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Free Run-on Sentence Checker

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What you need to know about run-on sentences

What is a run-on sentence.

A run-on sentence happens when two or more independent clauses (complete thoughts) are incorrectly joined together without the appropriate use of punctuation or conjunctions. Run-on sentences can make a passage difficult to understand and disrupt the flow of writing.

Why use a run-on sentence checker?

Run-on sentences often result in unclear and unprofessional writing, causing confusion and wasted time. Our run-on sentence checker is a necessity for anyone who wants to improve their writing, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and efficiency.

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I’ve tried every free and paid writing/editing/grammar extension out there, and this by far is the best one my team and I have found. It’s fast, accurate, and really helps improve your writing beyond simple grammar suggestions.

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ProWritingAid has been a resource in my writer toolkit for many years. The program helps me to craft and clarify my stories for a better reader experience. Your editor will thank you for making their job easier.

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Our editing tool doesn't just find run-on sentences; it corrects spelling, grammar, style, and more in real time.

Detect run-on sentences

ProWritingAid's run-on sentence checker highlights run-on sentences in your writing, such as missing commas, and offers suggestions to correct them.

Avoid grammar and spelling mistakes

Whether you're crafting a short email or writing a novel, our tool ensures error-free writing. It catches and corrects grammar and spelling errors so you can be confident in everything you write.

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ProWritingAid's comprehensive reports provide real-time style tips, such as avoiding overused words and varying sentence lengths.

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Run-on Sentence Checker FAQs

1. does prowritingaid autocorrect.

We'll provide you with suggestions, but the decision remains entirely yours. Maybe that missing comma was intentional! You can choose to accept or ignore each suggestion.

2. Can I fix run-on sentences in email? And on social media?

Absolutely! Our browser extensions (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge) will proofread your content on most websites, including Facebook, X, and Medium, as well as email providers, such as Gmail and Yahoo.

3. What else can ProWritingAid help with?

ProWritingAid has grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking built in so you can do everything in one place. The grammar report identifies misused commas, missing apostrophes, and more for a seamless writing experience.

4. Is ProWritingAid free?

Yes! With a free account, you can edit up to 500 words at a time. If you need to edit large documents, such as manuscripts or reports, you’ll need to upgrade to Premium .

5. Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes! ProWritingAid’s plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

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Check and correct run on sentences in your blog posts, academic papers, and essays.

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What is a run on sentence.

A run on sentence combines two or more independent clauses in one sentence without proper punctuation or conjunctions. It thus results in sentences that are too long and often confusing and hard to read. Think of them as sentences that are cramming multiple thoughts or ideas together without giving the reader a clear break.

How can sentence checker help?

The Sentence Checkup’s sentence checker is like having a skilled editor by your side. Our sentence checker improves your writing by making those cumbersome sentences more accurate, clear, and readable.

Simply copy and paste the text, and the tool will identify and correct run on sentences, fargments and structure issues.

Refine and Fix Your Sentence

Corrects Comma Splices

The checker identifies and fixes comma splices. Change “He loves cooking, he often experiments with new recipes” to the grammatically correct “He loves cooking; he often experiments with new recipes.” No more pesky comma splices!

Detects and Corrects Punctuation

The punctuation checker suggests where to add necessary punctuation marks like commas, semicolons, or periods.

Adds Conjunctions 

It may recommend adding conjunctions (like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘although’, etc) to connect clauses properly. For example, in “I was tired I still finished the project,” the tool might suggest “I was tired, but I still finished the project.”

Splitting Sentences

The tool suggests splitting a run on sentence into two or more separate sentences. From “She enjoys painting her artwork is quite impressive,” it would make two sentences: “She enjoys painting. Her artwork is quite impressive.”

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How sentence checkup’s sentence checker works.

This sentence checking tool uses advanced AI to check for punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors and improve your sentences. You can check sentence structure issues in just three steps:

Copy and paste the text you want to check into our tool.

Click the “Check” button, and it will highlight all mistakes.

You can correct them one by one by hovering over to the highlighted text, or hit the “Correct” button to correct all errors in just one click.

A run on sentence is a grammatically incorrect sentence in which two or more independent clauses are combined into one sentence without appropriate punctuation or conjunctions. For instance, “John went to the store he bought some apples” is a run on sentence. The correct sentence will be: John went to the store, and he bought some apples.

The major types of run-on sentences are: a fused sentence (when two or more clauses are combined without punctuation), a comma splice (when independent clauses are joined using only a comma and without proper punctuation), and a polysyndeton (when there are too many or unnecessary conjunctions in a sentence). 

You can use Sentence Checkup’s free sentence checker tool to check for fragment sentences and correct them for enhanced clarity.

Sentence Checkup’s free grammar checker allows you to check your sentences for grammatical errors and correct them with a single click. 

The 5 common rules to correct a run-on sentence include: using a period, using a comma and an appropriate conjunction, adding a transitional word, using a semicolon, and using a subordinating conjunction.

A run-on sentence isn’t necessarily incomplete; it improperly joins two or more complete clauses without correct punctuation or conjunctions. It’s an error of excess, not deficiency, containing complete clauses incorrectly connected. The issue is generally with grammar and structure, not incomplete information.

A sentence fragment is an incomplete thought or clause that lacks either a subject, a verb, or a complete idea, making it grammatically incomplete. On the other hand, a run-on sentence contains two or more complete thoughts or independent clauses that are improperly joined without correct punctuation or conjunctions. While a fragment lacks essential elements of a sentence, a run-on sentence has all the elements but connects them incorrectly.

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As a writer, our essay check feature is an invaluable tool that helps refine your writing style, suggests alternative phrasing, and provides insights into your writing habits. By regularly using Linguix, you can become a more confident and effective essay writer. Our sentence check feature thoroughly analyzes the structure of your essay sentences, ensuring they are clear, concise, and easily understood. It identifies run-on sentences, sentence fragments, and other issues that may confuse your readers. Linguix's punctuation checker ensures the correct usage of commas, periods, and other punctuation marks. It can also help you improve your utilization of colons, semicolons, and other advanced punctuation.

