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How should you write it: United States, U.S., or US?

Question .

When to use "US" and when to use "U.S."?  – Mianxiu, China

This is an excellent question and a hard one to answer, because the rules are changing all the time. You will see examples of this abbreviation written both ways, with periods (U.S.), and without (US). To make matters worse, some well-respected style guides recommend the first style, and others prefer the second. Finally, the choice partly depends on whether U.S. is functioning as a noun or as an adjective. 

Here is my advice:

1. In formal writing, spell out the two words as “United States,” as in the example below. This is always appropriate. 

• The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is charged with representing the United States during meetings of the General Assembly. 

2. In informal writing, when the abbreviation is functioning as an adjective (as in, “U.S. Senator”), there seems to be a slight preference among native speakers and editors for the abbreviation with periods (U.S.), as shown below, so I recommend using that style.  

• The U.S. Supreme Court decides only a small number of cases each year. 

3. In casual writing, when United States is functioning as a noun (as in, “We are traveling to the U.S.”), it’s a matter of personal preference. You can either spell out United States or abbreviate it, with periods or without. In other words, all three of the examples below are correct, and you can choose the style that you like best. Just be consistent. 

• The United States has more pet dogs than any other country in the world. 
• The U.S. has more pet dogs than any other country in the world. 
• The US has more pet dogs than any other country in the world. 

I hope this helps. 

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'the USA' vs. 'the US'

I am writing an essay where I need to make a reference to the United States of America. Often I hear this shortened to the US , but sometimes people also say the USA . Are there any difference between the use of the two? Is one more formal or correct than the other?

As a random example of what I want to write is Is the US the most beautiful country in the world?

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• 13 I think if you are writing an essay you should rather use "United States" or "United States of America" rather than abbreviating. –  major-mann Commented Mar 21, 2014 at 20:40
• I suspect that if you scanned this board you would find that "US" (without periods) is by far the most common representation. But, of course, most writing here is somewhat informal. –  Hot Licks Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 22:51

5 Answers 5

Here is an interesting discussion of US versus U.S. versus USA versus U.S.A. from Wikipedia: Manual of Style :

In American and Canadian English, U.S. (with periods) is the dominant abbreviation for United States . US (without periods) is more common in most other national forms of English. Some major American guides to style, such as The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.), now deprecate U.S. and prefer US . Use of periods for abbreviations and acronyms should be consistent within any given article, and congruent with the variety of English used by that article. In longer abbreviations (three letters or more) incorporating the country's initials ( USN , USAF ), do not use periods. When the United States is mentioned with one or more other countries in the same sentence, U.S. or US may be too informal, especially at the first mention or as a noun instead of an adjective ( France and the United States , not France and the U.S. ). Do not use the spaced U. S. , nor the archaic U.S. of A. , except when quoting. Do not use U.S.A. or USA , except in a quotation or as part of a proper name ( Team USA ), as these abbreviations are also used for United States Army and other names.

The Chicago Manual of Style , 15th Edition (2003) comes out strongly in favor of spelling out United States (rather than abbreviating it) when the term is used as a noun and not an adjective:

15.34 "U.S." or "US." Except in scientific style, U.S. traditionally appears with periods. Periods may nonetheless be omitted in most contexts, Writers and editors need to weight tradition against consistency. In running text, the abbreviation (in either form) is permissible when used as an adjective, but United States as a noun should be spelled out.

Words Into Type , Third Edition (1974) takes an even stronger anti-abbreviation position:

In the most formal writing, United States should always be spelled out; in other works U.S. is gaining currency as an adjective when preceding a government agency, department or organization or the name of a government vessel. [Examples omitted.] When used as an adjective with general terms, United States should be spelled out. [Examples omitted.]

Both Chicago and Words Into Type have so little regard for USA that they don't even mention it as an option in their discussions of abbreviations for countries.

The Associated Press Stylebook (2006), however, accepts both U.S. and USA as nouns, and seemingly views them as equally valid designations:

U.S. The abbreviation is acceptable as a noun or adjective for Unites States . USA No periods in the abbreviated form for United States of America.

Nevertheless, I have never seen a style guide that approved of using USA as an adjective.

