grammarly for essay writing

How to Use Grammarly: Step-by-Step

In this tutorial , discover how to use Grammarly to improve your writing skills and get the most from its powerful writing tools.

Grammarly is a popular writing assistant for writers and professionals who want to improve their grammar, punctuation, and writing style. I’ve used Grammarly for years for blog posts, papers, academic documents, and books. It helps me press send, submit, or publish much faster. I also use it to vet and edit work by freelance writers.

Using Grammarly is easy. Once set up, it can provide real-time feedback as you write. Aside from catching minor mistakes like spelling and grammar mistakes, Grammarly can also provide writing suggestions that you can accept at a click. In this Grammarly tutorial, I will walk through setting it up set by step. However, if you’re already familiar with it, the below table summarizes how to use Grammarly’s key reports.

Grammarly Report Check

✓ Best-in-class grammar checker
✓ Rewrite and edit at a click/span>
✓ Powerful AI-writing assistant

Watch Our Grammarly Tutorial

Why is it important to use grammarly, create a grammarly account, install the grammarly browser extensions, install the grammarly desktop app, install grammarly keyboard, class=”wp-block-heading”>upgrade to grammarly premium, language preferences, writing preferences, grammarly snippets, set writing goals with grammarly, understanding the grammarly scores, 1. correctness report, 2. clarity report, 3. engagement report, 4. delivery report, grammarly limitations.

In this Grammarly tutorial, I provide an overview of how to set up and use n:enhancement-98da7657-f353-49d8-8f15-864c3cc7a04c” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly to grammar check and edit your work quickly and easily.

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Grammarly can help professional writers edit their work faster. It can also help new writers learn the finer points of English grammar by improving their work. And it can help professionals write anything for work with confidence. It can also dramatically reduce the time spent editing and revising, thanks to artificial intelligence.

It’s easy to set up your ss=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly account. Simply visit ta-mce-href=”http://grammarly.com/”>Grammarly.com and select Get Grammarly. It’s Free” in the menu bar.

Sign up using your best Google, Facebook, Apple, or personal email address. Later, you can upgrade to the premium version, but you can use the free version of -cc8f-426b-b354-093615748ce7″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly to complete many steps in this tutorial. Alternatively, install Grammarly for your browser and follow the sign-up prompts.

Grammarly automatically provides the right app, depending on what device you use via its homepage. However, you can also install the 2c9a-4b5b-9edc-fdaeb83fe826″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly Chrome extension and others via the web app.

Visit Grammarly.com
Select “Get Grammarly. It’s Free” in the menu bar

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Grammarly automatically provides the right app for your browser. Download it.
Install and log in with your Grammarly account.
ammarly in the Apple App, Google Play, or Chrome web stores. –
–>

The Grammarly desktop app works across all 7be4f60a97dd” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/post_tag/writing-apps”>writing apps on a computer, including Microsoft Office and Google Docs. Unfortunately, browsers like Opera or Brave are not supported. If you get stuck at this step, I’ve created separate Grammarly installation instructions below:

Installing the desktop app is the easiest and best way to use a6-4eb0-4cff-bc52-ce288ae5c228″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly. To install it:

Log in to app.grammarly.com
Select apps on the left-hand side-bar

automatically

provides the right app for your operating system. Downl

graph –>

p><span< span=””> id=”urn:enhancement-ebf244ac-df73-4ce8-b3b0-d3d74190a42d” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly</span<>

Desktop works in the background on Mac and Windows computers. Once installed, y
write in any application as normal without installing additional plugins.
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When ready to edit, click the floating a25c8e68″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly icon or G. It automatically triggers grammar and spelling suggestions. You can turn this on or off by clicking the cog on the Grammarly icon or opening the 238″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly desktop app. If you get stuck, we’ve provided additional instructions below:> </s

How to Add Grammarly to Google Docs

How to Add Grammarly to Microsoft Word

How to Add Grammarly to Gmail

To install the Grammarly keyboard for iOS or Android, search for it in the Apple App or Google Pay Store. Then, log in with your account. Be sure the grant the app the correct privileges. Now tap the G icon on the bottom of your screen when writing to activate it.

The basic version of s=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly is free to use. ass=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly Premium costs $30 per month. Prices vary depending on what ement-3ed9f505-6811-491f-b962-d23b57cccd0d” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/post_tag/promotion”>promotion Grammarly is running. I cover the differences in more detail in this 7″ href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/grammarly-free-vs-premium/” data-mce-href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/grammarly-free-vs-premium/”>Grammarly Free Vs. Premium article, but some c” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly Premium benefits include:

Advanced grammar, punctuation, and style checks
Genre-specific writing style checks

Grammarly Business is for professional teams. It provides enhanced collaboration tools, centralized billing, and additional functionality for teams. The business plan costs $12.50 per month per user, billed annually.

If you’re a new writer or starting, the free version of d18f0-0f03-4e60-adec-f8262b71a35b” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly free is fine. It will help you find and fix more errors than a traditional grammar or spelling checker. The premium version is good if you write professionally or want to improve your professional English :enhancement-c7804044-98b2-41e6-8f47-b6d541eff927″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/post_tag/writing-skills”>writing skills.

Customize Grammarly’s Settings

Grammarly offers several useful advanced features if you want to tailor this grammar checker to how you write, who you write for, and where you publish your work. If you find Grammarly’s suggestions unhelpful or not relevant or are writing something specific, adjust these settings. They are available via the admin panel in the web app/

If you use specific words or terms that c4cc64fbf5c0″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly flags as an error, add them to your custom dictionary by clicking the ment-f4485463-6c0c-494b-a8b3-a9c55bab6b1e” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly icon. You can also manage this custom dictionary via the admin panel on the Grammarly web app. Examples of words to add include technical terms or phrases related to your company or business. Fiction writers could add character names, spells, locations, etc. </sp

How to change Grammarly language preferences?

After installing Grammarly, set whether you’re writing American, British, Canadian, or Australian English. Open up a Grammarly document, click on the hamburger menu, and select your relevant language preferences. You can change between English variations at any time.p> There are differences in spellings between these English language variations. For example, in the United States, “I realize I n</strongeed to improve my grammar skills” is correct. In the United Kingdom, they write, “I reali sng>e I need to improve my nt-0d3fca00-5730-412a-aabe-ee2f2bf80f14″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly skills,” is correct. </span

At the time of writing, “textan notation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly only supports the English language. However, the company plans to support other languages at some point.

The writing preferences section of 7-b1fc7ec87fe8″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly is for configuring its suggestions. ass=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly surfaces versus ignoring. Basically, use the settings here to adjust the functionality of Grammarly. It’s accessible via the admin panel or settings in the web app. If you find some suggestion types irrelevant, you can turn these off. For example, you can turn on on our off rules relating to:

The usage of the Oxford comma
Inserting a full stop between AM and PM, i.e., A.M., P.M.
Punctuation mistakes as per your preferred style
Biased language
Word variations
Gender pronouns

Grammarly regularly reported I needed to change my straight apostrophes to curly apostrophes. It was always the first error that popped up and was irrelevant to my publishing workflow. So, I turned this writing style rule off.

If you’re unsure, leave everything turned on. On the other hand, if you need more advanced controls, Grammarly Business supports dedicated style guides. To learn more, read our -id=”414173″ href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/grammarly-business-review/” data-mce-href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/grammarly-business-review/”>Grammarly Business Review.

If you regularly use specific terms or phrases, ba65529140″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly can turn these into snippets . Simply, add the term or phrase to your snippet library and select an abbreviation. Now, Grammarly will expand these for you. Or you can access your snippet library by taping \. For example, I created the snippet BAWT which Grammarly expands to Become a Writer Today.

Open the goals section and pick a goal based on your document and audience. If unsure, it’s OK to select: “General,” “Inform,” “Knowledgeable,” and “Neutral.”

However, changing these goals tailors the number of suggestions -4197-a0be-cb06871daf73″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly surfaces in its Clarity and Delivery reports. With a few exceptions, don’t worry about goals at the start of the grammar-checking process. Instead, start using id=”urn:enhancement-7fdd4a0f-3e01-49ef-82e6-8085d669307e” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly.