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Linguix offers a comprehensive spelling and grammar check feature available online, and our browser extensions are compatible with Google Docs, Gmail, ChatGPT, and numerous other websites. Our online spell check tool is perfect for capturing typos and other errors that can go unnoticed during the writing process. The spell tester provides suggestions to correct your mistakes, making it easier to refine your work. For those who need to check larger volumes of text, our essay sentence grammar check tool enables quick and efficient analysis of your work. This tool is particularly useful for students, teachers, and professionals who need to review longer documents.

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All You Should Know About Run-on Sentence Checker

Ever read an essay or an online article and wondered whether both the writer and the editor were asleep before it was submitted or got published online? Grammar mistakes are natural, and even the most experienced student or content writer can make them. However, a piece of work littered with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors not only has the potential to damage the writer’s credibility but also the institution or platform on which it has been published on.

Talking about grammar and punctuation errors, one of the most replicated punctuation mistakes is the incorporation of independent clauses in a single sentence without punctuation. Even from an elemental perspective, this is a grave mistake, and as a writer, you should avoid it at all costs. 

And that’s where a run-on sentence checker comes in. Unlike Microsoft Word, comma splice and fused sentence checkers use advanced syntactic recognition algorithms, letting you identify even the most subtle grammar errors in a text. Along with allowing you to check for run-on sentences on your work, these online tools also incorporate sophisticated correction software, which helps improve the quality of your writing significantly.

In this article, we are going to look at run-on sentences, the negative effects of having them in your work, and how you can avoid them with the help of run on sentence fixer .

Definition of Run-on Sentences

Also known as fused sentences, run-on sentences are characterized by the fusion of two complete sentences without using a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction. The biggest reason why run-on sentences are considered grammatically incorrect is that they distort sentence structures, making them appear clumsy. Along with that, they also weaken the narrative of your text, as well as make it hard to read.  For example:

Incorrect: It was cold she danced in the rain.

Incorrect: Dad did not drive to work the roads were too congested.

As you can see, the first two sentences in the above-shown examples are grammatically incorrect because they have fused two independent clauses. 

When Comma Splice and Fused Sentence Checker Is Needed

Unfortunately, when trying to correct run-on sentences, many people tend to turn them into comma splices by separating the two independent clauses using a single comma. But no matter how you look at it, fixing run-on sentences using a single comma is incorrect.

Here is an example of a comma splice:

Incorrect: I went to school, my friends were there.

Note “I went to school”  and “My friends were there” are two independent clauses that can stand on their own?? This makes the sentence grammatically incorrect as it tries to merge two independent sentences using a comma.

Tips on How to Fix Run on Sentences Online

As a student or content creator wondering how to fix a comma splice or a run-on sentence, there are five main methods to use. And for purposes of clarity, we are going to use the examples used above. They include:

• Separating the two independent clauses with a period

Using a period to split two improperly joined sentences is easily one of the most effective ways to fix comma splices and run-on sentences. It simply entails replacing the inappropriate comma with a period. And although the two independent sentences may sound a bit awkward, you are better off having them grammatically correct. Here are a few run-on sentence examples and corrections: 

Incorrect: It was cold s he danced in the rain.

Correct: It was cold. She danced in the rain. 

Correct: Dad did not drive to work. The roads were too congested.

Comma splice example and correction:

Correct: I went to school. My friends were there.

2. Separating the independent clauses with a semicolon

Another simple solution to the run-on sentences and comma splice is to encapsulate your two independent ideas in a single sentence using a semicolon. In this case, our examples would appear like this:

Correct: It was cold; S he danced in the rain.

Correct: Dad did not drive to work; The roads were too congested.

Correct: I went to school; My friends were there.

3. Separating the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction

Just like the semicolons, coordinating conjunctions make it easier to fuse two ideas in a single sentence. The only major difference is that conjunctions allow you to relay the logical relationship between your two ideas.

Correct: It was cold, yet she danced in the rain.

Correct: Dad did not drive to work, because the roads were too congested.

Correct: I went to school, and my friends were there.

4. Using a subordinating conjunction

Subordinating conjunctions also allows you to show the logical relationship between your two ideas. The only difference between them and their coordinating counterparts is that subordinating conjunctions indicate the unequal stress of the two parts of your new sentence. The good thing is that they can be applied in two distinct ways.

Correct: Even though it was cold, she danced in the rain.

Correct: When I went to school, my friends were there.

Never Miss Comma Splices and Run-on Sentence Errors with Our Sentence Fixing Generator

Our professional paragraph fixer online free software can fully identify all forms of technical and structural errors in your work. And that includes but not limited to:

• Run-on sentences. Our professional compound sentence checker helps you to easily identify whether there are two independent clauses in your sentences that aren’t separated by the appropriate punctuation.
• Comma splice detection . Our online tool also crawls through your entire work to identify and correct comma splices in your sentences. Along with that, it also helps highlight and correct issues in compound/complex sentences.
• Sentence fragments . If you have incomplete sentences within your work, our online tool will quickly identify and help you correct them.
• Verb and subject agreement. One of the most common mistakes when writing is the interchanging of singular words with their plurals. Our tool can check, identify, and correct subject-verb agreement.
• Absence of commas after introductory words or phrases. This is another commonly occurring error in writing that our highly efficient online tool will help identify and correct.

How to Check For Run on Sentences with a Sentence Fixing Generator

Revising run-on sentences and comma splices using our software is a pretty straightforward process. 

• Copy your typed text from a word processing program. 
• Paste it on the online dashboard and click on the “Check your Text” button.
• Allow the tool to crawl through your work checking for problems. The check should only take a few seconds.
• Click on the highlighted problems and apply the suggested corrections or make your changes.
• Copy and paste the corrected work back into your original word processing program.