Update (June 23, 2017): More on 'U.S.' vs. 'US'

Having belatedly acquired the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (2010), I should note that it has substantially altered its views on the use of U.S. versus US from what they were seven years earlier (see above). The updated advice appears in three sections:

10.4 Periods with abbreviations . ... Use no periods with abbreviations that appear in full capitals, whether two letters or more and even if lowercase letters appear within the abbreviation: VP, CEO, MA, MD, PhD, UK, US, NY, IL ( but see rule 4 ). In publications using traditional state abbreviations, use periods to abbreviate United States and its states and territories: U.S., N.Y., Ill. Note however, that Chicago recommends using the two-letter postal codes (and therefore US) wherever abbreviations are used; see 10.28. ... 10.28 US states and territories . In running text, the names of states, territories and possessions of the United States should always be spelled out when standing alone and preferably (except for DC) when following the name of a city: [example omitted]. In bibliographies, tabular matter, lists, and mailing addresses, they are usually abbreviated. In all such contexts, Chicago prefers the two-letter postal codes to the conventional abbreviations. ... 10.33 "US" versus United States . In running text, spell out United States as a noun; reserve US for the adjective form only (in which position the abbreviation is generally preferred.) See also 10.4.

So the current guideline seems to advocate using U.S. if you use "traditional" state abbreviations (like N.Y. and Ill. ) but to use US if you use postal-code-style abbreviations (like NY and IL )—which Chicago now prefers. But there's no telling what the 17th edition will recommend when it appears in the next year or two. Recently a publisher at which I regularly do freelance editing switched to using US in running text whether the term is functioning as an adjective or as a noun.

• Good answer. But I hate it. It speaks a very sad truth that I don't want to deal with. –  uSeRnAmEhAhAhAhAhA Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 2:52
• @Spike: What sad truth? –  3Doubloons Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 4:02
• We like to think that we're smart, but we can't really decide on whether or not to use a period or two. Throughout School they teach us to use periods in between U.S, for example, and give us low marks if we forget. But in recent years I've noticed more and more people not using periods at all, and not even bothering to capitalize abbreviations, and even failing to use punctuation. There's a reason they were used in the first place, why can't we just stick to it? It made sense then, and nothing has really changed, so why doesn't it still make sense? –  uSeRnAmEhAhAhAhAhA Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 4:57
• 5 @deletethisaccount Well, the reality is that language has fashion just as clothes do - how one writes, how dots and slashes are used, is inextricably tied to our life experience and the time in which we live and were raised. Your preference to do as you were taught in school, for instance, is a good example of this. Fashion is not set in time, and what was judged as refined in clothing might now be seen as worn, tired, or unnecessarily formal and thus out of place. Sadness is the result when we try to treat something impermanent as though it were eternal. It helps to think: it's just a dot... –  BrianH Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 14:42
• Indeed, @BrianDHall. Most punctuation, a great deal of spelling, and most of what was traditionally taught in schools as grammar, are all fashion. –  Colin Fine Commented May 12, 2016 at 22:53

I would claim that the term "U.S." is far more common than "U.S.A.", and is in fact how the U.S. Government refers to itself.

The U.S. Department of State ( http://www.state.gov/ )

The U.S. Department of the Treasury ( http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx )

The U.S. Department of Commerce ( http://www.commerce.gov/ )

The U.S. Department of Defense ( http://www.defense.gov/ )

That the President is referred to as the President of the United States (POTUS) not "POTUSA" (which is apparently the name of a band). For an Atlantic article about the ascention of this anacronym to the everyday vocabulary of Washington and White House government workers and staff, see here: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97oct/wordimp.htm

The phrase "U.S." / "US" (in quotes) has 4,390,000,000 results on Google [21-3-2014], whereas "U.S.A." / "USA" has only 792,000,000 results [21-3-2014].

David M's commented that Mexico is also a "United States", but consider that Mexico is also a "United States in America".

All of this being the case, your audience matters. For example, if you're giving a talk in Venezuela or Cuba, you might err on the side of directly saying "United States of America" to avoid the implication that "the U.S. is important enough that just writing U.S. is a sufficient descriptor" (regardless of whether or not this is the case).

Finally, consider how it would sound to refer to "Russia" as the "Russian Federation" (+ Crimea?). If not technically correct, "Russia" is by far more common and well-understood term. That said, the U.S. does not have anything akin to Russia's history, and there are certain ethnic implications if someone is "Russian" though this is not necessarily so if someone is "American" or "from the U.S.".

Let me add one more thing: the term "USA" seems, at least to me, to have patriotic overtones. Consider the phrase "Made in the USA" (16 million hits on Google [21-3-2014]) or the U.S.A.! chant ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-S-A!_(chant) ). So this may be worth keeping in mind depending on your audience (I'd invite others to criticize this comment).

