Strengthen Research Integrity Before Publication
Similarity Check, powered by Crossref and iThenticate, helps publishers and scholarly organizations identify substantial text overlap in submitted manuscripts before publication.
It provides editors and publishers with a similarity report that can help them identify potentially overlapping content, investigate sources, and make informed editorial decisions.
What Similarity Check Enables
🔍 Identify Text Similarity
Compare submitted manuscripts against a large collection of scholarly and web content to identify matching or overlapping text.
📊 Generate Similarity Reports
Get a detailed report showing matching sections and the sources where similar text appears.
🛡 Support Research Integrity
Give editors and publishers an additional tool for identifying potential plagiarism or inappropriate text reuse.
✍️ Improve Editorial Screening
Integrate similarity screening into the manuscript evaluation workflow before publication.
How Similarity Check Works
1. Submit the Manuscript
The author or editorial team submits the manuscript for similarity screening.
2. Compare the Content
The manuscript is checked against content available within the iThenticate comparison database.
3. Identify Matching Text
Potentially matching passages and their sources are highlighted in the similarity report.
4. Review the Results
Editors or reviewers examine the matches and determine whether they represent legitimate citation, common terminology, quotation, previous work, or potentially problematic text reuse.
Similarity Does Not Automatically Mean Plagiarism
A similarity score should not be interpreted as a plagiarism verdict.
Academic papers naturally contain common terminology, references, quotations, technical phrases, and properly cited material that may produce similarity.
The similarity report provides evidence for human review and editorial judgment rather than making the final decision itself.
Why Similarity Check Matters
Maintaining research integrity requires careful evaluation throughout the publishing process.
Similarity Check can help organizations:
- Screen manuscripts before publication
- Identify potentially problematic text reuse
- Locate sources of matching content
- Support editors during manuscript evaluation
- Strengthen publication ethics and integrity processes
- Encourage responsible scholarly writing
- Protect the credibility of journals and publishers
For Journals & Publishers
Similarity Check is particularly valuable for:
Academic Journals | Publishers | Universities | Research Institutions | Conference Proceedings | Societies | Editorial Teams
It can become an important part of a journal’s pre-publication quality and research-integrity workflow.
Build Trust Before Publication
Submit → Screen → Identify → Review → Decide → Publish
Similarity Check helps publishers make manuscript screening more informed while supporting a stronger culture of responsible and trustworthy scholarly communication.
Research Integrity Starts Before Publication
Detect Similarity. Review Carefully. Publish Responsibly.
Similarity Check by Crossref & iThenticate — supporting a stronger foundation for research integrity.