Use Run-on Sentence Checker Here and Now

Avoiding run-on sentences and comma splice is sometimes difficult, especially when you are trying to identify them manually.  Fortunately, you no longer have to hand in or publish a poorly written paper or article, thanks to online checking tools like our run on grammar and punctuation corrector.

Our run-on sentence fixer will not only help you identify faulty stylistic elements in your work such as run-on sentences, comma splices, redundancies, and repetitions. It also generates detailed texts, words, sentences, and paragraphs statistics, as well as providing synonyms for different words. 

Try our run-on sentence checker for free today and improve your writing!

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Our Run On Sentence Checker Tool have a latest version. Now it correct FRAGMENT & COMMA SPLICE with sentence structure also!

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Our Run On Sentence Checker tool also helps in Grammar Checker as well as Sentence Structure

How Run On Checker Will Helps in Figurative Language Checker

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Simply paste your educational paperwork, email messages, and articles for blogs into the above-mentioned application.

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Run-on Sentence Checker

A run-on sentence emerges when two or more independent clauses are conjoined without appropriate punctuation or conjunctions. These sentences, often lengthy and confusing, challenge readers to follow the intended message.

Consider the following Run On Sentence example: “ The sun was setting it cast a warm glow on the horizon. “

Sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts posing as complete run on sentence fixer. They disrupt the natural flow of your writing, creating confusion for the reader. A sentence fragment checker acts as your detective, identifying run on sentences and eliminating these fragments to make your writing coherent and impactful

While free run-on sentences checker are valuable, it’s essential to acknowledge their limitations. They may not catch every nuance, and some errors might require manual intervention. Real-life experiences of writers who have utilized free run on sentences checker provide valuable insights. User reviews shed light on the effectiveness and user-friendliness of different tools.

In the world of language, structure matters, and issues like that Run On Sentence Checker , sentence fragments, and incomplete sentence checker will gonna help you & can hinder effective communication. In this website, we’ll explore the tools designed to enhance your writing by addressing these concerns which is totally run on checker free online for our youngers.

There’s simply no need to use run-on sentences. They make your writing look sloppy, sound hurried and will leave behind a confused reader. A lack of separation between the sentences makes it difficult for your reader to take in each portion of information.

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Which Type of Figurative Language is Included? 11 Passage Types

Why Do Authors Use Figurative Language? Best Answer

Are Run-On Sentences Grammatically Incorrect?

How to Avoid Run-on Sentences in Academic Writing

What are Fused Sentences? How to Fix Fused Sentences in 2024

How to Fix Run on Sentences errors: Best Solutions

How to Fix Fragment Sentences with a Run On Sentence Checker

What is Comma Splice in Run On Sentence? Best Answer

How is a Comma Splice Different from a Run On Sentence?

How to Check Run on Sentence is Correct or Not

Does a Format Checker Identify Passive Voice for Run on Sentences?

Am I Writing Run on Sentence Checker Online Free

How do you check if a sentence is a run on.

A run-on sentence is one that has two separate clauses that are joined together without the necessary conjunctions or punctuation.

How do you identify and correct run on sentences?

In writing, breaking a run-on sentence up into two or more discrete phrases is usually the easiest method to solve it. Make care to capitalize the initial letter of each sentence and punctuate them with an exclamation point, question mark, or period.

What is the website that fixes run on sentences?

Anywhere you like writing, you may write at your best with the free run-on sentence analyzer provided by RunonChecker.io. Use Runonchecker.io to check for run-on sentences, tone, clarity, and other issues.

How can I check if my sentence is correct?

Yes, our tool is designed to work with various types of writing, including academic papers, business documents, creative writing, and more.

How accurate is the run-on sentence checker?

Our checker utilizes advanced algorithms to detect and suggest corrections for run-on sentences. While it is highly accurate, it’s always recommended to review suggestions in the context of your writing

Can the run-on sentence checker be used for academic writing?

Absolutely. Many students and professionals use our tool to enhance the quality of their academic papers by ensuring proper sentence structure.

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Personalized Writing Help When You Need it

Unintentional plagiarism, grammar mistakes, and uncited sources  can turn what you thought was a good paper into a poor one. When you’re writing a paper the last thing you want is for your message to get lost due to incorrect punctuation or confusing sentence structure. You know that the great ideas in your head would make for a standout paper, if only you could get them written clearly on the page. If this struggle sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Great ideas may be an essential part of high-quality writing, but they’re not the only component. Excellent papers and essays clearly express strong ideas with good grammar, proper punctuation, spot-on spelling, and thorough, careful citations. While this may sound like a lot, your teachers and professors are grading you on your skills as both a writer and a researcher, which means your assignments will require an ethical and attentive approach. Luckily, there is no shortage of available tools to help you along your way.

You could use a plagiarism checker free, though, these tools often lack grammatical support. Given the high stakes and rigorous requirements, the aid of a plagiarism checker without the needed support of a grammar checker could mean the difference between an “A” paper and a “C” or even “D” paper.

Thankfully, the EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool provides all-in-one support to cover all your bases. Our premium essay checker is convenient, easy to use, and includes access to a grammar and spell checker, plus a plagiarism checker. With a single scan, you’ll receive personalized feedback to help identify potentially missing citations and help improve your sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, and more.

Not sure if that noun is spelled correctly, or if the preposition at the end of your sentence is grammatically correct? The EasyBib Plus plagiarism tool is your one-stop shop to help check plagiarism, get grammatical suggestions, correct spelling and punctuation errors, and help create polished papers you can be proud to turn in. And, we haven’t told you the best part yet: you can try our tool free and scan your work for grammar suggestions right now!

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A Grammar Check for Peace of Mind

You know that grammar plays a significant role in your assignments. Not only does it factor into your overall grade, but without clear and precise language, your ideas can lose their impact or might even be misunderstood entirely. Still, with so many different parts of speech and rules to learn and apply, it’s not uncommon to get them mixed up and find yourself questioning your knowledge now and again:

Can you use an adverb to modify a noun? (No. You need an adjective for that.)