• It may be worth distinguishing between U.S./U.S.A. as a noun and as an adjective. According to Garner's Modern American Usage : "'U.S' is best reserved for use as an adjective {U.S. foreign policy}, although its use as a noun in headlines is common." I don't know if I agree with his advice (U.S. as a noun seems fairly natural to me) but the distinction is something that your relative frequencies wouldn't necessarily reveal, and POTUS is the only one of your examples where it's used as a noun. –  Curtis H. Commented Mar 21, 2014 at 17:10
• 1 @CurtisH. That's a good point. However, as you say, I think it's fairly natural to use the term "U.S." as a noun. There are a number of examples e.g. in today's Wall Street Journal. –  AM55 Commented Mar 21, 2014 at 17:13
• 1 Regarding talking to people in Venezuela, Cuba, or elsewhere in South/Latin America, I would actually say it's better to use "US". In most Spanish dialects it's called "los Estados Unidos" (the United States) and citizens of the US are called "estadounidense" (literally, United-Statesian). The use of "America" or "americano" are often offensive because it implies the US is the only part of the two American continents that matters. –  Oblivious Sage Commented Mar 21, 2014 at 21:14
• The Google search term "US" also returns results for the word "us" meaning "you and me" so I'm not sure that these results are correct. In Google search, placing the search term in quotes does not capture the letter case of the word. –  Davbog Commented Mar 15, 2019 at 19:51

I work as an editor on international journals, so am quite interested in this topic. I read that the full name of the country is "The United States of America" and that in 1777 the Articles of Confederation announced, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'". In Europe, we therefore usually employ the abbreviation USA, limiting US (which we understand to be an informal styling) to adjectives, e.g. US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Army, US dollar. The term US will always logically have more Google hits than USA simply because of this adjectival use, but those outside of the USA tend to use USA rather than just US when referring to the country. The journals I work for avoid using periods or stops between letters of abbreviations - deemed unnecessary.

• Very true. HERE in India, USA is used more formally and US is used mainly by Indians having relatives living in the USA! –  English Student Commented May 22, 2017 at 6:33

For most usage in English, the abbreviations are identical. The United States of America is the only country on either continent with "America" as the only distinctive proper part of its name, and certainly the only English-speaking country commonly called that.

Within a given work, however, it's far more important to be consistent than to be correct . The practice for legal documents is to parenthetically note the abbreviation or pronoun you use after its first instance, and then use such throughout. For a simple essay you can skip the notation of a common abbreviation, so long as it's not confusing.

The United States of America is made up of several states. Some of these, like Michigan (MI) and Mississippi (MS) have very similar abbreviations. It's not uncommon even for those familiar with the USA to be unsure if MI or MS is the one with Detroit or the one with Mardi Gras.

I know this old but I'm sure someone else could use the answer later. We are told ignorance of the law is no excuse by the same people trying to hide the facts and make it as difficult as possible for us to understand. This will help anyone who needs it.

There is a difference. The "United States" refers to the Federal government, whilst the "United States of America" refers to the 50 States of the Union.

The legal definition for the United States of America; " The United States of America are a corporation endowed with the capacity to sue and be sued, to convey and receive property ."

Courts have opined (3) legal meanings for the term "United States."

" The term "United States" may be used in any one of several senses. It may be merely the name of a sovereign occupying the position analogous to that of other sovereigns in the family of nations. It may designate the territory over which the sovereignty to the United States [672] extends, or it may be the collective name of the states which are united by and under the Constitution ."

None confirmed or legitimized by an act of Congress.

Furthermore, The United States of America is incorporated as 3 different Corporations. Twice in Delaware and once in Scotland.

The United States of America, Inc. and United States of America, Corp. are incorporated in Delaware.

The United States of America, Ltd. is a Limited Corp. incorporated in Scotland. The registration is held at White House #2 (sister White House) in Edinburgh. The country of origin for USA, ltd is U.K., which in my opinion confirms what I've suspected for a long time, we are still owned by Britain. (see original American flag "Grand Union Flag"). But that's a complicated story.

In short, wording is very important in regards to US law. Simple things like "are" or "is" can render an accepted perception of a meaning false. It's obvious Legislation intentionally creates vague and ambiguous terms to allow Courts headroom to conform the laws as needed, or rather desired (if law was all that mattered then legal meanings/definitions wouldn't vary by jurisdiction)

Some think the "United States" is a federal corporation, mainly because of Title 28 3002, which states, (15) United States means (A) a Federal corporation;

But that's specific only to that Chapter, not as an encompassing definition. The federal government has never been a federal corporation, plus the Supreme Court barred Congress from re-defining any terms used in the federal constitution anyway. But it should be amended for the unconstitutional nature as it stands now.