Suppose you’re writing something academic or technical. Then, select formal, expert, and academic. Also, pick a preferred citation style. That way, ement-73bfac35-7d92-429a-b062-7b79ae8146c6″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly will provide more relevant suggestions in its reports. However, these are overkill for casual writers.>

p-block-heading”>How Grammarly Works

Grammarly is an intelligent tool that provides writers with valuable feedback and suggestions for their writing. It provides an overall report for your work, four more specific reports, and access to a plagiarism detector:

Write an article, email, blog post, or whatever you’re working on as usual. When ready, click on the floating 3e218″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly icon, identified with a G or a number, to activate it. That triggers urn:enhancement-bc61e2a1-07bd-41f9-a6a1-876312c855d4″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly and underlines sections of your work in red.

Conversely, you can turn <sp< span=””>an id=”urn:enhancement-c06ca93f-fad5-42ae-8648-fa772fcf10b7″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly</sp<> off inside a specific app by selecting the gear cog on this icon. Your other option is to write as usual and then upload the file to the Grammarly editor or web app to check for errors. Once activated, t-4c716bde-953e-4c86-b90d-17e4769f749c” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly presents its other writing reports. All are accessible via tooltips or a pop-up. Work through each of the 467-2e6230202f39″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly reports individually rather than all at once. </s

I don’t start with the reports, though. My favorite “textann otation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly premium feature is the ability to apply multiple fixes at a click. I check these suggestions at the top of the c766ff-cfda-40b3-bd28-3445378d346b” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly sidebar. Often this includes typo fixes and copyediting suggestions from the 2cb-f80b0d8c990b” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly rewrite. Click on it, and Grammarly presents the most critical suggestions in a document. Bin the ones that don’t make sense and apply the rest.

The Grammarly score provides writers with a way to evaluate the quality of their writing based on grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and other issues. It also considers the clarity, engagement, and readability of the piece.

Use this report to find information about how many characters, words, and sentences are in a document. cea2765-84ee-4fad-8d5e-272eab7cae64″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly reports on speaking time too. A few years ago, I narrated an audiobook. I used the speaking time reports to gauge how long it would take to narrate specific chapters from my book.

It’s best to aim for a score above 70. Aim to get the readability score as high as possible because it’ll make it easier for your readers to understand what you want to say. That said, it’s tough to get a readability score above 80 or 90. Learn more aboutrtoday.com/grammarly-readability-score/” data-lasso-id=”414179″ data-mce-href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/grammarly-readability-score/”> how the Grammarly Readability report works. If your writing is below 70, work through the below reports.

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The spelling and grammar error report is the most critical of all four. rn:enhancement-5912c03c-24c7-48e6-9c24-210bc5d668c6″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly underlines any misused or misspelled words in red. It also highlights grammar and punctuation errors. By hovering over the underlined word, writers can see the suggested correction and choose to accept or ignore it as part of a more comprehensive grammar check.

This report’s punctuation suggestions can help writers correctly place commas, periods, and other punctuation marks.

Grammarly underlines phrases and sentences that are hard to read in blue. Its suggestions pertain to a-4aaa-a950-61d5c090e3ef” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/sentence-structure”>sentence structure, word usage, and the readability of your work. Writers can accept or ignore the suggestions. d=”urn:enhancement-f0deb28d-fe70-4d41-a7b0-194b13663148″ class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly Premium will propose full-sentence rewrites here too. Grammarly’s suggestions vary based on your preferred style and writing goals. I use this feature daily to rewrite or edit freelance writers’ works for my sites.</s

The engagement report is useful for writers who want to improve their word choice. 18-edb0-45ae-ae2b-2413c409452b” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly highlights overused words, phrases, and terms in green and proposes alternatives. You can also double-click on any word inside the 841c4fa0871c” class=”textannotation disambiguated wl-thing” itemid=”https://data.wordlift.io/wl1503639/category/grammarly-fr”>Grammarly web app to access a thesaurus.

To make the most out of Grammarly, users should review each suggestion carefully and consider whether the proposed change would improve the quality of their writing. If in doubt, start with the grammar check report in red and review the other reports if you have more time.

In a 24-hour period, you can check 100 documents or 50,000 words. In a 30-day period, you can check up to 300 documents or 150,000 words with Grammarly. These limitations also apply to the plagiarism checker. For context, a age-length-of-a-book/” data-lasso-id=”414182″ data-mce-href=”https://becomeawritertoday.com/average-length-of-a-book/”>non-fiction book averages between 50,000-70,000 words a novel averages one hundred thousand words. In my years using Grammarly, I’ve never hit this limitation, and I use it to check my writing and the writing of other team members.</span

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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What Is Grammarly, and Is It Cheating?

What is Grammarly? We take a deep dive into this online writing resource. How does it help students, and is it ok to use this tool?

Key Takeaways

What is Grammarly? It’s a web-based automated writing assistant that results in writing improvements. Grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes are corrected, but the writer/author still has the responsibility of ensuring their works’ substance.
Both students and educators can use the grammar checker to improve their respective writing style. While it may seem like cheating, it isn’t because material modifications aren’t automatically made to the document being checked. The writer/author doesn’t become lazy just by using the writing assistant.
Grammarly isn’t just for academic writing either! Even professional writers including business writing professionals use Grammarly for emails, press releases, and other official documents.

Grammarly is an automated writing assistant, an online resource designed to help students spot and correct errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In the simplest terms, Grammarly is a web-based editing application that helps students improve the quality of their writing.

And boy do they need it. I should know. For a decade, I made a living helping students cheat. I worked for an array of contract cheating websites, where students would pay writers like me to complete their book reports, research projects, creative writing assignments, admission essays, thesis statements, and even doctoral dissertations.

So believe me when I tell you that students at every single level, and with every kind of professional ambition, struggle to write grammatically competent sentences. Grammarly aims to help. But does it help? And more importantly, does it help too much? In other words, is using Grammarly cheating?

If you squint your eyes, Grammarly might look a little bit like the shady custom paper writing sites where I once earned my living. Like Grammarly, most paper writing companies describe their services as editorial assistance. But this claim is a thin veil for what paper writing companies actually sell-which is the opportunity to outsource your academic responsibilities wholesale to a hired gun.

By contrast, Grammarly’s offer of editorial assistance seems to be genuine. In fact, there’s a good reason that Grammarly looks, on the surface, like many of the illicit services where you can buy tailor-made papers. It’s because both services address the same need. That is, both custom paper writing services and web-based editing assistance programs recognize that far too many students don’t know how to write.

Students at every level of education struggle with grammar, diction, and punctuation” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

Students at every level of education—from high school English students to doctoral candidates trudging through dissertations—struggle with grammar, diction, and punctuation. They struggle to organize their ideas, cite their sources, or build a case around a cohesive argument. Writing is an educational requirement and yet, for too many students, it is a source of anxiety and dread. Grammarly can’t necessarily fix all of these issues for you, but it can help you write better, and unlike customer paper writing companies, it isn’t cheating.

Grammarly At a Glance

The popular grammar checker, available in both a free and paid version, is offered to students by numerous colleges and universities. This is the strongest proof that the Grammarly online editor is no longer considered cheating among educators and students.

Furthermore, educators can use the grammar checker to improve their students’ writing style and, thus, enable them to develop their communication skills. By combining their traditional feedback mechanisms with Grammarly’s automated feedback, their teaching strategies related to the improvements of the students’ writing skills become more effective.

How, you ask?

Grammatical mistakes become a thing of the past for students. The plagiarism checker, Grammarly’s review feature, is a virtual writing assistant that adheres to widely accepted grammar rules, also makes life easy in this respect!

Perhaps what makes this application even more appealing is that it can be integrated easily with the programs we constantly use, like email, texting, tweeting, and word processing.

How Teacher’s Feedback Complements Grammarly’s Automated Feedback

The ability to effectively communicate ideas, opinions, and answers in written form is an essential skill among college students. Effective writing skills are also vital for academic progress, professional development, and personal gain among undergraduate and graduate students.

For educators, the opportunity to provide constructive feedback on their students’ writing skills is a common practice, ostensibly to improve their writing style, too.

At its core, the teacher’s feedback aids in bridging the gap between what students know and what areas need improvement, from grammar mistakes to style mistakes. This is true whether in an English composition class or in a business management course, both of which demand effective writing skills.

But teachers deal with more than a few challenges in providing constructive feedback on their students’ writing skills! The process itself requires significant time and effort, and it’s made more complicated by contextual issues, large class sizes, and excessive workloads.

