How do I interpret the similarity score in the Copyleaks report?

Detecting plagiarism in code can be tricky because minor changes in variable names, comments, or structure can result in significantly different code appearances. While Copyleaks is capable of detecting code plagiarism, it may miss certain matches due to its reliance on pattern recognition, or it might flag non-plagiarized code if it detects common structures or frequently used coding snippets. Further manual review is recommended in such cases.

PDF files sometimes cause formatting issues due to the way text is encoded within the document. Copyleaks may struggle to extract text from certain PDF files, leading to missing or altered text. This can happen if the PDF contains images, unusual fonts, or non-standard formatting.

While Copyleaks supports multiple languages, its plagiarism detection is more robust for English-language content. The database for non-English languages may be smaller or less comprehensive, leading to inconsistent results. Non-English content may also have different syntax and structure, making it harder for the algorithms to detect matches.

The free version of Copyleaks is designed to offer basic plagiarism detection, with limited features such as shorter document length and fewer analysis options. To access more extensive features, such as larger document checks or advanced paraphrasing detection, users need to upgrade to the paid version.

The Copyleaks interface can sometimes be challenging to navigate due to the layout and complexity of the report. Detailed plagiarism reports contain multiple sections, highlighted matches, and source lists, which can overwhelm users. Improvements to the user experience could make the process more intuitive.