This document introduces Crossref Similarity Check, a service that allows publishers to screen manuscripts for plagiarism using Turnitin's text comparison tool, iThenticate. It notes over 1,700 Crossref members currently participate by contributing their published content to iThenticate's database. The service works by uploading documents to iThenticate to produce similarity reports for editors to check for legitimate similarity or require further investigation. It addresses common questions about how the service works, who uses it, and costs.

1. Introducing
Crossref Similarity
Check

2. Who is already
participating in
Similarity
Check?

3. Our Similarity Check service offers publishers with a way to actively engage in
efforts to prevent plagiarism.
Members are provided with access to Turnitin’s powerful text comparison
tool, iThenticate. This allows them to compare their own documents against the
largest comparison database of scientific, technical and medical content in the
world.
Similarity Check members contribute their own published content into iThenticate’s
database of full-text literature.
Similarity Check

4. • Turnitin’s plagiarism detection
software
• Text-based screening
• Contains content indexed from over
1 billion web pages, 57 million items
from Crossref members, and a
further 105 million items from other
content partners such as Pearson,
Cengage, EBSCOHost etc.
What is iThenticate?

5. How the service works
• Upload a document to iThenticate
• A similarity report is produced
• Compare side-by-side
• Editor makes a decision about
whether the similarity detected is
legitimate or if further investigation is
required
• When members publish new content,
they provide a link to their full-text
which Turnitin use to index the item
and add it into their database

7. Who’s using Similarity Check?
Over 1,700 participating Crossref members
Average 298,962 manuscripts screened every month this year
Increase in usage from publishers in Japan, Brazil, South Korea and Turkey
Publishers are putting more time and effort into their plagiarism policies
• resources (staff and time)
• cost
• workflow
• education
• follow-up action

8. Doc-to-doc comparison
• Doc-to-doc comparison allows
users to upload one primary
document and compare it
against up to five other
documents.

10. What issues are publishers looking for
• Poor, missing, or incomplete references (can be fixed)
• Self-plagiarism/text recycling (can be fixed)
• Unattributed use of parts of another person’s work
• Submitting another person’s work as your own
• Is the author attempting to mislead/misrepresent?

11. How to join
https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/
Are you eligible?

12. X Abstract only/landing
pages won’t work
X PDF Readers won’t
work
★ PDF downloads are the
best
What are full-text URLs?

13. What if my articles are paywalled?
• It’s okay if your articles are behind a paywall,
we still need full-text URLs
• Whitelisting Turnitin’s IP
• Only Turnitin will have access to the full-text
https://www.crossref.org/education/similarity-check/whitelisting-
the-turnitin-ip-address/

14. How much does it cost?
• Annual administrative fee equal to 20% of your Crossref membership fee, paid to Crossref along with your annual
membership fee.
• Each document run through Similarity Check is charged at a per-document-checking fee. There is a separate invoice
for Similarity Check document checking fees.
• If you work with a sponsor, they’ll receive the invoices for your use of the service.
• Invoices for the per document checking fees Similarity Check service will be sent, from Crossref, in January (for the
previous year). You can check how many documents you’ve checked in the Reports section in iThenticate.

15. Other FAQs
• If you’re a member who works with a sponsor, and you want to change to
work with another sponsor, the new sponsor needs to be using the service
for you to continue to have access to it.
• iThenticate checks are integrated into the main manuscript submission
systems (ScholarOne, Editorial Manager, eJournal Press).

16. https://community.crossref.or
g

17. Need more information?
Forum: https://community.crossref.org/
Documentation: https://www.crossref.org/education/
Email us: support@crossref.org or member@crossref.org

18. Thank you!