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Plagiarism is intolerable in any field. Whether you are a student, a marketer, or a blogger, failing a plagiarism test is always bad.
Plagiarism is more common than many of us realize. Studies reveal that over 60% of university students admit to some form of cheating, including plagiarism, during their academic careers. Plus, AI has made duplicating ideas much easier for everybody.
That is why universities, Google, and publishers use advanced plagiarism checkers that detect different types of plagiarism, even in small quantities.
There might be times when your content fails a plagiarism test as well. And, no, you do not have to rewrite everything from scratch all over again. All you need to do is follow a few basic steps and you can get your content to pass the plagiarism test with ease.
The blog shares with you those simple steps. So, keep reading to make your content plagiarism free.
7 steps You Must Take When Your Content Fails a Plagiarism Test
Failing a plagiarism test doesn’t mean you’ve copied someone’s work intentionally. Sometimes, it's just a coincidence, which we call unintentional plagiarism.
That’s why there is no need to panic. Instead, you need to follow a clear step-by-step process to fix the issue.
1. Double-check with multiple plagiarism testers
Not all plagiarism detectors work the same way. Some are more sensitive, and some even miss exact matches. So, always try to use sophisticated plagiarism checkers that have a balanced approach.
But there might still be situations when your content cannot pass the plagiarism test. However, the very first thing you can keep in mind is to re-check the results using another free plagiarism check tool. This makes sure that it’s not just a false positive or a tool glitch.
For example, if you first use a free online tool, you might want to recheck with a more advanced one like checker-plagiarism.com or paraphrasingtool.us. The comparison gives a clearer picture of what’s actually flagged.
2. Read the plagiarized sections carefully
Now that you know what part is plagiarized, avoid rewriting everything from the beginning. Instead, you should read the highlighted parts carefully and try to figure out the problem.
Is it because of unintentional duplication, missing citation, or just lazy paraphrasing?
Because sometimes plagiarism checkers highlight common phrases or properly cited quotes, which is not the issue. The issue is when they point out entire paragraphs that are too close to the original source.
This step helps writers decide the best way to fix it.
3. Rewrite or paraphrase the plagiarized content
After you identify problematic content sections, you should start rewriting them in your own words. The goal is not to change a few words but to completely restructure the entire section while preserving the original meaning.
The best way to do that is to read and understand the whole section and write its core idea in a small paragraph. Then expand paragraphs in your own words.
You can also use an AI tool for that, like the one at paragraph-generator.com, to expand your ideas. As the core message is written by you, the section will come out original.
4. Properly cite the original source (if needed)
If the plagiarism in your content is because of a missing citation, do make sure to give proper credit to the source.
Many times, we use a quote, statistic, or specific examples from another source and forget to cite the source. This leads to unintentional plagiarism. So, try to add a hyperlink, mention the author’s name, or maybe include a full citation as shown in the image below, depending on the context.
It shows my respect for the original creators and that I’ve done my research.
Plus, proper citations are especially important for professional or academic content, where originality and credibility are equally important.
5. Make sure your content is error-free and highly readable
Once you have fixed all the plagiarism issues, avoid relaxing. Instead, proceed to proofread the entire content line by line for any kind of grammatical issues, clarity problems, or awkward phrases.
Because the readability of the content is as important as originality. If your reader cannot understand what you have written, all your efforts for originality will be in vain.
So, try to use rewordgenerator.net or the sentence simplifier to help yourself polish your language, shorten long sentences, and maintain a natural tone. Such tools make sure that your wording is simple and your ideas are understandable.
6. Run the content through a plagiarism checker again
After rewriting and polishing my content, you must always run it through a plagiarism checker one more time. Why?
Because it’s the only way to be sure that all the duplicate content is truly gone. You must keep redoing it until you get 0% plagiarism on all the plagiarism checkers you use.
Sometimes, even small phrases can be flagged as plagiarized, especially when rewriting is not done properly. This second scan acts as the final quality check.
And yes, you must use more than one plagiarism tester again.
7. Humanize the text to beat AI detection as well
Once you are confident the content is plagiarism-free, it is advisable to go one extra step extra. It is recommendable to check your content with an AI writing detector and humanize the part it highlights.
Because plagiarism is not the only thing to care about, AI similarity is another, especially when you are writing for SEO. Your content might not make it to SERPs if your content has AI in it.
What exactly you must do is paste the sentences into the editor at ai-detector.info and give a personal touch to it. Invariably, you should vary the sentence length, include natural expressions, and make sure it sounds like you, not a robot.
Sometimes, you can also use an AI humanizer tool, and sometimes just rely on your own rewriting instincts.
Conclusion
Plagiarism can happen to anyone, even if you are trying to be original. The key is to handle that with a proper strategy like the one explained above.
These simple but effective steps can help you clean up your content, maintain your credibility, and publish confidently.
If your content ever fails a plagiarism test, don’t stress. Just follow these steps, and you’ll pass easily.