This is where the effective integration between traditional teacher feedback and automated feedback from Grammarly comes in. On one hand, Grammarly provides a wide range of writing tools that check language-related errors including the use of prepositions and determiners, issues related to wordiness and conciseness, and grammar. These types of errors are considered low-order mistakes that a thorough human-initiated editing can spot.

On the other hand, teacher feedback tends to cover high-order concerns that focus on content, substance, and organization of ideas. But, of course, teachers are also aware of the language-related errors that Grammarly detects and provides suggestions for immediate corrections. With the use of Grammarly, they can devote more time and effort to offering feedback on high-order concerns and, thus, make their feedback more effective and efficient.

Teachers are also more able to provide constructive criticism on content, give praise on the students’ written work, and ask for and provide relevant information. Students benefit from the use of Grammarly since surface errors can be detected and corrected immediately, thus, avoiding the scrutiny of teachers. There’s also the sense of greater acceptance of automated feedback among students, perhaps because it’s seen as less personal.

The result of the complementary relationship between teacher’s feedback and Grammarly’s automated feedback: More successful revisions and, thus, more cohesive and substantive written work among students!

How Teachers Can Use Grammarly to Improve Their Students’ Writing Skills

Teachers can use the writing tools on Grammarly for a wide range of purposes. Furthermore, it isn’t just neurotypical students who will benefit from these strategies—students with learning difficulties, special education students, and even advanced learners can improve their writing skills!

Further benefits of using Grammarly:

“Grammarly Goals” set specific writing goals for each student
Provides consistent, constructive and fast feedback to the students
Shows each student their growth by pointing out the fewer mistakes they are making over time
Explains the errors and their possible solutions
Gives mini-lessons in content, substance, and organization

Teachers and students must work together to make the most of Grammarly cost and maximize this tool’s features. This way, it can truly serve its purpose for both parties!

Universities That Provide Grammarly Services to Their Students

The popularity of Grammarly Premium and Grammarly for Education versions among colleges and universities, as well as K-12 schools, continues to grow! Here are several examples of four-year institutions of higher education that provide Grammarly services to their faculty and staff members as well as current students.

National Louis University
Chapman University
Liberty University
University of Arizona Global Campus
University of Utah Graduate School
Walden University
Iowa State University
Lone Star College
Marshall University
Southern University of New Orleans

What Is Grammarly?

Grammarly is a free online writing assistant-though you can pay for an enhanced level of assistance (which we’ll get to in a minute). Grammarly is one of the leading entities in a writing enhancement software sector that includes competitors like ProWritingAid and Ginger .

The primary function of Grammarly is to help users identify grammatical errors, improper sentence structure, punctuation mistakes, and spelling typos in their writing. It can best be described as an editorial tool, one that can improve the user’s ability to produce grammatically correct writing.

How Does Grammarly Work?

Grammarly can be used either directly on the service’s website, or it can be added as a free extension to your browser. In either environment, you can write your document in real-time, or you can paste text that you’ve already written into the text editor for review. As you enter content into the text editor provided by the Grammarly extension—or directly on the Grammarly website—an automated editor will highlight spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The editor will also offer explanations for why these errors have been flagged, and will consequently offer suggestions for how you can correct your mistakes.

Tools like Grammarly have potential value in improving time effectiveness for instructors and students.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

These services are completely free of charge, and research suggests they have the potential to be quite valuable for students and instructors alike. According to a 2019 study in the Journal of Academic Language & Learning , Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools like Grammarly have potential value in improving “time effectiveness” for instructors and students. The study finds “that students made more revisions if they used an AWE...[and that] these revisions were more likely to be surface-level revisions relating to form, suggesting that automated tools are more appropriate for grammar or spelling reviews than for higher level language issues.”

In other words, the free application can be very helpful in addressing the basic mechanics issues that students experience in their writing. For help with higher level language issues, you can pay Grammarly a monthly premium ($11.66 at the time of writing). This will give you access to a wide array of editorial services, including support in the following areas:

Sounding fluent in English
Communicating your ideas clearly
Avoiding plagiarism
Using more dynamic synonyms
Refining tone and delivery
Writing with concision

If you need even more personalized support, Grammarly also provides access to professional contract editing and proofreading services for paying customers. And perhaps it is this service offering that is likeliest to raise an eyebrow. Just how intensive are these editorial services? And to what extent do writing assistants—whether through an automated application or independently-contracted humans—undermine the creation of original work?

This is where educators may be given pause. We can all agree that improving the basic use of grammar and punctuation is a positive development, no matter how one comes by it. And adding a layer of editorial polish to the work can certainly make it a more digestible experience for the grader. But where is the line drawn between editorial polish and contract cheating. What’s the difference between Grammarly and, something like writemypaper4me.org, for instance?

Well, for one thing, there are no grammar errors on Grammarly’s homepage. But it goes deeper than that...

What’s The Difference Between Using Grammarly and Cheating?

The answer is actually readily found in a Grammarly’s origin story. The online tool has its roots in the anti-plagiarism business. According to The Stock Dork , “Ukrainian Co-founders Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider started Grammarly in 2009. The development of Grammarly began with the co-founders’ 2004 plagiarism detection start-up called MyDropbox. This software was sold to universities in 2007 as a licensed product. This sale provided funding for the development of the browser extension we know today.”

This initial source of revenue makes Grammarly more akin to something like plagiarism detection leader turnitin.com, than to custom cheating services like writemypaper4me. And true to its roots, Grammarly’s suite of services works more like a helpful advisor standing over your shoulder than an outsourced laborer, delegated to do the work for you.

Grammarly is a utility that you can use to improve your writing, but it won't provide you with the substance at the heart of this writing. That's still your job.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

At its heart, Grammarly is a utility that you can use to improve your writing, but it won’t provide you with the substance at the heart of this writing. That’s still your job. And that’s what separates Grammarly from the rather larger online market of cheating services. At most schools (unless expressly forbidden), editorial support is encouraged (or at least it should be).

The Office of Academic Integrity at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health offers a useful summation on editorial assistance, noting that it is indeed permissible to enlist the services of an editor for course and capstone work, “whether or not the editor receives any compensation in exchange for their work.”

Importantly, the Office of Academic Integrity specifies that “using an editor is only permissible if the editor provides stylistic and not substantive modifications to the course, capstone, or thesis related assignment.”

Stylistic modifications, says the Bloomberg School, include support with spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, referencing, and alternative phrasing. All of these editorial inputs are considered acceptable.

By contrast, substantive modifications , says Johns Hopkins, include writing new sentences which introduce new information, rewriting content to introduce new materials, adding or deleting references, or “any other modification that changes the meaning of what you’ve written in a material way.”

Grammarly will not conduct your research, produce your ideas, or build your arguments. And this matters a great deal.” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

Whether you simply use Grammarly’s free browser extension to spot-check typos, you pay for its premium service to spruce up your wordflow, or you go as far as commissioning the assistance of a professional proofer or editor, Grammarly will not conduct your research, produce your ideas, or build your arguments. And this matters a great deal.

That’s because, by contrast, these are exactly the types of substantive contributions that independently-contracted cheaters will make on behalf of their student customers. Contract paper writers conduct research, produce new ideas, craft arguments, and construct novel sentences to support these arguments. This is materially different from the stylistic services offered by Grammarly.

According to the Helpful Professor , a blog which, in the interest of full disclosure, offers its author a commission for link-throughs, assures that Grammarly won’t do any of the following:

“Tell you what to write about to get higher grades.
Give answers to your assignment questions.
Get grammar right every time.
Automatically make changes to your work.”

Again, outside of getting grammar the right every time, custom paper-writing companies literally do all of these things.

Should students use Grammarly?

According to Grammarly’s own research , internal surveys reveal that “75% of its users are afraid of being misunderstood.”

This is a powerful imperative driving people to its services. And it’s also the one thing that Grammarly users and contract cheating customers do have in common. They are both contending with a real and palpable fear. Language and writing deficiencies are rampant at every level of education, and at startling levels even in the upper reaches of the ivory tower.

There are many ways to manage this fear. Hiring a cheating service is certainly one way. But Grammarly presents a far more advisable way to manage the fear, and possibly even to vanquish it.

Should educators use Grammarly?

Put us solidly in the camp of those who advocate the use of Grammarly, not just for students, but for educators as well, especially those working in higher education. At this level of instruction, we’re guessing you haven’t the time, energy or inclination to police punctuation, correct spelling, and train in the basic rules of grammar. These are skills students should have learned on the way to the university.