I know it seems overwhelming and complicated and if anyone rather just do simple I can't blame them. But if truth matters then the best way to research this (or similar) is by just starting with the knowledge of following facts;

There are (2) United States (US / USA), (2) Constitutions (the constitution / this Constitution), and (3) Presidential Offices (Office of President / President of the United States / President of the United States of America)

The actual "Office of President" has never been filled by anyone. The reason being, the Constitutional oaths are controlling factors of office.

Put simply, which oath 1 takes decides what office they fill. The oath taken by the 9th President, George Washington (only 1st under Constitutional scheme), was under Article II, (President of the United States), not (Office of President) which requires oath under Article VI. All Presidents have followed the same suit since.

That scheme against the people is why the Constitution was drafted in secret. (also why Washington was nervous taking oath) He knew he could likely be killed if caught. Patrick Henry's "I smell rat" was for good reason, yet he was ridiculed. But indeed he did. Same rat out of control today.

Whether anyone sees it or not, this info goes directly to the heart of the matter, the U.S. separated from U.S.A.. But once you dive in you'll see how quickly the pieces fall together and the dots start connecting.

You'll start to see the reason for all this trickery & deceit and what it basically comes down to. 1 giant ass tax & property theft scheme by the governments usurping of powers.

We're all just citizens subjected to a treasonous scheme and criminal trespass under guise & color of law.

America wasn't built, it merely spread. -Cairo Anubiss (American Composer)

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged word-usage formality abbreviations acronyms initialisms or ask your own question .

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What's the Preferred Way to Write the Abbreviation for United States?

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Even though the question of how to abbreviate the  United States seems straightforward, as it happens, there's more than one preferred way to write it. But before getting into that, let's get it out of the way first to note that if your usage of the country name is a noun, spell it out rather than abbreviating it. If it's an adjective, then how to do so becomes the question. (And obviously, if you're writing something formal, you'll want to follow the style guide to which you're assigned to adhere.)

Use Periods

In general, newspaper style guides  in the United States (in particular, the "Associated Press Stylebook" (AP) and "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage") recommend U.S. (periods, no space). The American Psychological Association (APA) "Publication Manual," which is used for writing academic papers, agrees about using the periods.

In headlines under AP style, however, it's "postal style" US (no periods). And the abbreviated form of United States of America is USA (no periods). 

Don't Use Periods—Sometimes

Scientific style guides say to omit periods in capitalized abbreviations; thus render them  US  and USA (no periods, no spaces). "The Chicago Manual of Style" (2017) agrees—but Chicago allows for exceptions:

" Use no periods with abbreviations that appear in full capitals, whether two letters or more and even if lowercase letters appear within the abbreviation: VP, CEO, MA, MD, PhD, UK, US, NY, IL (but see the next rule) . " In publications using traditional state abbreviations , use periods to abbreviate United States and its states and territories: U.S., N.Y., Ill. Note, however, that Chicago recommends using the two-letter postal codes (and therefore US ) wherever abbreviations are used."

So what to do? Choose either U.S. or US  for the piece you're writing and then stick with it, or follow the guidance that your instructor, publisher, or client prefers. As long as you're consistent in usage, neither way will look like an error.

Legal Citations in Bibliographies, Footnotes, Etc.

If you're using Chicago style and have legal-context citations in your bibliography, reference list, footnotes, or endnotes, you'll use periods, such as in Supreme Court decisions, statute numbering, and the like.

For example, when a law is incorporated into the United States Code, it has a U.S.C. designation, such as here, in this example note from Chicago: "Homeland Security Act of 2002, 6 U.S.C. § 101 (2012)." In the case of Supreme Court decisions, they're attributed to the "'United States Reports'   (abbreviated U.S.)," like in this note: " Citizens United , 558 U.S. at 322." Next, a note referencing the U.S. Constitution is abbreviated "U.S. Const."

British Style Guidance

Note that British style guides recommend US (no periods, no space) in all cases: "Do not use full points in abbreviations, or spaces between initials, including those in proper names : US, mph, eg, 4am, Ibw, M&S, No 10, AN Wilson, WH Smith, etc." ("Guardian Style," 2010). "Because American and British styles differ," notes Amy Einsohn, "'CBE' ["Scientific Style and Format: The CE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers"] recommends eliminating periods in most abbreviations as the most efficient way to create an international style" ("The Copyeditor's Handbook," 2007).

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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!

Access all the tools today!

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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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Where Do I Begin?