Well, can you use it to modify a pronoun ? (Still no.)

What do they modify, then? (Almost everything else. Fun, right?)

Ugh. (That was an interjection .)

Does this have to be so difficult? (Nope!)

Scanning your paper with the EasyBib Plus writing tool delivers more than the basic punctuation and spell check functions that come standard in word processing programs. You’ll receive immediate, targeted feedback that can help improve the sentence structure and style of your writing. Not only can this help ensure that you don’t lose points off your grade for grammatical errors such as mismatched verb tense, but it can also help to clarify your meaning and strengthen your arguments by eliminating confusing punctuation and run-on sentences that confuse readers.

Reviewing your work to correct errors and refine the flow of your writing is a critical part of the revision process for novices and novelists alike. Even the most conscientious of wordsmiths might make mistakes, such as using a conjunctive adverb in place of a coordinating conjunction or pairing a plural determiner with an uncountable word. They likely appreciate a subscription-based or free grammar check as much as a beginning writer. That’s why the EasyBib Plus writing tool is designed for all writers, from students who are still learning the fundamentals to published professionals who get paid by the word.

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides quick, targeted feedback that you can use to help improve your writing immediately. Also, our free resource library is available 24/7, just like the rest of our tools, to help you brush up on the areas that challenge you the most (Conjunctive what? Uncountable who?) That means you can continue to sharpen your skills and improve your writing over time, which will help make finishing your next project easier.

Ready to give your paper a boost? Sign up for EasyBib Plus or scan a paper right now for a free spell check—it’s easy!Just upload or copy and paste your paper to the online grammar check tool and, in a matter of seconds, you’ll be able to receive up to 5 feedback cards so you can begin polishing your draft.

To learn more about proofreading tools, you can find more info here. Or, for more tips on grammar, punctuation, and style, check out this useful reference .

Why is Grammar So Important, Anyway?

Why is grammar important? As long as others know what you mean, does it really matter if you use proper grammar? These are age-old questions, but the answers remain unchanged. Grammar is important for many reasons:

Communication:  Communication is about more than merely listening and talking. We communicate in myriad ways: with our voices, our mannerisms, our facial expressions, our actions, and frequently, our written words. Written communication is just as important as all the other ways we broadcast our thoughts and feelings. Unlike our other communication methods, though, written communication leaves a record. While most of us relax our style when talking to or texting friends, the fact remains that more formal venues require a more formal tone. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are a necessary element of professional and academic writing, so running your work through a spelling and grammar check before you submit it is an absolute must.

Clarity:  Expressing your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is an uphill battle when you communicate them with less-than-stellar punctuation, spelling, and grammar. A missing or misplaced comma, for example, can entirely change your meaning:

• Call me Ishmael = My name is Ishmael.
• Call me, Ishmael = I want Ishmael to call me.

Spelling errors can result in similarly muddled meaning:

• Her shoes perfectly complemented her dress. = Her shoes and dress go well together.
• Her shoes perfectly complimented her dress. = Her shoes can both speak and engage in flattery.

Grammar deficiencies such as a dangling modifier yield similarly confusing results:

• I saw the girl’s purple backpack in the library. = The purple backpack belonging to the girl is in the library; I saw it.
• I saw the purple girl’s backpack in the library. = You know the girl who mysteriously turned purple? I saw her backpack in the library. This week has not been easy on her.

Credibility: Establishing your credibility is critical whether you’re writing for school or business. Proving that you can reliably communicate using proper grammar is essential to establishing and maintaining the trust of your teachers, professors, readers, customers, and colleagues.

To learn even more about the importance of English grammar in writing, check here .

What Happens After I Upload My Paper?

Once you upload a paper, the EasyBib Plus grammar checker scans your text and highlights grammar issues within your document so you can see it in context. For users running a grammar check and spell check using the grammar check free tool, up to the first 5 issues are shown. For subscription subscribers, all of the areas that require your review will be highlighted once the scan is complete.

No matter which version of the tool you’re using, your feedback will include detailed explanations so you can understand why the text was flagged. Other highlighted areas will include examples of how the issues can be fixed. Some will include a detailed explanation as to why the issue was flagged. This personalized feedback allows you to make an educated decision about whether to edit your text or dismiss the suggestion, so you’re always in control of your final draft.

Subscription users also have the plagiarism checker at their disposal when scanning their papers for style and grammar suggestions. Just as with our other writing tools, when you use the tool to check plagiarism, changes are never made without your review, so you are always in the driver’s seat. You can review each highlighted area as well as the sources of matching text and will always be given a choice to either accept or ignore both citation and grammar suggestions.

Whether you are a student or a professional, the EasyBib Plus tools are powerful allies that can help you improve your paper, establish credibility as a writer, and maintain an ethical writing process.

Try our checker free for 3 days to see what you think*. Trust us; you’ll wonder how you got along so far without it!

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Check for Unintentional Plagiarism

Persistent use of the best grammar checker and spell checker you can find will help to shape up the style and substance of your composition. However, to ensure the integrity of your work and root out unintentional instances of academic dishonesty, you’ll also need to incorporate a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker for students.

The ability to scan your paper and check plagiarism and grammar before submitting your work is an invaluable tool for students. It’s so valuable, in fact, that students are not the only ones who consistently use this type of software.

Many teachers and professors use a service to ensure that student papers are original and include properly formatted and sourced citations for all reference materials. For some, this may be a consistent element of their grading process, while others may utilize one only when they feel there is a reason to do so.

What Exactly Does a Plagiarism Checker Do?

If you’ve used an online plagiarism checker before, you may be familiar with the process that these tools employ. For those who have never used one, it can be helpful to understand how these tools work and what you should expect as a result of using one.

The most basic free tools will scan your paper and provide you with a percentage that indicates how much of your work is original. This feature can be useful to a point, as some instructors and institutions set a percentage for the amount of similar text that is considered acceptable. This policy does not mean that they are lenient about academic dishonesty but, instead, that they recognize that similar or even matching word choice is not always an indicator of copying.