Unfortunately, many don’t. So unless the goal of each and every class is to grade compositional ability, it’s clear that many students simply need this resource. In fact, there’s a compelling argument that instructors who decline to assist students in basic compositional matters should make Grammarly a mandatory part of the writing process, at least for students who demonstrate the need.

To return briefly to the business of contract cheating, it’s clear to anybody in this illicit sector that the client base is made up primarily of those who demonstrate such a need, whether because English is a second language, or because they simply lack the necessary academic tools to write. Whatever the reason, the reality is that colleges are not in the business of teaching students how to write. Writing is a building block skill. Students are supposed to have mastered this skill before reaching a level of education where deeper thinking is required. But in the absence both of this skill, and the academic assistance required to attain this skill, many students resort to contract cheating.

Automated writing assistance gives the student a chance to focus on the actual substance of an assignment...” – AcademicInfluence.com TWEET POST

By contrast, automated writing assistance gives the student a chance to focus on the actual substance of an assignment, instead of the implementation of rules which the student has already struggled to master for the better part of a 20-year education.

There is a case to be made that much deep thinking in college (and probably in the professional world) is prevented, or at least garbled, by the basic anxiety and distraction of writing incompetence. Grammarly seems like a fantastic way to offset that anxiety, and perhaps even make students more competent writers by simply exposing them to regular, continuous, and real-time feedback on their errors.

This underscores the core benefit of Grammarly to educators, insofar as it does a job that most college-level instructors either lack the time to do themselves or that they may even see as beneath their station as educators. In other words, unless you’re here to coach your students in their writing, be glad that Grammarly is there to do the job.

For study starters, influential books, and much more, check out our full collection of study guides .

Or get tips on studying, student life, and much more with a look at our Student Resources .

Grammarly: AI Writing and Grammar Checker App

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, is it okay to use grammarly for my college essay.

I'm working on my college essay, and I want it to be perfect. Would using Grammarly on it be alright, or would that hurt my chances in any way? I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything that could be seen as dishonest.

Using Grammarly for your college essay is completely fine and not seen as dishonest. Grammarly helps with spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and it can help ensure that your essay is free of errors. However, keep in mind that while Grammarly is helpful in catching those small mistakes, it won't necessarily improve the content or style of your writing.

It's essential to ensure that your essay is authentic and represents your unique voice and perspective. Colleges want to hear your story, and they want to see that you're a clear, original, and effective writer. While Grammarly can help you polish the mechanics of your writing, you'll need to focus on the content, depth, and overall message of your essay.

Consider having a teacher, counselor, or a trusted friend read your essay to give you feedback on the content and structure. This will provide a perspective on how your essay may be received by the admissions committee and help you further refine your piece.

In summary, it's perfectly acceptable to use Grammarly to check for errors in your college essay, but remember that your focus should be on writing a well-structured, personalized, and compelling essay that effectively shares your story and perspective.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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Personalized Writing Help When You Need it

Unintentional plagiarism, grammar mistakes, and uncited sources can turn what you thought was a good paper into a poor one. When you’re writing a paper the last thing you want is for your message to get lost due to incorrect punctuation or confusing sentence structure. You know that the great ideas in your head would make for a standout paper, if only you could get them written clearly on the page. If this struggle sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Great ideas may be an essential part of high-quality writing, but they’re not the only component. Excellent papers and essays clearly express strong ideas with good grammar, proper punctuation, spot-on spelling, and thorough, careful citations. While this may sound like a lot, your teachers and professors are grading you on your skills as both a writer and a researcher, which means your assignments will require an ethical and attentive approach. Luckily, there is no shortage of available tools to help you along your way.

You could use a plagiarism checker free, though, these tools often lack grammatical support. Given the high stakes and rigorous requirements, the aid of a plagiarism checker without the needed support of a grammar checker could mean the difference between an “A” paper and a “C” or even “D” paper.

Thankfully, the EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool provides all-in-one support to cover all your bases. Our premium essay checker is convenient, easy to use, and includes access to a grammar and spell checker, plus a plagiarism checker. With a single scan, you’ll receive personalized feedback to help identify potentially missing citations and help improve your sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, and more.

Not sure if that noun is spelled correctly, or if the preposition at the end of your sentence is grammatically correct? The EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool is your one-stop shop to help check plagiarism, get grammatical suggestions, correct spelling and punctuation errors, and help create polished papers you can be proud to turn in. And, we haven’t told you the best part yet: you can try our tool free and scan your work for grammar suggestions right now!

Access all the tools today!

A Grammar Check for Peace of Mind

You know that grammar plays a significant role in your assignments. Not only does it factor into your overall grade, but without clear and precise language, your ideas can lose their impact or might even be misunderstood entirely. Still, with so many different parts of speech and rules to learn and apply, it’s not uncommon to get them mixed up and find yourself questioning your knowledge now and again:

Can you use an adverb to modify a noun? (No. You need an adjective for that.)

Well, can you use it to modify a pronoun ? (Still no.)

What do they modify, then? (Almost everything else. Fun, right?)

Ugh. (That was an interjection .)

Does this have to be so difficult? (Nope!)

Scanning your paper with the EasyBib Plus writing tool delivers more than the basic punctuation and spell check functions that come standard in word processing programs. You’ll receive immediate, targeted feedback that can help improve the sentence structure and style of your writing. Not only can this help ensure that you don’t lose points off your grade for grammatical errors such as mismatched verb tense, but it can also help to clarify your meaning and strengthen your arguments by eliminating confusing punctuation and run-on sentences that confuse readers.

Reviewing your work to correct errors and refine the flow of your writing is a critical part of the revision process for novices and novelists alike. Even the most conscientious of wordsmiths might make mistakes, such as using a conjunctive adverb in place of a coordinating conjunction or pairing a plural determiner with an uncountable word. They likely appreciate a subscription-based or free grammar check as much as a beginning writer. That’s why the EasyBib Plus writing tool is designed for all writers, from students who are still learning the fundamentals to published professionals who get paid by the word.

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides quick, targeted feedback that you can use to help improve your writing immediately. Also, our free resource library is available 24/7, just like the rest of our tools, to help you brush up on the areas that challenge you the most (Conjunctive what? Uncountable who?) That means you can continue to sharpen your skills and improve your writing over time, which will help make finishing your next project easier.

Ready to give your paper a boost? Sign up for EasyBib Plus or scan a paper right now for a free spell check—it’s easy!Just upload or copy and paste your paper to the online grammar check tool and, in a matter of seconds, you’ll be able to receive up to 5 feedback cards so you can begin polishing your draft.

To learn more about proofreading tools, you can find more info here. Or, for more tips on grammar, punctuation, and style, check out this useful reference .

Why is Grammar So Important, Anyway?

Why is grammar important? As long as others know what you mean, does it really matter if you use proper grammar? These are age-old questions, but the answers remain unchanged. Grammar is important for many reasons:

Communication: Communication is about more than merely listening and talking. We communicate in myriad ways: with our voices, our mannerisms, our facial expressions, our actions, and frequently, our written words. Written communication is just as important as all the other ways we broadcast our thoughts and feelings. Unlike our other communication methods, though, written communication leaves a record. While most of us relax our style when talking to or texting friends, the fact remains that more formal venues require a more formal tone. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are a necessary element of professional and academic writing, so running your work through a spelling and grammar check before you submit it is an absolute must.

Clarity: Expressing your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is an uphill battle when you communicate them with less-than-stellar punctuation, spelling, and grammar. A missing or misplaced comma, for example, can entirely change your meaning:

Call me Ishmael = My name is Ishmael.
Call me, Ishmael = I want Ishmael to call me.

Spelling errors can result in similarly muddled meaning:

Her shoes perfectly complemented her dress. = Her shoes and dress go well together.
Her shoes perfectly complimented her dress. = Her shoes can both speak and engage in flattery.

Grammar deficiencies such as a dangling modifier yield similarly confusing results:

I saw the girl’s purple backpack in the library. = The purple backpack belonging to the girl is in the library; I saw it.
I saw the purple girl’s backpack in the library. = You know the girl who mysteriously turned purple? I saw her backpack in the library. This week has not been easy on her.

Credibility: Establishing your credibility is critical whether you’re writing for school or business. Proving that you can reliably communicate using proper grammar is essential to establishing and maintaining the trust of your teachers, professors, readers, customers, and colleagues.

To learn even more about the importance of English grammar in writing, check here .

What Happens After I Upload My Paper?