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Proofreading can be a difficult process, especially when you’re not sure where to start or what this process entails. Think of proofreading as a process of looking for any inconsistencies and grammatical errors as well as style and spelling issues. Below are a few general strategies that can help you get started.

General Strategies Before You Proofread

General strategies while you proofread, when you are done.

• Make sure that you leave plenty of time after you have finished your paper to walk away for a day or two, a week, or even 20 minutes. This will allow you to approach proofreading with fresh eyes.
• Print out a hard copy. Reading from a computer screen is not the most effective way to proofread. Having a hardcopy of your paper and a pen will help you.
• Have a list of what to look for. This will help you manage your time and not feel overwhelmed by proofreading. You can get this list from previous assignments where your instructor(s) noted common errors you make.
• Don’t rush . Many mistakes in writing occur because we rush. Read slowly and carefully to give your eyes enough time to spot errors.
• Read aloud to yourself. Reading a paper aloud encourages you to read each word and can help you notice small mistakes.
• Read aloud to a friend and have the friend give you oral feedback.
• Have a friend read your paper aloud while you don’t read along.
• Use the search in document function of the computer to look for common errors from your list.
• Read from the end. Read individual sentences one at a time starting from the end of the paper rather than the beginning. This forces you to pay attention to the sentence itself rather than to the ideas of the paper as a whole.
• Role-play. While reading, put yourself in your audience's shoes. Playing the role of the reader encourages you to see the paper as your audience might.
• Have a friend look at your paper after you have made all the corrections you identified. A new reader will be able to help you catch mistakes that you might have overlooked.
• Make an appointment with a Writing Lab tutor if you have any further questions or want someone to teach you more about proofreading.
• Ask your teacher to look at the areas you usually have trouble with to see if you have made any progress.

My husband and I try to spend as much time apart as possible. It makes us stronger.

• I took a trip to see my family without my husband; it felt great to be reunited with him afterward.
• We now spend as much time apart, traveling, watching TV, and hanging out with friends.
• Living some of our lives separately allows us to really cherish our time together.

My best friend is married to a pilot, so she spends almost half of her time apart from her husband.

I've observed that their marriage remains romantic despite this. She believes that the time apart is good for their relationship because it makes them miss one another and appreciate their time together .

After a recent trip home to visit family without my husband , I noticed how happy we were to be reunited.

Since then, I've been recreating time apart from each other as often as possible, and I now think it's the key to maintaining a healthy relationship with my husband and myself.

We continue to take solo trips

I'm from Miami, while my in-laws live in Tennessee. After seeing how nice it felt to travel alone and return to an affectionate husband, we decided to start visiting our respective families separately.

Related stories

This gives each of us a handful of trips every year where we are not only apart from one another but we have the opportunity to remember where we came from and who we are as individuals.

Because we work together, it's actually a challenge to stay apart

Since my husband and I work together, our situation is unique. Potentially, we could be together almost all of the time.

To avoid this, we take our own cars to work, so it still feels like we're independent beings from one another. Plus, we really only see each other in passing during the day, and I never eat lunch with him. Even at employee meetings , we do our best to sit separately within our respective departments.

We respect each other's time with friends

Many of my good friends still live in Miami, while my husband has several friends who live in nearby towns.

Every summer, we each take a few days away from home to stay with a friend. While we check on the dates with each other to make sure there are no scheduling conflicts , we also encourage each other to please take some time away.

It's nice to get a break from each other, either at home or at our friends' — where we can be different versions of ourselves.

I do a lot of my self-care away from the house

I like to take long walks, go to yoga classes occasionally, and treat myself to a monthly massage.

I used to feel guilty for using my personal time for myself instead of doing something with my husband, but now I recognize that I'm a better person when I take time to care for myself, which, in turn, makes me a better wife .

Even when we're both home, we have what we call 'alone nights'

My husband and I have dinner together almost every night, but we do not always spend our time before bed together.

We only make a point to cuddle up on the couch and watch one of our shows together once a week. I'm usually up in our room reading every other night, and he's downstairs watching one of his shows.

I like relaxing at night because it's essentially how we operated before we lived together. I get to remember who I was before I found him and how happy I am that I did. When we take our TV night together, I really enjoy it, because it feels special instead of just the norm.

Now, our time together is prioritized

By prioritizing time apart from one another, the time we do spend together feels more important. I am grateful for the times we spend together, and because of that, I can be more present.

The things we do together suddenly become more meaningful. We also make the point to spend our time together in a quality way, such as going on a mini vacation to the beach or planning a weekend date night .

