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Is it plagiarism? Start with what you used

“Is it plagiarism?” is a question about a particular passage and how it was produced. Start by identifying the borrowed material, its source and the way you acknowledged it. These guides help you review common situations; they do not issue a verdict about your assignment or predict an institutional decision.

Which resource do I need?

Your questionStart hereHow to use it
I changed the wording but kept the source's ideaParaphrasing guideReview the source relationship, attribution and wording together.
I want to reuse some of my earlier workReusing your own workCheck the assignment conditions before reusing a submitted passage.
I am not sure whether this is common knowledgeCommon-knowledge guideConsider the audience and the context of the claim.
A classmate helped with my draftPeer-review guideDistinguish the feedback you received from who produced the submitted work.
I saw the source only through another authorSource-chain guideBe transparent about what you actually read.

Review a passage in four passes

First, put the draft beside the material you used. Mark exact wording, distinctive phrasing, ideas, data and any structure you carried over. Include material from your earlier work and assistance from other people in this review.

Second, ask what your reader can tell from the draft. Can they identify the source at the point where its contribution appears? Are copied words distinguishable from your own explanation? Use the relevant guide above when you cannot answer confidently.

Third, check the task's rules about collaboration, reuse and assistance. Write down the activity you are unsure about and ask the instructor a specific question. This checklist is a suggested review method, not a substitute for those rules.

Finally, make changes based on the source and the rule, not on a target similarity number. Preserve your source notes so you can explain why the revision is accurate.

Two different questions in one paragraph

Synthetic example: a student rewrites a published explanation, names its author, and also incorporates a classmate's newly written analysis. The paraphrasing guide addresses the first source relationship. The peer-review guide addresses the classmate's contribution. Adding a citation to the published explanation does not answer who was permitted to write the analysis.

What this hub cannot decide

This is a guide to reviewing your work, not legal advice or an official misconduct finding. It cannot certify that a paper is acceptable, determine an instructor's decision or supply a universal safe similarity threshold. A report is an input to source review, not a replacement for it.

Your next three steps

  1. Identify the contribution before choosing the label.
  2. Review quotation, attribution and permitted assistance separately.
  3. Keep notes and ask about unresolved requirements before submitting.

Review plagiarism basics

AI-assisted editorial resource. Maintained by Plagiarism Checker Online, operated by Markus Nick. Resource links checked October 23, 2026. This is not an official institutional statement or a claim of individual human factchecking. Report a correction.

Start here

Find the right academic resource

Choose the question you need to resolve before selecting a guide or tool.

University policies

Find policy resources, a permission checklist and explicitly preliminary research.

Citation help

Choose an existing source guide or work through an attribution question.

Is it plagiarism?

Review paraphrasing, reused work and peer feedback with a practical checklist.

Detectors

Separate source-matching questions from AI indicators and assignment permission.

Specific source-use situations