Once you upload a paper, the EasyBib Plus grammar checker scans your text and highlights grammar issues within your document so you can see it in context. For users running a grammar check and spell check using the grammar check free tool, up to the first 5 issues are shown. For subscription subscribers, all of the areas that require your review will be highlighted once the scan is complete.

No matter which version of the tool you’re using, your feedback will include detailed explanations so you can understand why the text was flagged. Other highlighted areas will include examples of how the issues can be fixed. Some will include a detailed explanation as to why the issue was flagged. This personalized feedback allows you to make an educated decision about whether to edit your text or dismiss the suggestion, so you’re always in control of your final draft.

Subscription users also have the plagiarism checker at their disposal when scanning their papers for style and grammar suggestions. Just as with our other writing tools, when you use the tool to check plagiarism, changes are never made without your review, so you are always in the driver’s seat. You can review each highlighted area as well as the sources of matching text and will always be given a choice to either accept or ignore both citation and grammar suggestions.

Whether you are a student or a professional, the EasyBib Plus tools are powerful allies that can help you improve your paper, establish credibility as a writer, and maintain an ethical writing process.

Try our checker free for 3 days to see what you think*. Trust us; you’ll wonder how you got along so far without it!

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Check for Unintentional Plagiarism

Persistent use of the best grammar checker and spell checker you can find will help to shape up the style and substance of your composition. However, to ensure the integrity of your work and root out unintentional instances of academic dishonesty, you’ll also need to incorporate a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker for students.

The ability to scan your paper and check plagiarism and grammar before submitting your work is an invaluable tool for students. It’s so valuable, in fact, that students are not the only ones who consistently use this type of software.

Many teachers and professors use a service to ensure that student papers are original and include properly formatted and sourced citations for all reference materials. For some, this may be a consistent element of their grading process, while others may utilize one only when they feel there is a reason to do so.

What Exactly Does a Plagiarism Checker Do?

If you’ve used an online plagiarism checker before, you may be familiar with the process that these tools employ. For those who have never used one, it can be helpful to understand how these tools work and what you should expect as a result of using one.

The most basic free tools will scan your paper and provide you with a percentage that indicates how much of your work is original. This feature can be useful to a point, as some instructors and institutions set a percentage for the amount of similar text that is considered acceptable. This policy does not mean that they are lenient about academic dishonesty but, instead, that they recognize that similar or even matching word choice is not always an indicator of copying.

However, some schools do not tolerate any form of incremental plagiarism, period. In these institutions, “check paper for plagiarism” is likely a standard action when grading all papers.

With a free plagiarism checker, the percentage of word-for-word plagiarism in your text may be the only feedback you receive. Moreover, some of these providers may wade in unethical waters, and offer essay writing services in conjunction with their checking services. This is why many students and teachers prefer subscription-based checkers that focus on integrity, such as the EasyBib writing tools.

With our premium tools, you get more than just supporting proof that your paper is original and in your own words. Your writing is scanned for potentially matching text and areas that needs your attention is highlighted. We’ll provide you with the source of the matching text so you can review it and decide how to proceed. If you agree that a citation is needed, our citation tools and resources will provide you with the information you need to help format and insert the new sources in your text as well as your works cited page.

How Does the EasyBib Plus Online Plagiarism Checker Work?

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides an all-in-one spell check, grammar review, and plagiarism checker that not only helps you with the paper you’re writing now but enables you to gain new knowledge and improve your writing for the future, too.

Our essay checker searches online for phrases, sentences, or passages that are similar to those in your paper. If it returns matching text, this may indicate that you have passages that are missing citations.

Just as with many checkers, our tool will tell you how many instances of matching text it finds in your paper. Our plagiarism tool is designed to do more than most free tools, however.

When a portion of your paper is flagged for review, we provide you with the source that it matches. As with our online spell check tool, you have the power to review each area and choose how to proceed. If you decide to cite the flagged text, you can review the suggested source and access our citation tools to help create a proper citation and start building a bibliography for your paper. Or, you may determine that no citation is needed, in which case it’s simple to dismiss the suggestion and continue to the next section.

If you’re unsure about how to proceed, our library of resources can help you learn more and make an educated decision. In this way, you gain more than just the ability to correct your work; over time, you can learn how to avoid plagiarism altogether.

Reasons Your Teacher May Run Your Paper Through a Plagiarism Detector

As stated previously, your teachers and professors grade papers with a fixed process that includes “check paper for plagiarism” as a standard, across-the-board action. Others may check for plagiarism only when they feel there is cause to do so. There are a few red flags that may stand out to them while reviewing a paper that would lead to their running a plagiarism check, including:

Style/Voice: Most teachers are familiar with the style and voice that you use in your writing. While most will hope that the feedback they provide when grading your work will help you to improve problem areas over time, a paper or essay that has a dramatically different style or voice than the work you’ve previously submitted can be a red flag.

Inconsistency: Changes in the font, font size, formality, formatting, and more may indicate that portions of a paper have been copied and pasted. If these inconsistent passages are not presented as quotations or don’t include citations, this may further indicate to your teacher that there’s plagiarism in the paper.

Old References: Part of a well-researched paper is verifying the legitimacy and relevance of your sources. While some older references may be acceptable depending on the topic, if all of your sources are outdated, it may lead your teacher to believe that you’ve recycled your own work or someone else’s.

Looking for a checker to try? With EasyBib Plus you get unlimited checks to give you peace of mind when turning in your papers!

What is Plagiarism?

If you’re looking for a free online plagiarism checker , you’re already aware that it’s not something you want to be found in your papers. However, you may still be wondering: what does plagiarism mean? It’s a reasonable question and one that merits exploring. After all, some of the actions and circumstances that fall within the plagiarism definition come as a surprise to those who only learn that they’ve committed them after it’s too late.

So what is plagiarism? To define plagiarism in the most basic sense, you might say that it is taking someone else’s ideas and words and passing them off as your own.

If your goal is avoiding plagiarism entirely, you’ll need to go beyond the basics to thoroughly define plagiarism, recognize it, and keep clear of it. Some examples of plagiarism that students find surprising include forgotten citations, poor paraphrasing, and re-submitting your own work in whole or in part for more than one assignment. This useful article provides more help in recognizing and understanding the different forms that academic dishonesty can take.

Of course, using your own words and ideas does not count as plagiarism, nor does using common knowledge . Basically, common knowledge is information that is well known by the average person. Examples of common knowledge:

there are 12 months in a year
the freezing point of Celsius is zero degrees
Socrates was a Greek philosopher

So should you only include your original thoughts and common knowledge in your papers? Of course not! Research-based assignments are meant to demonstrate your skills as a researcher, after all, as well as your ability to build upon the work of others to formulate new ideas. To avoid accidentally committing an act that falls within the plagiarism definition when you’re using another person’s words or ideas, though, you need to give them proper credit. This means you’ll need to clearly identify direct quotations or properly paraphrase them when including them in your paper.

Regardless of your approach, you’ll also need to cite your sources according to the style your professor specifies. Generally, you will use MLA format for the arts and humanities and APA format for the sciences, but it’s always best to check with your instructor when you’re unsure.

If you know what style to use but still aren’t sure how to create your citations, don’t fret! Our library of resources includes free guides to help you learn about various styles so you can properly structure and place them. And our premium tools not only help you check grammar, spelling, and originality in your papers, but subscribers also enjoy access to our citation creation tools!

What are the Different Types of Plagiarism?

In addition to the question “what is plagiarism,” you may also be wondering, “why do students plagiarize?” While some students do intentionally plagiarize because they believe they can pass off someone else’s work as their own to avoid spending time on their assignments, many others do so accidentally. They may not understand how broad the plagiarism definition is or they haven’t learned how to research and cite their sources properly. That is why it is vital to recognize plagiarism in all of its forms if you wish to ensure the integrity of your work.

Examples of plagiarism & How to prevent it

Direct plagiarism:

Intentionally copying another person’s work without including a citation that gives credit to the source. When most students are asked to identify potential plagiarism examples and behaviors, this direct and deliberate act is what they think of first.

Prevention: If you use an idea or quote from another source, cite it in the text. Make it clear that it was not your own words.

Incremental plagiarism:

Copying parts of another person’s work, such as phrases, sentences, or paragraphs without crediting the source. When deciding which tools to use to check a paper for plagiarism , instructors often seek out those that will identify incremental forms as well as instances of direct copying and similar phrasing.

Prevention : Decide to either directly quote the phrases or sentences you want to use, or write a good paraphrase. In both cases, be sure to add a citation. Using a plagiarism checker could also help you identify problematic passages.

