CopyChecker helps to prevent accidental plagiarism.

Plagiarism and incorrect paraphrase is generally caused by working too closely with source material.

CopyChecker provides two ways of helping with this:

1. Working with sources

Shows the source material on the right hand screen.
Assists note taking practice using the left screen to copy and keep a record of a citation from the source.
Allows writing an essay on the left hand screen while looking at the source text.
Enables practice in paraphrase.
Encourages correct citation practice by having the reference on screen.
Shows the difficulty of paraphrase when the source is in view.

2. Freehand

Provides a blank page for the writer to work on without direct reference to the source material.
Encourages reinterpretation rather than copying of the sources
Shows how paraphrase is much easier when not looking at the source.

Comparison of source with own work.
The Compare button indicates the amount of direct copying from the source material as all identical words are highlighted in red.

Suitable for working at home as well as classroom instruction.

For further information on CopyChecker please click on the following link
Why use Copychecker?

To read about one of the inspirations for the development of CopyChecker go to Patchwriting Investigation.
Diane Pecorari's work is an invaluable guide to how students use source material across a range of subject areas,and also explores why they often struggle. The full thesis to which this is a brief introduction highlighted the fact that many, and probably most, students need assistance in understanding the complexities of academic requirements for citation and paraphrase. While learning how to do this they often pass through a phase where they find it difficult to move away from the sources, and some of them may get stuck there, leading to the possibilty of accidental plagiarism. CopyChecker is CFL's response to the problem in the area of the handling of electronic source material. It is designed to put a solution into the hands of the students themselves, encouraging them to move through the patchwriting phase into forming their own independent writing in the academic style required by their university.

Pleas e-mail for costs and availablity