Analysis of similarity index between iThenticate and Ouriginal plagiarism detection software: a comprehensive study

Abstract

Intellectual property plagiarism is increasingly prominent in contemporary society, involving the unethical practice of claiming someone else's ideas, words, or creative works without proper acknowledgment. This study aimed to compare the performance of iThenticate and Ouriginal plagiarism detection software by analyzing their similarity index. Twenty original manuscripts (N=20) were examined for content similarity, with each manuscript analyzed first with Ouriginal and then with iThenticate. The focus was on comparing the two tools based on matched sources, word matches, and overall similarity index percentage. Data analysis using SPSS v26 included descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, correlation, and ranking of the similarity percentages, with significance set at p<0.05. The results indicated no significant differences in matching sources, matching words, or similarity index (p>0.05) between iThenticate and Ouriginal. A strong positive correlation (r=.758, p<.000) was observed between the similarity indices of the two software programs. The analysis of the low similarity range (≤10%) also revealed no statistical significant difference (p>.05). However, the mean similarity percentage detected by iThenticate was higher at 11.40%, compared to 6.85% for Ouriginal. Based on the findings, both iThenticate and Ouriginal demonstrated comparable effectiveness in detecting plagiarism, highlighting their importance in curbing academic dishonesty and protecting intellectual property rights.