However, some schools do not tolerate any form of incremental plagiarism, period. In these institutions, “check paper for plagiarism” is likely a standard action when grading all papers.

With a free plagiarism checker, the percentage of word-for-word plagiarism in your text may be the only feedback you receive. Moreover, some of these providers may wade in unethical waters, and offer essay writing services in conjunction with their checking services. This is why many students and teachers prefer subscription-based checkers that focus on integrity, such as the EasyBib writing tools.

With our premium tools, you get more than just supporting proof that your paper is original and in your own words. Your writing is scanned for potentially matching text and areas that needs your attention is highlighted. We’ll provide you with the source of the matching text so you can review it and decide how to proceed. If you agree that a citation is needed, our citation tools and resources will provide you with the information you need to help format and insert the new sources in your text as well as your works cited page.

How Does the EasyBib Plus Online Plagiarism Checker Work?

The EasyBib Plus writing tool provides an all-in-one spell check, grammar review, and plagiarism checker that not only helps you with the paper you’re writing now but enables you to gain new knowledge and improve your writing for the future, too.

Our essay checker searches online for phrases, sentences, or passages that are similar to those in your paper. If it returns matching text, this may indicate that you have passages that are missing citations.

Just as with many checkers, our tool will tell you how many instances of matching text it finds in your paper. Our plagiarism tool is designed to do more than most free tools, however.

When a portion of your paper is flagged for review, we provide you with the source that it matches. As with our online spell check tool, you have the power to review each area and choose how to proceed. If you decide to cite the flagged text, you can review the suggested source and access our citation tools to help create a proper citation and start building a bibliography for your paper. Or, you may determine that no citation is needed, in which case it’s simple to dismiss the suggestion and continue to the next section.

If you’re unsure about how to proceed, our library of resources can help you learn more and make an educated decision. In this way, you gain more than just the ability to correct your work; over time, you can learn how to avoid plagiarism altogether.

Reasons Your Teacher May Run Your Paper Through a Plagiarism Detector

As stated previously, your teachers and professors grade papers with a fixed process that includes “check paper for plagiarism” as a standard, across-the-board action. Others may check for plagiarism only when they feel there is cause to do so. There are a few red flags that may stand out to them while reviewing a paper that would lead to their running a plagiarism check, including:

Style/Voice:  Most teachers are familiar with the style and voice that you use in your writing. While most will hope that the feedback they provide when grading your work will help you to improve problem areas over time, a paper or essay that has a dramatically different style or voice than the work you’ve previously submitted can be a red flag.

Inconsistency:  Changes in the font, font size, formality, formatting, and more may indicate that portions of a paper have been copied and pasted. If these inconsistent passages are not presented as quotations or don’t include citations, this may further indicate to your teacher that there’s plagiarism in the paper.

Old References:  Part of a well-researched paper is verifying the legitimacy and relevance of your sources. While some older references may be acceptable depending on the topic, if all of your sources are outdated, it may lead your teacher to believe that you’ve recycled your own work or someone else’s.

Looking for a checker to try? With EasyBib Plus you get unlimited checks to give you peace of mind when turning in your papers!

What is Plagiarism?

If you’re looking for a free online plagiarism checker , you’re already aware that it’s not something you want to be found in your papers. However, you may still be wondering: what does plagiarism mean? It’s a reasonable question and one that merits exploring. After all, some of the actions and circumstances that fall within the plagiarism definition come as a surprise to those who only learn that they’ve committed them after it’s too late.

So what is plagiarism? To define plagiarism in the most basic sense, you might say that it is taking someone else’s ideas and words and passing them off as your own.

If your goal is avoiding plagiarism entirely, you’ll need to go beyond the basics to thoroughly define plagiarism, recognize it, and keep clear of it. Some examples of plagiarism that students find surprising include forgotten citations, poor paraphrasing, and re-submitting your own work in whole or in part for more than one assignment. This useful article provides more help in recognizing and understanding the different forms that academic dishonesty can take.

Of course, using your own words and ideas does not count as plagiarism, nor does using common knowledge . Basically, common knowledge is information that is well known by the average person. Examples of common knowledge:

• there are 12 months in a year
• the freezing point of Celsius is zero degrees
• Socrates was a Greek philosopher

So should you only include your original thoughts and common knowledge in your papers? Of course not! Research-based assignments are meant to demonstrate your skills as a researcher, after all, as well as your ability to build upon the work of others to formulate new ideas. To avoid accidentally committing an act that falls within the plagiarism definition when you’re using another person’s words or ideas, though, you need to give them proper credit. This means you’ll need to clearly identify direct quotations or properly paraphrase them when including them in your paper.

Regardless of your approach, you’ll also need to cite your sources according to the style your professor specifies. Generally, you will use MLA format for the arts and humanities and APA format for the sciences, but it’s always best to check with your instructor when you’re unsure.

If you know what style to use but still aren’t sure how to create your citations, don’t fret! Our library of resources includes free guides to help you learn about various styles so you can properly structure and place them. And our premium tools not only help you check grammar, spelling, and originality in your papers, but subscribers also enjoy access to our citation creation tools!

What are the Different Types of Plagiarism?

In addition to the question “what is plagiarism,” you may also be wondering, “why do students plagiarize?” While some students do intentionally plagiarize because they believe they can pass off someone else’s work as their own to avoid spending time on their assignments, many others do so accidentally. They may not understand how broad the plagiarism definition is or they haven’t learned how to research and cite their sources properly. That is why it is vital to recognize plagiarism in all of its forms if you wish to ensure the integrity of your work.

Examples of plagiarism & How to prevent it

Direct plagiarism:

Intentionally copying another person’s work without including a citation that gives credit to the source. When most students are asked to identify potential plagiarism examples and behaviors, this direct and deliberate act is what they think of first.

