coastal areas contain twice as many particles" (paragraph 6)
- • Two definitions in paragraph 1
- Limits of this check
- • Searched the open web only. Paywalled journals, other students' essays and private databases are not covered, so a school's checker may find matches this check cannot.
- • No match does not prove the text is original; it means none was found.
How to do it with todo.is
- Attach the text, say what it is and add your sources if you have them.
- Send the to-do to your todo.is agent from the web app or your phone.
- Open the PDF report: each match has your passage, the matching text and a link.
- Fix the flagged parts, then ask "recheck only the passages I changed".
Tips for a better result
- Run it on your final draft, not on notes. Most accidental plagiarism happens when copied notes slip into the essay.
- Rewrite from memory, not from the open source. Swapping words while looking at the original creates too-close paraphrases.
- Cite numbers and definitions even when you paraphrase them. Facts that aren't common knowledge need a source.
- For editors: make it a standard step for freelance articles before you publish. Ask for the report on every new draft.
plagiarism risk check: FAQ
- Is this the same as a school plagiarism checker? No. It searches the open web for distinctive passages, while school tools also compare against private databases of papers and past submissions. Use it to catch problems early, not as a guarantee.
- What counts as plagiarism? Using someone else's words or ideas without credit, including close paraphrases with only some words changed. Quoting with citation, or a real paraphrase with citation, is fine.
- Can it check if text was written by AI? No reliable tool can tell that for sure, and this check doesn't try. It looks for matching published text and missing citations.
- Is my essay shared anywhere? No. Your file stays in your own agent workspace. Your agent searches for short phrases from it, but doesn't upload the essay to any database.
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