# Plagiarism Checker for PDF: Scan PDF Files for Plagiarism

**Use case:** 

Check a PDF for plagiarism: upload a PDF, Word, TXT, Markdown or HTML file and get an overall plagiarism score plus every matching phrase with the source URL, page title and similarity score. This example scans a PDF of the Gettysburg Address, a public-domain text.

## Input

```json
{
  "textContent": "Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States. His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.",
  "fileUpload": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/3Yi6iCt9gOxV0cPU3/records/gettysburg-address.pdf",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": []
  }
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "results.document_score": {
    "label": "Document Score (%)",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "results.results.phrase": {
    "label": "Original Phrase",
    "format": "text"
  },
  "results.results.results.title": {
    "label": "Source Title",
    "format": "text"
  },
  "results.results.results.link": {
    "label": "Source URL",
    "format": "link"
  },
  "results.results.results.scores.score": {
    "label": "Match Score",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "results.results.results.scores.sentence": {
    "label": "Matched Sentence",
    "format": "text"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Plagiarism Checker Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Plagiarism Checker for PDF: Scan PDF Files for Plagiarism". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/ZG3Mv0zeyN3dO0Lct) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Plagiarism Checker for PDF: Scan PDF Files for Plagiarism" task

The Plagiarism Checker Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like text to check, upload a file for check, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Plagiarism Checker for PDF: Scan PDF Files for Plagiarism" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as document score (%), original phrase, source title, and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Plagiarism Checker for PDF: Scan PDF Files for Plagiarism" task via API](https://apify.com/muhammetakkurtt/plagiarism-checker.md).

## FAQ

### How do I check a PDF for plagiarism?

Upload the PDF in the file field and run this task. It extracts the text, scans it and returns an overall plagiarism score plus every matching phrase with its source.

### Which file types can the plagiarism checker read?

PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown and HTML files. Scanned or image-only PDFs need OCR first, because the task reads the PDF's text layer.

### Can I check a long PDF, like a thesis?

Yes. Texts longer than 12,000 characters are processed automatically in chunks, so you can upload a full document instead of splitting it yourself.

### What does the plagiarism score mean?

It is the share of your text that matches content found online. This example scores high because the Gettysburg Address is published on many sites; original writing scores low.

### Can I check a Word document for plagiarism too?

Yes. Upload a .docx file the same way, or paste plain text into the text field. See the Plagiarism Checker API task to send text from your own app.

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Plagiarism Checker](https://apify.com/muhammetakkurtt/plagiarism-checker.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/muhammetakkurtt/plagiarism-checker.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/muhammetakkurtt/plagiarism-checker.md

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).