• Prevention: If you use an idea or quote from another source, cite it in the text. Make it clear that it was not your own words. 

Incremental plagiarism:

Copying parts of another person’s work, such as phrases, sentences, or paragraphs without crediting the source. When deciding which tools to use to check a paper for plagiarism , instructors often seek out those that will identify incremental forms as well as instances of direct copying and similar phrasing.

• Prevention : Decide to either directly quote the phrases or sentences you want to use, or write a good paraphrase. In both cases, be sure to add a citation. Using a plagiarism checker could also help you identify problematic passages.

Self-plagiarism:

Academic self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits the same paper or parts of a paper for more than one assignment. When your instructors are grading your papers, they’re assessing your research and writing skills in the present. When you submit work that you completed in the past, they are both unable to evaluate your current skills and unaware that you haven’t completed the assignment.

• Prevention: Write a new paper for each assignment you’re assigned. If you feel strongly that your past work could enhance your new paper, speak to your instructor and ask for permission first.

Misleading citations:

Including a citation for a quote or idea that misrepresents the source material. This can occur if a student does not understand the reference they are citing; if a student includes a citation for a disreputable source; or the source material simply does not align with the idea or argument that the student has attributed to it.

• Prevention: Carefully review your assignment to understand it. As you research, take the time to evaluate each source notes . Remember, it’s better to have quality citations over an abundance of citations.

Invented sources:

If a reference in a student’s bibliography is found not to exist, it is considered an invented source. This may occur if a student couldn’t find a reputable source to back their argument, or if they needed to include additional references to meet the requirements of the assignment and chose to take an unethical shortcut rather than completing the required amount of research. No matter the reason, this behavior ultimately hurts them in the long run. Not only will they fail to gain the experience they need to conduct research in the future properly, but they’ll also experience significant consequences if they’re caught.

• Prevention: Set aside time to do proper research so you can find enough sources. Start creating a list of sources as you’re researching and take good notes. This will help you keep track of your sources so none are forgotten. If you do end up forgetting where a quote came from, a paper checker could help you pinpoint the original source. 

Patchwriting/Spinning:

Patchwriting is often confused with paraphrasing, but there’s a significant difference. When you paraphrase, you demonstrate that you understand the topic well enough to restate it in your own words. When you patchwrite or spin, it is more akin to a word-swapping game; there’s no need to understand the subject, merely to have access to a thesaurus so you can substitute enough synonyms to mask the source material. This can be intentional, but it may also be a result of having a poor understanding of how to paraphrase.

• Prevention: Using your own words, write down the key points of the phrase or idea, and put them together in a sentence. Be sure to include a citation as well. 

A good way to test if you’re patchwriting or paraphrasing is to remove your sources from view. If you can write about what you’ve read without looking at the source material, you likely understand it well enough to paraphrase it. If you have to review the source material with each new sentence or consult a thesaurus while writing about it (except when you’re adding direct quotations), you may be spinning your sources instead of paraphrasing them.

Academic Integrity Policies and Statements

If you’re still uncertain about what counts as plagiarism, look for your school’s/ organization’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism. The policies of academic institutions usually cover what is considered plagiarism, the consequences of committing it, and how to avoid it. One great example is Purdue University’s Academic Integrity statement .

What are the Consequences of Plagiarism?

No matter the setting, plagiarism is not taken lightly, and the consequences can be significant. For a good reason, too! Whether in an academic or professional setting, the plagiarism consequences reflect the seriousness of the act, which is ultimately a form of theft that hurts everyone involved.

Just as with the theft of a tangible object, there can be legal punishments for plagiarism. It is, after all, a form of copyright infringement in many instances. A quick search for plagiarism articles will reveal that professional instances of intellectual theft have resulted in civil lawsuits and can even be criminally prosecuted under rare circumstances. In addition to the possible legal consequences, professionals may lose their jobs or have to start over in a new field after their acts of fraud are uncovered.

As a student, you’re likely to wonder what happens if you plagiarize in college or high school. While there will almost always be consequences for this behavior, there is no one-size-fits-all plagiarism sentence. Depending on the circumstances, academic dishonesty could result in outcomes such as:

• You might get a zero for the assignment in which the infringement occurred.
• You may receive a failing grade for the class. If it is a required course, this could leave you without enough credits to move on to the next level until you can repeat it and, in some instances, postpone graduation.
• You may be expelled from your school or university.

The academic dishonesty may be noted on your transcript, which can lead to you not getting into your preferred college, graduate school, or Ph.D. program in the future.

Nobody wants to be known as a fraud or to have a reputation for dishonesty follow them through their career. And, given the consequences that can extend beyond just their reputation, it’s no wonder that professional and academic writers who wish to avoid them take the time to understand the complete definition of plagiarism and run their work through a plagiarism checker before sending it out into the world.

Even the vigilant can fall prey to inferior tools, unfortunately. Before selecting a plagiarism checker, you should understand how they work and what they can (and cannot) detect.

How We Check for Plagiarism

When exploring how to check for plagiarism, most students and professionals conclude that including a checking tool in their revision process is not only helpful but necessary. When you consider the Herculean task of checking each line of your paper against the text of each of your resources, the benefits of a checker are clear. Moreover, this manual approach would only alert you to matching text in the sources you’re aware of, after all, and leaves the sources you haven’t reviewed untouched.

But, hang on. Why would sources you haven’t reviewed factor into your review? The answer to this lies in the plagiarism definition you learned above. What is plagiarism? It’s presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, intentionally or otherwise. It is not uncommon to uncover an idea while you’re researching a topic and later misremember it as your own. This might even occur years after you originally came across it.

You might wonder: how can plagiarism be avoided if you have to account for the source of every thought you include in your work? A few exceptions minimize the scope of this. Common knowledge about your topic does not need to be supported by a citation, nor does knowledge that you gained through your personal experience. Using a subscription-based or free plagiarism checker will help you locate any passages that may fall into these categories so you can review them and decide for yourself whether a citation is needed.