Self-plagiarism:

Academic self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits the same paper or parts of a paper for more than one assignment. When your instructors are grading your papers, they’re assessing your research and writing skills in the present. When you submit work that you completed in the past, they are both unable to evaluate your current skills and unaware that you haven’t completed the assignment.

Prevention: Write a new paper for each assignment you’re assigned. If you feel strongly that your past work could enhance your new paper, speak to your instructor and ask for permission first.

Misleading citations:

Including a citation for a quote or idea that misrepresents the source material. This can occur if a student does not understand the reference they are citing; if a student includes a citation for a disreputable source; or the source material simply does not align with the idea or argument that the student has attributed to it.

Prevention: Carefully review your assignment to understand it. As you research, take the time to evaluate each source notes . Remember, it’s better to have quality citations over an abundance of citations.

Invented sources:

If a reference in a student’s bibliography is found not to exist, it is considered an invented source. This may occur if a student couldn’t find a reputable source to back their argument, or if they needed to include additional references to meet the requirements of the assignment and chose to take an unethical shortcut rather than completing the required amount of research. No matter the reason, this behavior ultimately hurts them in the long run. Not only will they fail to gain the experience they need to conduct research in the future properly, but they’ll also experience significant consequences if they’re caught.

Prevention: Set aside time to do proper research so you can find enough sources. Start creating a list of sources as you’re researching and take good notes. This will help you keep track of your sources so none are forgotten. If you do end up forgetting where a quote came from, a paper checker could help you pinpoint the original source.

Patchwriting/Spinning:

Patchwriting is often confused with paraphrasing, but there’s a significant difference. When you paraphrase, you demonstrate that you understand the topic well enough to restate it in your own words. When you patchwrite or spin, it is more akin to a word-swapping game; there’s no need to understand the subject, merely to have access to a thesaurus so you can substitute enough synonyms to mask the source material. This can be intentional, but it may also be a result of having a poor understanding of how to paraphrase.

Prevention: Using your own words, write down the key points of the phrase or idea, and put them together in a sentence. Be sure to include a citation as well.

A good way to test if you’re patchwriting or paraphrasing is to remove your sources from view. If you can write about what you’ve read without looking at the source material, you likely understand it well enough to paraphrase it. If you have to review the source material with each new sentence or consult a thesaurus while writing about it (except when you’re adding direct quotations), you may be spinning your sources instead of paraphrasing them.

Academic Integrity Policies and Statements

If you’re still uncertain about what counts as plagiarism, look for your school’s/ organization’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism. The policies of academic institutions usually cover what is considered plagiarism, the consequences of committing it, and how to avoid it. One great example is Purdue University’s Academic Integrity statement .

What are the Consequences of Plagiarism?

No matter the setting, plagiarism is not taken lightly, and the consequences can be significant. For a good reason, too! Whether in an academic or professional setting, the plagiarism consequences reflect the seriousness of the act, which is ultimately a form of theft that hurts everyone involved.

Just as with the theft of a tangible object, there can be legal punishments for plagiarism. It is, after all, a form of copyright infringement in many instances. A quick search for plagiarism articles will reveal that professional instances of intellectual theft have resulted in civil lawsuits and can even be criminally prosecuted under rare circumstances. In addition to the possible legal consequences, professionals may lose their jobs or have to start over in a new field after their acts of fraud are uncovered.

As a student, you’re likely to wonder what happens if you plagiarize in college or high school. While there will almost always be consequences for this behavior, there is no one-size-fits-all plagiarism sentence. Depending on the circumstances, academic dishonesty could result in outcomes such as:

You might get a zero for the assignment in which the infringement occurred.
You may receive a failing grade for the class. If it is a required course, this could leave you without enough credits to move on to the next level until you can repeat it and, in some instances, postpone graduation.
You may be expelled from your school or university.

The academic dishonesty may be noted on your transcript, which can lead to you not getting into your preferred college, graduate school, or Ph.D. program in the future.

Nobody wants to be known as a fraud or to have a reputation for dishonesty follow them through their career. And, given the consequences that can extend beyond just their reputation, it’s no wonder that professional and academic writers who wish to avoid them take the time to understand the complete definition of plagiarism and run their work through a plagiarism checker before sending it out into the world.

Even the vigilant can fall prey to inferior tools, unfortunately. Before selecting a plagiarism checker, you should understand how they work and what they can (and cannot) detect.

How We Check for Plagiarism

When exploring how to check for plagiarism, most students and professionals conclude that including a checking tool in their revision process is not only helpful but necessary. When you consider the Herculean task of checking each line of your paper against the text of each of your resources, the benefits of a checker are clear. Moreover, this manual approach would only alert you to matching text in the sources you’re aware of, after all, and leaves the sources you haven’t reviewed untouched.

But, hang on. Why would sources you haven’t reviewed factor into your review? The answer to this lies in the plagiarism definition you learned above. What is plagiarism? It’s presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, intentionally or otherwise. It is not uncommon to uncover an idea while you’re researching a topic and later misremember it as your own. This might even occur years after you originally came across it.

You might wonder: how can plagiarism be avoided if you have to account for the source of every thought you include in your work? A few exceptions minimize the scope of this. Common knowledge about your topic does not need to be supported by a citation, nor does knowledge that you gained through your personal experience. Using a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker will help you locate any passages that may fall into these categories so you can review them and decide for yourself whether a citation is needed.

EasyBib Plus writing tools provide easy, convenient, and reliable support to help you find potentially missed citations and can help you improve your paper into a high-quality paper with integrity. Simply upload your paper, select the checker, then sit back and relax as the site scans your document. In mere moments, we’ll search the web for passages of similar text and highlight duplicate content for your review.

Regardless of the tools you use to help you revise and polish your work, it’s ultimately your responsibility to ensure that you’re writing and submitting ethical work. That’s why our tools go beyond the basics and require your participation. The tool never automatically makes changes to your paper, but only flags sections that may need your attention and provides you with the matching source so you can to make an educated decision.

If you find that a citation is needed, our citation tools can help you create properly formatted citations and develop a complete bibliography. And, if you review the passage and determine that the match is coincidental, you can dismiss the alert and move on to the next.

Seamless Citation Creation

Professional writers and students alike can find creating citations incredibly confusing. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of a well-written and researched paper and a requirement in almost all academic settings. But, have you ever wondered why they are so important? Citations really do have a purpose—other than driving us crazy— that make it necessary always to cite our sources.

We cite our sources for a few important reasons:

We need to give credit where credit is due. When you use a quote from someone else’s work, you need to give credit for using their words and ideas. Research is often based on the works and ideas of others. However, to include the words and ideas of another without giving them proper credit is to plagiarize, even if the act was unintentional.

In addition, showing that you’ve done proper research by including in text & parenthetical citations and a comprehensive list of sources to back up your arguments gives your work a layer of credibility that can help you earn the trust of your reader or teacher.

Readers can find the sources you used. When you’re writing high school or undergraduate papers, your only readers may be your instructors and peers. However, including citations at every level of writing helps to ensure that anyone who reads your work can access your sources to check their accuracy, learn more about your topic, and further their own research.

Sources can take your research and learning to the next level, too. When you are conducting research on a topic, checking the works cited or annotated bibliographies prepared by your sources can lead you down new avenues in your research to further develop your ideas and help you write your papers.

Correctly utilizing citations gives strength to your thoughts and opinions. Understanding the value of citations does not, unfortunately, make them any easier to create. We know how confusing it can be, but don’t throw in the towel on learning how to cite websites in MLA , create your APA citation website references, or format your works cited —this is where we come in!

While a free online plagiarism detector may tell you how much of your work is unoriginal and may even identify the passages that meet their plagiarize definition, a premium EasyBib Plus plagiarism checker account also gives you access to our powerful citation resources and generator so you can:

Scan your papers with the plagiarism tool to check for plagiarism-free work before you submit.

Review flagged passages to determine if they meet the plagiarism definition and create unlimited citations in APA format and MLA format for anything fitting the plagiarism meaning. Need more styles ? Check out our regular citation generator for thousands of choices and free resources to help you learn how to create an APA parenthetical citation , APA book citation , APA works cited , and so much more!

Build a full bibliography for your paper right along with your parenthetical or in-text citations, which can save you hours of work along the way compared to manually creating and formatting them.

How Else Do We Help You Improve Your Paper?