When we aren't spending every moment of our lives together, I don't get used to my husband being around, and it helps me not to take him for granted. Making the point to spend time apart from my husband has been one of the best things we've done for our marriage . It feels like we remain two separate people who are choosing to be with one another.

Plus, when I'm on my own, I fill my own cup and rejuvenate myself so that I come into our relationship feeling whole rather than looking to my husband to complete me.

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Call for Applications: The 2024 Essay Competition on the topic “Digitalization of Armed Conflicts”

• Republic of Moldova
• Learning and teaching IHL
• New technologies and warfare
• Cyber and information operations

The International Committee of the Red Cross in the Republic of Moldova (ICRC) is proud to announce an essay competition on the theme Digitalization of Armed Conflicts . The competition seeks to spotlight that, applied in the spirit in which they were designed to protect and function, the Geneva Conventions can rise to the modern challenges of today’s armed conflicts.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, a moment of recommitment towards IHL. The Geneva Conventions were adopted in 1949 and are now universally ratified. They represent a universal acknowledgement that war needs rules to limit its devastating impact. In an often-divided world, when parties respect the law, lives are saved, humanitarian actors are enabled to provide aid to affected populations and the principle of humanity is upheld. 

At the same time, new challenges such as cyber warfare have become reality in contemporary armed conflicts. We, therefore, encourage students to approach the topic from various perspectives, such as: What are the ethical challenges of using cyber operations in warfare? How can technology be used responsibly in armed conflicts so as to ensure civilian safety? How can the global community work together to reduce the risks of cyber warfare? How does international humanitarian law protect humanitarian workers from cyber warfare? How can media reporting on military cyber operations help raise awareness about civilian risks during armed conflicts? These are examples, and participants are welcome to choose one of these questions or explore other related topics in their essays.

In today’s world, that is increasingly polarized and where international commitments are being challenged, the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law embody universal humanitarian values that preserve lives and dignity. What the world needs more than ever is a more robust adherence to the Geneva Conventions. This is where the students of today - the future generations of professionals - step in. We at the ICRC support the students in exploring, engaging and debating with the ethical and humanitarian issues arising from armed conflict so that they are able to play their role of re-affirming the enduring relevance of IHL, the deep-rooted respect for human dignity, both in peacetime and in the midst of armed conflict. Doris El Doueihy, Head of Delegation, ICRC, Chisinau

To participate, students must submit their essays along with a copy of their identification and proof of enrollment in a university programme (undergraduate or masters). These documents must be received by the ICRC Chisinau Delegation no later than 31 October 2024 at 23:59 . Submissions can be sent by email to [email protected] or by mail to Bulgara Str. 23, MD-2001, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. Participation in the competition is individual, collective work is not accepted. Essays can be written in Romanian, Russian or English. Winners will be informed in the last week of November 2024 and invited for an awards ceremony scheduled for early December.

The winning entries will be selected by a panel of IHL experts chosen by the ICRC. Participants will be assessed on their logical arguments, the depth to which they develop their answers, structure and demonstrated knowledge of the subject matter. 

The winners will be notified by the end of November 2024 and invited to an awards ceremony. 

The 1 st prize essay:  an internship at the ICRC in Chisinau ;

The 2 nd prize essay:  a day spent at the ICRC in Chisinau and attendance of an ICRC event on IHL ;

The 3 rd prize essay:  ICRC IHL publications

Certificates of participation will be provided for all submissions that are not disqualified.  

Useful links to sources on the topic of the competition:

ICRC Report,  Protecting Civilians Against Digital Threats During Armed Conflict , September 2023

Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog,  Foghorns of War: IHL and Information Operations During Armed Conflict , Tilman Rodenhauser and Samit D’Cunha, October 2023

Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog,  What We Don’t Understand About Digital Risks in Armed Conflict and What to Do About it , Rizk and Cordey, July 2023

ICRC Position Paper,  International Humanitarian Law and Cyber Operations during Armed Conflict , November 2019

Related articles

South Africa: 22nd Annual Regional Seminar on IHL

China: Annual International Humanitarian Law Summer Session Held in Jiangsu

International Humanitarian Law and China: Historical Timeline

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There are times when you just want to write without worrying about every grammar or spelling convention. The online proofreader immediately finds all of your errors. This allows you to concentrate on the bigger picture. You’ll be 100% confident that your writing won’t affect your grade.

What does a proofreader do?

The proofreading process is your last chance to catch any errors in your writing before you submit it. A proofreader makes sure your spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors are reviewed and fixed. This can be done automatically by an AI-powered tool like the one at the top of this page or by a real human. Both options have their advantages, so pick the one that suits you most.