EasyBib Plus writing tools provide easy, convenient, and reliable support to help you find potentially missed citations and can help you improve your paper into a high-quality paper with integrity. Simply upload your paper, select the checker, then sit back and relax as the site scans your document. In mere moments, we’ll search the web for passages of similar text and highlight duplicate content for your review.

Regardless of the tools you use to help you revise and polish your work, it’s ultimately your responsibility to ensure that you’re writing and submitting ethical work. That’s why our tools go beyond the basics and require your participation. The tool never automatically makes changes to your paper, but only flags sections that may need your attention and provides you with the matching source so you can to make an educated decision.

If you find that a citation is needed, our citation tools can help you create properly formatted citations and develop a complete bibliography. And, if you review the passage and determine that the match is coincidental, you can dismiss the alert and move on to the next.

Seamless Citation Creation

Professional writers and students alike can find creating citations incredibly confusing. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of a well-written and researched paper and a requirement in almost all academic settings. But, have you ever wondered why they are so important? Citations really do have a purpose—other than driving us crazy— that make it necessary always to cite our sources.

We cite our sources for a few important reasons:

We need to give credit where credit is due. When you use a quote from someone else’s work, you need to give credit for using their words and ideas. Research is often based on the works and ideas of others. However, to include the words and ideas of another without giving them proper credit is to plagiarize, even if the act was unintentional.

In addition, showing that you’ve done proper research by including in text & parenthetical citations and a comprehensive list of sources to back up your arguments gives your work a layer of credibility that can help you earn the trust of your reader or teacher.

Readers can find the sources you used.  When you’re writing high school or undergraduate papers, your only readers may be your instructors and peers. However, including citations at every level of writing helps to ensure that anyone who reads your work can access your sources to check their accuracy, learn more about your topic, and further their own research.

Sources can take your research and learning to the next level, too. When you are conducting research on a topic, checking the works cited or annotated bibliographies prepared by your sources can lead you down new avenues in your research to further develop your ideas and help you write your papers.

Correctly utilizing citations gives strength to your thoughts and opinions. Understanding the value of citations does not, unfortunately, make them any easier to create. We know how confusing it can be, but don’t throw in the towel on learning how to cite websites in MLA , create your APA citation website references, or format your works cited —this is where we come in!

While a free online plagiarism detector may tell you how much of your work is unoriginal and may even identify the passages that meet their plagiarize definition, a premium EasyBib Plus plagiarism checker account also gives you access to our powerful citation resources and generator so you can:

Scan your papers with the plagiarism tool to check for plagiarism-free work before you submit.

Review flagged passages to determine if they meet the plagiarism definition and create unlimited citations in APA format and MLA format for anything fitting the plagiarism meaning. Need more styles ? Check out our regular citation generator for thousands of choices and free resources to help you learn how to create an APA parenthetical citation , APA book citation , APA works cited , and so much more!

Build a full bibliography for your paper right along with your parenthetical or in-text citations, which can save you hours of work along the way compared to manually creating and formatting them.

How Else Do We Help You Improve Your Paper?

The EasyBib Plus plagiarism detector helps you check your content or paper for text that may be missing a citation—which may fall within the definition of plagiarism—to help ensure you don’t accidentally plagiarize. It also includes grammar check and spelling check tools to help identify errors and suggest grammatical tweaks that could help to elevate the level of your writing.

Running a plagiarism check couldn’t be easier! Just upload your paper to the online proofreader, and in a few moments we’ll have your writing and citing suggestions. And, there’s no need to worry about your paper after it’s been scanned.

Run a Grammar and Spell Check for Free!

There’s no denying that your schoolwork can be challenging at times, and your assignments can lead to some late nights even when you’ve started them early. The last thing you want is to submit assignments that don’t reflect your best effort, but it can occasionally be quite the juggling act to get everything done on time.

Why not let our plagiarism checker free up space on your calendar by helping you revise your papers quickly and efficiently? The EasyBib Plus paper checker is your one-stop shop to check for plagiarism, create citations, spot spelling mistakes, and receive feedback on your grammar and style.

When you proofread and do a manual spelling check on work that you’ve written, you’re more likely to overlook mistakes. This is even more likely if you’re pressed for time or trying to complete several different assignments at once. There are tricks to help minimize this, such as reading your work aloud to identify poor grammar or reading each sentence backward to find spelling errors. When time is of the essence, though, these solutions aren’t the most convenient or useful options. That’s why many students seek the assistance of online tools that will run a grammar and plagiarism check on their work.

Are you asking yourself, “ How do I check my grammar online ?” We’ve got the perfect checker for you! Our advanced tools help you find and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Our targeted feedback and free writing and citing resources help you learn as you go to improve your writing over time.

The best part? You can use our grammar and writing tools any time of the day, any day of the year for! Looking to try it? Just upload or copy and paste your text into our online proofreader for a free grammar check with up to 5 suggestions, or sign up for EasyBib Plus today! EasyBib Plus gives you use of the plagiarism checker and unlimited access to suggestions that can help improve your spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, writing style, and grammar.

Published February 3, 2019. Updated April 9, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Melissa DeVrieze Meyer . Michele is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib. You can find her here on Twitter. Melissa is a professional writer and editor based in New Jersey. She writes for academic brands and independent publishers about writing, grammar, and literature, and creates study and curriculum materials for ESL learners. You can find her on Twitter .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

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Guest Essay

What Sentencing Could Look Like if Trump Is Found Guilty

By Norman L. Eisen

Mr. Eisen is the author of “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial.”

For all the attention to and debate over the unfolding trial of Donald Trump in Manhattan, there has been surprisingly little of it paid to a key element: its possible outcome and, specifically, the prospect that a former and potentially future president could be sentenced to prison time.

The case — brought by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, against Mr. Trump — represents the first time in our nation’s history that a former president is a defendant in a criminal trial. As such, it has generated lots of debate about the case’s legal strength and integrity, as well as its potential impact on Mr. Trump’s efforts to win back the White House.