The EasyBib Plus plagiarism detector helps you check your content or paper for text that may be missing a citation—which may fall within the definition of plagiarism—to help ensure you don’t accidentally plagiarize. It also includes grammar check and spelling check tools to help identify errors and suggest grammatical tweaks that could help to elevate the level of your writing.

Running a plagiarism check couldn’t be easier! Just upload your paper to the online proofreader, and in a few moments we’ll have your writing and citing suggestions. And, there’s no need to worry about your paper after it’s been scanned.

Run a Grammar and Spell Check for Free!

There’s no denying that your schoolwork can be challenging at times, and your assignments can lead to some late nights even when you’ve started them early. The last thing you want is to submit assignments that don’t reflect your best effort, but it can occasionally be quite the juggling act to get everything done on time.

Why not let our plagiarism checker free up space on your calendar by helping you revise your papers quickly and efficiently? The EasyBib Plus paper checker is your one-stop shop to check for plagiarism, create citations, spot spelling mistakes, and receive feedback on your grammar and style.

When you proofread and do a manual spelling check on work that you’ve written, you’re more likely to overlook mistakes. This is even more likely if you’re pressed for time or trying to complete several different assignments at once. There are tricks to help minimize this, such as reading your work aloud to identify poor grammar or reading each sentence backward to find spelling errors. When time is of the essence, though, these solutions aren’t the most convenient or useful options. That’s why many students seek the assistance of online tools that will run a grammar and plagiarism check on their work.

Are you asking yourself, “ How do I check my grammar online ?” We’ve got the perfect checker for you! Our advanced tools help you find and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Our targeted feedback and free writing and citing resources help you learn as you go to improve your writing over time.

The best part? You can use our grammar and writing tools any time of the day, any day of the year for! Looking to try it? Just upload or copy and paste your text into our online proofreader for a free grammar check with up to 5 suggestions, or sign up for EasyBib Plus today! EasyBib Plus gives you use of the plagiarism checker and unlimited access to suggestions that can help improve your spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, writing style, and grammar.

Published February 3, 2019. Updated April 9, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Melissa DeVrieze Meyer . Michele is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib. You can find her here on Twitter. Melissa is a professional writer and editor based in New Jersey. She writes for academic brands and independent publishers about writing, grammar, and literature, and creates study and curriculum materials for ESL learners. You can find her on Twitter .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Grammarly Review: An AI Editing Gem With Flaws

W hen you think about AI, Grammarly probably isn't the first service to pop to mind. You likely think of newer chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini , or maybe Firefly , Adobe's newly upgraded AI image generator. But AI certainly isn't limited to only these spaces -- Grammarly's been using it for years to help you improve your writing.

I've been using Grammarly for several months now. I admit that in the beginning, I didn't think I needed an extra digital editing tool. Human editors, absolutely yes, but I was sure my built-in tools would cover my basic needs. But after my in-depth testing of Grammarly's services, it's clear I was wrong. Grammarly's catching errors in this review as I'm writing it. (Not to worry -- they'll be resolved by the time you're reading this.)

Grammarly rightfully touts itself as more than a simple spell checker. In its Basic plan, Grammarly monitors and analyzes your writing against a laundry list of grammar rules, giving you more comprehensive suggestions compared with built-in tools. The paid plans offer a variety of features that help you adjust the tone of your writing, scan for plagiarism and customize to your writing preferences. And not to be outdone by those aforementioned AI chatbots, Grammarly has a generative AI tool that helps you build outlines, brainstorm ideas and even generate text.

My experience using Grammarly has been positive overall, but the service isn't perfect. As with any editing tool, it's up to you to decide what's right for your writing and decline wonky suggestions. Grammarly's free plan offers good, comprehensive help that's suitable for folks who want strong editing without breaking the bank. But if you're looking for more editing firepower, or you're writing in professional settings with stricter style and tone requirements, consider investing in a paid plan.

How CNET tests AI tools

CNET takes a practical approach to reviewing AI tools, with the goal of determining how good AI is at performing the task it promises to assist. These tests vary by tool, for example, evaluating the quality of summaries from Otter AI, a meeting assistant, and whether AI suggestions from Grammarly, the writing assistant we're reviewing here, help the process. We score the tool on a 10-point scale, which considers the overall usefulness of the tool and whether AI improves its effectiveness. See how we test AI for more.

What you'll get with Grammarly's basic editing service

Grammarly's free plan provides access to its basic editing service, which helps detect and correct errors in three main areas: spelling, grammar and punctuation. You'll also get suggestions for improving the clarity of your writing. Grammarly's recommendations will make your writing more concise, which I found super helpful as my sentences tend to run long. The last feature in the free plan is tone detection. However, suggestions about how to change your tone are limited to paid plans.

Grammarly offers two paid tiers : Premium (starting at $12 per month) and Business (starting at $15 per month). They offer almost identical editing features, but the Business plan allows for more streamlined team tools, including centralized billing and the ability to upload and manage style guides.

Grammarly is available on your laptop and smartphone through downloadable apps and browser extensions, allowing it to work with many different services. When you download the Grammarly desktop app in addition to the web browser extensions, it will automatically activate when you're writing in other places, like in your email, documents and messaging systems. The smooth integration across all my workspaces was a major plus. For folks who don't want to download yet another app, Grammarly works just fine in a web browser.

Overall, Grammarly caught many errors and improved my writing. However, there were instances where the edits it suggested were incorrect or would've changed my intended meaning. I would caution Grammarly users not to blindly accept all suggested edits -- take a minute to make sure they look right before accepting the changes.

Easy to customize to your writing preferences

Grammarly makes it easy to customize your suggestions and tone to what you want. It lists over 45 of the most common grammar rules that you can toggle on and off depending on your style guide, personal style or preferences. To see this, go into Account > Customize > Writing Preferences .

Grammarly's writing preferences were particularly helpful for me as a writer at CNET, where we don't use serial commas. The serial, or Oxford, comma was a common suggestion from Grammarly, and the notifications were annoying until I figured out how to turn them off. With the Business plan, your organization can upload its style guide and integrate its rules into the edits Grammarly suggestions, which is a great time-saver. I also appreciated Grammarly's rules around using inclusive language, which flag phrases or words that might be outdated, inaccurate or disrespectful -- particularly regarding gender and sexual orientation, ability, age and human rights.

The feature that most excited me was tone suggestions. With paid plans, Grammarly can recommend changes to your writing that give it a different tone. The edits I got most often adjusted my writing to sound more active and confident. I know from experience that my rough drafts tend to be too passive, so I appreciated how this tool helped me catch some of those spots early on in my writing process.

One feature I would've liked is the ability to highlight a sentence and request that Grammarly give me suggestions about how to change the tone -- currently, you can get recommendations only for sentences Grammarly marks or by putting it in GrammarlyGo.

A good, not great, plagiarism scanner

One of Grammarly Premium's standout features is a plagiarism scanner. After playing around with it, I've found it's a nice perk, but it's not flawless.

Grammarly says that it checks your work "against billions of web pages." After it scans your text, it gives you a percentage of how similar your sections are to published work, along with a link to where existing text appears online. I tested it by creating a series of documents, some original and some containing intentionally plagiarized work, to see how much Grammarly would catch.

At first glance, it's a good general tool, if not always the most accurate. Below, Grammarly correctly flagged the plagiarized second and third paragraphs. The first paragraph has correct credit and citation, but Grammarly still added a flag to point out that some of the text -- the direct quote -- was similar.

Sometimes, Grammarly didn't catch places where I added intentionally plagiarized sections. Grammarly's support page says there can be a lag for recently published work.

To ensure that you're getting the most thorough scan, I recommend closing and reopening the document to get the software to reload or copying and pasting the final version of your work into a new document. Even then, if you're worried your work might be considered plagiarism, a good rule of thumb is to add a citation and clarify where the idea is from.

GrammarlyGo: Great for outlines and tone adjustments

GrammarlyGo is a generative AI-powered feature that generates text based on your suggestions and prompts. Grammarly introduced the feature in May 2023, following ChatGPT's explosion in popularity. GrammarlyGo is currently available only to premium users with a limit of 1,000 prompts per month. Business and enterprise users get unlimited prompts if your company doesn't disable the feature.

One of the best things you can do with GrammarlyGo is generate outlines or brainstorm ideas. When I tested the feature, it produced thorough outlines and many great headlines and section headings. Grammarly helped me create several generic outlines for several kinds of writing, including reviews, blog posts, breaking news stories and academic journal papers. I was pleasantly surprised by how thorough the outlines were, even when you asked for a specific prompt, like "Generate an outline for a blog post about a Costa Rica vacation." Using GrammarlyGo as a brainstorming tool is a great way to spark inspiration and create robust plans.

