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Notes on originality.

Writing well, citing right, and staying on the right side of the AI era.

A university periodicals room with tall journal shelves, printed article pages on a standing counter, and a person checking a serials display.

Guidescitation checking7 min read

How to Check Whether an Article Was Corrected or Retracted Before You Cite It

Check the publisher record, linked notices, DOI, and Crossmark so a correction or retraction does not distort your citation.

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Overhead view in a university journal mailroom of three trays holding edited manuscript pages, an accepted manuscript packet, and a bound journal issue.

Explainerscitation checking6 min read

Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, or Published Article: Which Version Should You Cite?

Learn how preprints, accepted manuscripts, and published articles differ, and choose the version that supports your citation.

A university microforms room with microfilm readers, a printed journal article, a request slip, and a blue archive box.

Explainerscitation checking7 min read

Secondary Citations Explained: Referencing a Source Quoted in Another Source

What a secondary citation means, when to use one, and how to show readers which source you actually consulted.

A university photocopy room with a student sorting marked printed pages into trays on a counter beside a copier.

Guidescitation checking7 min read

How to Find Uncited Source-Dependent Claims in Your Draft

A sentence-by-sentence citation audit for finding claims learned from sources, even after the wording, numbers, and quotations have changed.

A student on a university stairwell compares printed draft pages with a handwritten field notebook, with source notes and a pencil on nearby steps.

Explainersai likelihood7 min read

What Claude’s Text Watermark Means When You Check Your Own Writing

Claude’s text watermark is a provenance signal in generated text. Learn what a detection can suggest, and what it cannot prove.

A side view in a preservation lab of an open bound volume in a V-shaped scanner cradle beneath two cameras, with gloved hands turning a page.

Engineeringengineering6 min read

How OCR Errors Change Document Similarity Before Matching Begins

An engineering review of how OCR, PDF extraction, reading order and hyphenation change text before similarity matching begins.

A student in a university writing centre hallway compares two printed pages on a wall rail while holding source cards and a pencil.

Explainersglossary7 min read

Exact Match vs Near Match: How to Read the Difference

Understand exact and near text matches, how similarity tools find them, and how to review flagged passages in your own writing.

Close view in a university print room of a printed bibliography page beside a blue document comb at a binding station.

Explainerssimilarity reports7 min read

Why a Reference List Can Appear in Similarity Matches

Why bibliography entries appear in similarity reports, what affects the percentage, and how to separate metadata matches from prose.

A public map room with flat-file drawers, a folded map, a printed table sheet, a catalogue card, and a red file folder on a rolling cart.

Guidescitation checking7 min read

How to Check Tables, Figure Captions, and Footnotes for Missing Attribution

Use a focused pre-submission workflow to find missing attribution in tables, figures, captions, image credits, and footnotes.

A university archive aisle with rolling shelves, an open bound journal, a document tray, and archival folders.

Guidescitation checking7 min read

How to Verify a Direct Quote Against the Original Source

Check every direct quote against its source, including wording, omissions, emphasis, locators, and the claim it supports.

A commuter on a train seat checks a printed reference list beside a paperback, pencil, phone, canvas bag, and cobalt notebook.

Guidescitation checking7 min read

How to Verify DOIs, URLs, and Publication Dates in Your Reference List

Check every reference link against its source, resolve date conflicts, and record precise fixes before you submit your draft.

An overhead view of a library desk with an open book, colour-marked index cards, a pencil, and printed research pages.

Generaloriginal writing6 min read

How to Keep Research Notes From Becoming Copied Text in Your Final Draft

A practical note-taking structure separates quotations, summaries and observations before source language reaches your draft.

Several people sort printed draft pages and source papers around a library table.

Explainersdraft review8 min read

A Pre-Submission Checklist for Collaborative Writing

Use a shared final-pass record to check citations, pasted text, duplicate passages, versions and contributor edits before submission.

Hands arranging printed research pages and handwritten notes on a wooden library table beneath a green desk lamp.

Generaloriginal writing6 min read

Can You Use a Source’s Wording in a Summary?

Learn when source wording belongs in a summary, when it needs quotation marks, and how to avoid patchwriting while keeping ideas accurate.

A printed report with a marked table and source notes sits on a desk beside a red pen, laptop, mug, and reading glasses.

Generalcitation practice6 min read

How to Cite Statistics, Survey Results, and Data in a Report

A practical guide to citing datasets, reports, and survey results while preserving the context needed to interpret a number.

Gouache painting of a desk with an open book on a stand, a notebook, pencils, a lamp and a window plant.

Generaloriginal writing7 min read

How to Cite a Paraphrase Without Copying the Original Wording

A practical method for reading, note-taking, drafting, and checking paraphrases so borrowed ideas are credited clearly.

A desk with a highlighted printed draft, notebook, pencil, and source book beside a window.

Generalsimilarity review5 min read

What to Do When a Plagiarism Checker Finds a Match in Your Draft

A practical method for reviewing matched text, checking attribution, and revising your own draft before submission.

A hand with a pencil checks a printed reference list against a stack of open books on a library table under a green lamp.

Generalcitation checking7 min read

How to Check That Every Citation Has a Matching Reference

A two-pass method for finding missing references, unused entries, and citation mismatches before you submit your paper.

Risograph-style print of a road forking toward an open book on one side and pinned index cards on the other.

Generalcitation practice6 min read

Common Knowledge or Cited Claim? A Practical Test for Your Draft

A practical way to decide which facts, interpretations, and details in your draft need a citation before submission.

Extreme close-up of a yellow highlighter tip mid-stroke across a printed line, the ink soaking into the paper fibres and the text out of focus.

Explainersglossary7 min read

How AI-Likelihood Is Calibrated, and What It Cannot Tell You

AI-likelihood scores are estimates, not verdicts. Learn what calibration measures, why false positives occur, and how to review a result.

Cut-paper collage of two large quotation marks over a page, with a paper bar chart rising beside them.

Generalsimilarity checking7 min read

Why Quotations Inflate Your Similarity Score

Quoted text can raise a similarity score for valid reasons. Learn how to inspect matches, check citations, and assess each result in context.

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