A review of thousands of cases in New York that charged the same felony suggests something striking: If Mr. Trump is found guilty, incarceration is an actual possibility. It’s not certain, of course, but it is plausible.

Jury selection has begun, and it’s not too soon to talk about what the possibility of a sentence, including a prison sentence, would look like for Mr. Trump, for the election and for the country — including what would happen if he is re-elected.

The case focuses on alleged interference in the 2016 election, which consisted of a hush-money payment Michael Cohen, the former president’s fixer at the time, made in 2016 to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg is arguing that the cover-up cheated voters of the chance to fully assess Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

This may be the first criminal trial of a former president in American history, but if convicted, Mr. Trump’s fate is likely to be determined by the same core factors that guide the sentencing of every criminal defendant in New York State Court.

Comparable cases. The first factor is the base line against which judges measure all sentences: how other defendants have been treated for similar offenses. My research encompassed almost 10,000 cases of felony falsifying business records that have been prosecuted across the state of New York since 2015. Over a similar period, the Manhattan D.A. has charged over 400 of these cases . In roughly the first year of Mr. Bragg’s tenure, his team alone filed 166 felony counts for falsifying business records against 34 people or companies.

Contrary to claims that there will be no sentence of incarceration for falsifying business records, when a felony conviction involves serious misconduct, defendants can be sentenced to some prison time. My analysis of the most recent data indicates that approximately one in 10 cases in which the most serious charge at arraignment is falsifying business records in the first degree and in which the court ultimately imposes a sentence, results in a term of imprisonment.

To be clear, these cases generally differ from Mr. Trump’s case in one important respect: They typically involve additional charges besides just falsifying records. That clearly complicates what we might expect if Mr. Trump is convicted.

Nevertheless, there are many previous cases involving falsifying business records along with other charges where the conduct was less serious than is alleged against Mr. Trump and prison time was imposed. For instance, Richard Luthmann was accused of attempting to deceive voters — in his case, impersonating New York political figures on social media in an attempt to influence campaigns. He pleaded guilty to three counts of falsifying business records in the first degree (as well as to other charges). He received a sentence of incarceration on the felony falsification counts (although the sentence was not solely attributable to the plea).

A defendant in another case was accused of stealing in excess of $50,000 from her employer and, like in this case, falsifying one or more invoices as part of the scheme. She was indicted on a single grand larceny charge and ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony count of business record falsification for a false invoice of just under $10,000. She received 364 days in prison.

To be sure, for a typical first-time offender charged only with run-of-the-mill business record falsification, a prison sentence would be unlikely. On the other hand, Mr. Trump is being prosecuted for 34 counts of conduct that might have changed the course of American history.

Seriousness of the crime. Mr. Bragg alleges that Mr. Trump concealed critical information from voters (paying hush money to suppress an extramarital relationship) that could have harmed his campaign, particularly if it came to light after the revelation of another scandal — the “Access Hollywood” tape . If proved, that could be seen not just as unfortunate personal judgment but also, as Justice Juan Merchan has described it, an attempt “to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.”

History and character. To date, Mr. Trump has been unrepentant about the events alleged in this case. There is every reason to believe that will not change even if he is convicted, and lack of remorse is a negative at sentencing. Justice Merchan’s evaluation of Mr. Trump’s history and character may also be informed by the other judgments against him, including Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling that Mr. Trump engaged in repeated and persistent business fraud, a jury finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll and a related defamation verdict by a second jury.

Justice Merchan may also weigh the fact that Mr. Trump has been repeatedly held in contempt , warned , fined and gagged by state and federal judges. That includes for statements he made that exposed witnesses, individuals in the judicial system and their families to danger. More recently, Mr. Trump made personal attacks on Justice Merchan’s daughter, resulting in an extension of the gag order in the case. He now stands accused of violating it again by commenting on witnesses.

What this all suggests is that a term of imprisonment for Mr. Trump, while far from certain for a former president, is not off the table. If he receives a sentence of incarceration, perhaps the likeliest term is six months, although he could face up to four years, particularly if Mr. Trump chooses to testify, as he said he intends to do , and the judge believes he lied on the stand . Probation is also available, as are more flexible approaches like a sentence of spending every weekend in jail for a year.

We will probably know what the judge will do within 30 to 60 days of the end of the trial, which could run into mid-June. If there is a conviction, that would mean a late summer or early fall sentencing.

Justice Merchan would have to wrestle in the middle of an election year with the potential impact of sentencing a former president and current candidate.

If Mr. Trump is sentenced to a period of incarceration, the reaction of the American public will probably be as polarized as our divided electorate itself. Yet as some polls suggest — with the caveat that we should always be cautious of polls early in the race posing hypothetical questions — many key swing state voters said they would not vote for a felon.

If Mr. Trump is convicted and then loses the presidential election, he will probably be granted bail, pending an appeal, which will take about a year. That means if any appeals are unsuccessful, he will most likely have to serve any sentence starting sometime next year. He will be sequestered with his Secret Service protection; if it is less than a year, probably in Rikers Island. His protective detail will probably be his main company, since Mr. Trump will surely be isolated from other inmates for his safety.

If Mr. Trump wins the presidential election, he can’t pardon himself because it is a state case. He will be likely to order the Justice Department to challenge his sentence, and department opinions have concluded that a sitting president could not be imprisoned, since that would prevent the president from fulfilling the constitutional duties of the office. The courts have never had to address the question, but they could well agree with the Justice Department.

So if Mr. Trump is convicted and sentenced to a period of incarceration, its ultimate significance is probably this: When the American people go to the polls in November, they will be voting on whether Mr. Trump should be held accountable for his original election interference.

What questions do you have about Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial so far?

Please submit them below. Our trial experts will respond to a selection of readers in a future piece.

Norman L. Eisen investigated the 2016 voter deception allegations as counsel for the first impeachment and trial of Donald Trump and is the author of “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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