GrammarlyGo also allows you to generate whole passages of text by analyzing and rewriting your own work. To test these features, I took a wordy section from one of my other CNET stories to see what Grammarly would change.

The first prompt I entered had GrammarlyGo identify any gaps in my writing, with little success. The one gap it identified was one I felt as though I had already addressed. I saw minor differences using the "Improve it" prompt. GrammarlyGo kept the section approximately the same length, and each sentence had only a word or two or changed or was given a new structure. When I asked to "Simplify it," Grammarly didn't change most of my sentences, just cut some out. All of these edits were good, but they weren't wielding the kind of editing firepower I was hoping for.

There are many different tones you can ask Grammarly to implement in your piece. "Make it academic" was particularly fun because it took my casual, second-person text and turned it into an overly complicated, third-person, 10-dollar-wordy, journal-style abstract -- in other words, it worked well.

The biggest pain was trying to keep track of all of the changes and different versions I was creating. It was difficult to tell what text Grammarly was using as its base to update -- after about four prompts, a row would pop up telling me what it was based on, but the few words in the preview still didn't help me understand what it was using. I would love for Grammarly to highlight or let me select which text passages it used as the basis for prompts. For now, I managed by labeling each section with the prompt before inserting it into the document.

Students, beware GrammarlyGo

Many Grammarly users are students, and I urge caution for students using GrammarlyGo, particularly for text generation.

After ChatGPT took off, university professors, students and academic integrity offices struggled to define the line between acceptable AI use and what was considered plagiarism. Recently, this debacle led to one student at the University of North Georgia being accused of plagiarism for using Grammarly -- not for generating text, but for using Grammarly for spell check, tone improvements and other editing suggestions. Such suggestions aren't powered by generative AI, Grammarly said in a statement to Her Campus , after the student's TikTok videos about her case went viral.

In response to the incident, Grammarly jumped on TikTok with a 4-minute-long video featuring its head of education, Jenny Maxwell, explaining how Grammarly's editing services and gen AI work. One feature Maxwell calls out is Grammarly's "one-click way" to cite how generative AI was used in content creation. When I tested it, it spat out a bulleted list, including the prompts I entered and the sections it changed. If you're writing a formal paper, this is likely insufficient to properly acknowledge your use of AI for generating text, as it isn't a formal citation, brief or paragraph to include in a paper.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great idea, and I hope more AI companies implement citation-like features. But right now, Grammarly's citation tool falls short of what students need. Given the level of scrutiny placed on academic papers, I wouldn't recommend GrammarlyGo for students, especially if your school doesn't have a clearly outlined AI policy or if it regularly uses AI detection tools that may falsely flag your paper as AI-generated.

TL;DR: Grammarly is impressive, but take it with a grain of salt

Language and its rules are constantly changing, which presents Grammarly and similar services with the monumental task of trying to keep up. Grammarly is a great tool for improving your writing, especially if you struggle with clarity and concision.

The free plan is more comprehensive than most of the built-in tools you might be using now, and it's a great first line of defense when writing. If you're looking for more hands-on suggestions, especially when writing in a specific style or tone, you're going to find the most value in Grammarly's advanced but paywalled features. The plagiarism scanner and gen AI text generator are nice additions, but they aren't flawless.

When you're using online or AI-powered editing services, it's important to remember that while these tools are helpful, they're not meant to be a replacement for human editors. The suggestions they provide are just that -- suggestions. It's up to you to parse through them to decide which of them are going to strengthen your writing and which might be irrelevant or just plain wrong. Grammarly is great for polishing up drafts, clarifying and condensing text, but it won't catch bigger problems with your writing like a human editor would.

Editor's note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create a handful of stories. Reviews of AI products like this, just like CNET's other hands-on reviews , are written by our human team of in-house experts. For more, see CNET's AI policy and how we test AI .

Grammarly Review: An AI Editing Gem With Flaws

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Grammarly Tutorial
Best tips how to use Grammarly
Grammarly Essay Review Tutorial Demo
How to Improve Writing Using Grammarly
How To Use Grammarly Free And Premium? The Best Writing App
How I Use Grammarly For Writing And Editing (TOP 10 TIPS)

COMMENTS

Get started with Grammarly
Get started with Grammarly. Welcome! Grammarly helps people communicate with confidence across devices and platforms, and we're excited for you to embark on your writing journey with Grammarly by your side. Here's a short guide on how to get started—we'll walk you through installing and getting the most out of our product offerings, as ...
How To Use The Grammarly Essay Check: Step-by-Step Guide
Step 3: Set Your Essay Goals and Preferences. You can also use the preferences section to adjust suggestions related to the comma and punctuation errors. After uploading your essay, adjust Grammarly to check an essay rather than an article or blog post. You can also access this setting via the writing goals tab.
How To Use Grammarly: Step-by-Step
In this tutorial, discover how to use Grammarly to improve your writing skills and get the most from its powerful writing tools.. Grammarly is a popular writing assistant for writers and professionals who want to improve their grammar, punctuation, and writing style. I've used Grammarly for years for blog posts, papers, academic documents, and books. It helps me press send, submit, or ...
I Improved My Writing With Grammarly, and So Can You
Analysis of Professional, Polished Writing. Out of curiosity and to give myself a sanity check, I copied and pasted into Grammarly a creative nonfiction essay published in The Paris Review.At the ...
Grammarly Review (2023): Is Grammarly Worth It? My Verdict
And as I explain below, the free version of Grammarly is pretty good. However, to unlock all of Grammarly's features, you will need to upgrade to Grammarly Premium. The current price for Grammarly Premium is: $12.00 a month when you pay annually ($144.00 in total) $20.00 a month when you pay quarterly.
Grammarly Editor user guide
If you are a Grammarly Premium, Grammarly Business, or Grammarly for Education user, you can check your document for plagiarism. The plagiarism checker is deactivated by default. Once you finish writing or editing your text, click the Plagiarism button in the lower-right corner to check your document for any potential plagiarism.
What Is Grammarly, and Is It Cheating?
Grammarly is an automated writing assistant, an online resource designed to help students spot and correct errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In the simplest terms, Grammarly is a web-based editing application that helps students improve the quality of their writing. And boy do they need it. I should know.
Grammarly: AI Writing and Grammar Checker App
With comprehensive feedback on spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and writing style, Grammarly is more than just a proofreader. It's a tool that helps you write with confidence, find the best words to express yourself, and communicate your ideas with ease. Grammarly's generative AI capabilities allow you to produce instant drafts ...
Is it okay to use Grammarly for my college essay?
Using Grammarly for your college essay is completely fine and not seen as dishonest. Grammarly helps with spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and it can help ensure that your essay is free of errors. However, keep in mind that while Grammarly is helpful in catching those small mistakes, it won't necessarily improve the content or style of your writing.
Using Grammarly to Enhance Students' Academic Writing Skills
Essay writing lies at the core of developing and enhancing students' academic writing compe-. tence. According to Grammarly blogger Lindsay Kramer, "an essay is a short piece of writing that ...
Grammarly's next step: writing the whole essay for you
03-09-2023 TECH. Grammarly's next step: writing the whole essay for you. After building a business around revisions for writers, Grammarly jumps into generating text wholesale with AI ...
Essay Checker: Free Grammar & Plagiarism Check
Thankfully, the EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool provides all-in-one support to cover all your bases. Our premium essay checker is convenient, easy to use, and includes access to a grammar and spell checker, plus a plagiarism checker. With a single scan, you'll receive personalized feedback to help identify potentially missing citations and help ...
Free Grammar Checker
Use QuillBot's free online grammar checker tool to perfect your writing by reviewing your text for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Whenever you need to review your writing or grammar check sentences, QuillBot is here to help make the editing process painless. QuillBot's free online sentence corrector helps you avoid mistakes and ...
Teachers are using AI to grade essays. Students are using AI to write
Teachers are turning to AI tools and platforms — such as ChatGPT, Writable, Grammarly and EssayGrader — to assist with grading papers, writing feedback, developing lesson plans and creating ...
Grammarly Review: An AI Editing Gem With Flaws
Grammarly's writing preferences were particularly helpful for me as a writer at CNET, where we don't use serial commas. The serial, or Oxford, comma was a common suggestion from Grammarly, and the ...