Fix mistakes that slip under your radar

✔ Fix problems with commonly confused words, like affect vs. effect, which vs. that and who vs. that.

✔ Catch words that sound similar but aren’t, like their vs. they’re, your vs. you’re.

✔ Check your punctuation to avoid errors with dashes and hyphens, commas, apostrophes, and more.

✔ Avoid sentence fragments, subject-verb agreement errors, and problems with parallelism.

How does the proofreader work?

The online proofreader.

It’s really straightforward. Just paste the text into the tool. All your errors will now be underlined in red. You can hover over these mistakes to see how they can be addressed. If you agree, just click on the button “Fix all errors,” and your mistakes will be fixed instantly! 

The professional proofreader

Upload your entire document first. Choose the pages you want proofread, the extra services you want to use, and the deadline. Then fill in some key details like your field of study so that we can find you the best proofreader. When you’re done, you pay for your order, and we make sure that your writing is checked by a proofreader. You’ll be contacted when the job is done!

Who should use this proofreader?

Avoid a bad grade and hand in your documents with absolute confidence.

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Frequently asked questions

Our support team is here to help you daily via chat, WhatsApp, email, or phone between 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. CET.

Yes! Our personal statement editors can help you reduce your word count by up to 25%. You can choose to receive this feedback through direct edits or suggestions in comments – just select your choice when you upload your personal statement.

Our APA experts default to APA 7 for editing and formatting. For the Citation Editing Service you are able to choose between APA 6 and 7.

It is not necessary to reserve a time slot for your edit. As soon as your document is ready to be proofread, you can upload it at any time via our website . Based on your chosen deadline, our editor(s) will then proofread your document within 24 hours, 3 days, or 7 days.

If you are unsure about the availability of our services or are planning to upload a very large document (>13,000 words) with a 24 hour deadline, we recommend that you contact us beforehand via chat or email .

Scribbr is following the guidelines announced by the WHO (World Health Organization). As an online platform, all our services remain available, and we will continue to help students as usual.

Can I still place an order? Will my order be completed within the deadline? Yes, you can still place orders and orders will be delivered within the agreed upon deadline. Scribbr is an online platform – our proofreading & editing services are provided by editors working remotely from all over the world. This means Scribbr can guarantee that we will process your order with the same diligence and professionalism as always. The same holds true for our Plagiarism Checker .

Can I still contact customer support? Yes. Our support team is available from 09.00 to 23.00 CET and happy to answer any questions you might have!

Yes, if your document is longer than 20,000 words, you will get a sample of approximately 2,000 words. This sample edit gives you a first impression of the editor’s editing style and a chance to ask questions and give feedback.

How does the sample edit work?

You will receive the sample edit within 12 hours after placing your order. You then have 24 hours to let us know if you’re happy with the sample or if there’s something you would like the editor to do differently.

Read more about how the sample edit works

When you upload a large document (20,000+ words), we will ask your editor to send a sample edit of approximately 2,000 words as soon as possible. This sample edit gives you a first impression of your editor’s editing style and what you can expect from the service. You will receive it within 12 hours after uploading your order.

Why do we provide you with a sample edit?

We always aim to make you 100% happy, and Proofreading & Editing is a complex service. We want to make sure that our editing style meets your expectations before the editor improves your entire document.

Our editors are trained to follow Scribbr’s academic style . However, your preferences might deviate from our conventions. The sample edit gives you the chance to provide feedback – you can let us know if you’re happy with the sample or if there’s something you would like the editor to do differently.

Once your editor has completed your sample edit, you will receive a notification via email. You have 24 hours to reply to this email and provide us with feedback. If we receive your feedback in time, your editor will go the extra mile and adjust the edit according to your input.

What sort of feedback can you give?

Give us feedback that will help your editor meet your requirements. For example:

• “I am completely happy. The editor can continue editing like this.”
• “I forgot to mention that my school has the following rules for gendered pronouns.”
• “The editor changed the spelling of a technical term, but my professor spells it differently. Please keep the original spelling of this term.”

The  Structure  and Clarity Check can only be purchased in conjunction with Proofreading & Editing . Providing feedback on structure and clarity requires extensive knowledge of the text, which the editor acquires while proofreading and editing your text.

However, our Paper Formatting Service,   Citation Editing Service and Plagiarism Checker can be purchased separately.

Yes, Scribbr will proofread the summary in another language as well.

Who will proofread my summary?

