Plagiarism types and detection methods: a systematic survey of algorithms in text analysis

Frontiers in Computer Science, 2025

Full text Open access: Gold Metadata (CSL-JSON)
DOI 10.3389/fcomp.2025.1504725
Data confidence 85 high
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Abstract

Plagiarism in academic and creative writing continues to be a significant challenge, driven by the exponential growth of digital content. This paper presents a systematic survey of various types of plagiarism and the detection algorithms employed in text analysis. We categorize plagiarism into distinct types, including verbatim, paraphrasing, translation, and idea-based plagiarism, discussing the nuances that make detection complex. This survey critically evaluates existing literature, contrasting traditional methods like string-matching with advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning approaches. We highlight notable works focusing on cross-language plagiarism detection, source code plagiarism, and intrinsic detection techniques, identifying their contributions and limitations. Additionally, this paper explores emerging challenges such as detecting cross-language plagiarism and AI-generated content. By synthesizing the current landscape and emphasizing recent advancements, we aim to guide future research directions and enhance the robustness of plagiarism detection systems across various domains.