1. Differences between plagiarism rate, similarity rate and suspect text
-
Similarity rate: percentage of text deemed identified as similar to text found in other freely accessible documents on the internet.
💡 A similarity may simply be a properly cited quotation. In that case, the user can ignore it and the similarity rate is automatically recalculated. - Suspect text rate: percentage of your text showing similarities with existing sources or content potentially generated by AI. These passages deserve careful verification, but do not automatically imply plagiarism.
- Plagiarism rate: this rate is not produced by the Compilatio analysis, it depends on the assessment by the evaluating teacher. If some similarities are not properly cited, they may be considered plagiarism.
2. How to interpret a percentage of suspect texts?
The same percentage does not carry the same weight depending on the size of the document:
- 10 % of suspect texts in an 80‑page document: this corresponds to about one paragraph (often the company presentation), which can be considered relatively low.
- 10 % of suspect texts in a 200‑page document: this represents several pages, which may be more significant and deserves particular attention.
The important thing is therefore not only the number, but **the amount of text actually involved and its nature** (quotation, paraphrase, original content). A high rate of suspect text may contain many quoted passages with correct sources, which cannot be considered plagiarism.
3. Is there an “acceptable” rate?
There is no universal rule. Each university or school sets its own threshold!
It may be mentioned in a charter for the use of detection software, like at Université Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne, which uses Compilatio with an acceptable rate of 14 %.
Between 10 % and 15 % remains a good indicative reference, to be adjusted depending on the length and nature of the assignment. Some schools accept between 5 % and 25 %.
📌 Note: if an institution does not fix a precise threshold, the decision may be left to the evaluating instructor.
4. Tips to reduce suspect text rate when you are a student
- Cite your sources correctly according to the standards required by your institution.
- Anticipate your results: use a plagiarism detection tool such as Compilatio Studium to check your work before submitting it for review.
- Carefully proofread your thesis before submitting it for correction.
To go further:
- How to interpret the similarity score (colour and percentage) of an analysed document?
- Bibliographic standards to avoid plagiarism: how to properly cite your sources
📌 Questions about Magister, Magister+, plagiarism or AI?
Get answers live during our "Q&A Webinar".
👉 Register for the next session
This article has been automatically translated. If you notice a translation error, please contact us.