If your document contains a summary in a different language, we will send this part to another editor who is a native speaker of that language. The editor will check your summary, applying our standard Proofreading & Editing service.

If you ordered any additional services, such as the Structure Check or Clarity Check, the editor will not apply them to your summary. This is because the summary is a translation of your abstract – you already receive Structure and Clarity feedback on the text in the original language. Therefore, when proofreading your summary, the editor will focus on making sure your language and style is correct.

How does it work?

We will create a new assignment within your order and send you a confirmation email. This also means that you will receive a separate email/SMS notification from us when the editor has finished proofreading your summary. Once your summary is proofread, you can download it via your Scribbr account and read the editor’s feedback.

Yes, we can provide a certificate of proofreading.

As soon as the editor delivers the edit, you can email us at [email protected] to request a certificate.

Please indicate the following in your email:

• Your order number
• Your full name
• The title of your work

We will create a PDF certificate and email it to you as soon as possible.

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

• PhD dissertations
• Research proposals
• Personal statements
• Admission essays
• Motivation letters
• Reflection papers
• Journal articles
• Capstone projects

Yes, when you accept all changes and delete all comments your document is ready to be handed in.

How to accept all changes:

• Word for Mac 2011

How to remove all comments:

When you’ve finished this, others will no longer be able to see the changes made by the editor.

• Read your last version one last time to make sure everything is the way you want it.
• Save your document as a .pdf file to come across more professional and to ensure the format of your document doesn’t change.

Yes, in the order process you can indicate your preference for American, British, or Australian English .

If you don’t choose one, your editor will follow the style of English you currently use. If your editor has any questions about this, we will contact you.

Yes, you can upload your thesis in sections.

We try our best to ensure that the same editor checks all the different sections of your thesis. When you upload a new file, our system recognizes you as a returning customer, and we immediately contact the editor who helped you before.

However, we cannot guarantee that the same editor will be available. Your chances are higher if

• You send us your text as soon as possible and
• You can be flexible about the deadline.

Please note that the shorter your deadline is, the bigger the risk that your previous editor is not available.

If your previous editor isn’t available, then we will inform you immediately and look for another qualified editor. Fear not! Every Scribbr editor follows the  Scribbr Improvement Model  and will deliver high-quality work.

However, every editor has a slightly different editing style, so you may notice small inconsistencies in editing choices. As with every proofreading order, be sure to carefully review your editor’s changes and suggestions as you finalize your text to ensure that everything is as you want it.

The fastest turnaround time is 12 hours.

You can upload your document at any time and choose between four deadlines:

At Scribbr, we promise to make every customer 100% happy with the service we offer. Our philosophy: Your complaint is always justified – no denial, no doubts.

Our customer support team is here to find the solution that helps you the most, whether that’s a free new edit or a refund for the service.

Every Scribbr order comes with our award-winning Proofreading & Editing service , which combines two important stages of the revision process.

For a more comprehensive edit, you can add a Structure Check or Clarity Check to your order. With these building blocks, you can customize the kind of feedback you receive.

You might be familiar with a different set of editing terms. To help you understand what you can expect at Scribbr, we created this table:

View an example

Scribbr not only specializes in proofreading and editing texts in English , but also in several other languages . This way, we help out students from all over the world.

As a global academic writing proofreading service, we work with professional editors  – all native speakers – who edit in the following languages :

This way, you can also have your academic writing proofread and edited in your second language!

Please note that we do not offer Finnish proofreading, but students can still upload English papers on scribbr.fi .

Yes, regardless of the deadline you choose, our editors can proofread your document during weekends and holidays.

Example: If you select the 12-hour service on Saturday, you will receive your edited document back within 12 hours on Sunday.

The footnotes are not automatically included in the word count.

If you want the language errors in your footnotes to be corrected by the editor, you can indicate this in step 3 of the upload process . The words in the footnotes are then automatically added to the total word count.

Need help with your references?

• If you use the APA reference style, you can use our free APA Citation Generator or the articles about APA in our Knowledge Base.
• If you’d like us to check your references for consistency, you can use our Citation Editing Service .

To keep our prices competitive, we do not offer a free trial edit. However, if your document is longer than 30,000 words, we are happy to provide you with a sample edit of 2,000 words to ensure you are satisfied with the editor’s editing style.

Rest assured, our customers are very satisfied with our proofreading services. We’re proud that they have rated us with an excellent 4.6 on Trustpilot. In the unlikely event that you have a less positive experience, we’ll solve that with our 100% happiness guarantee !

After your thesis has been edited , you will receive an email with a link to download the edited document.

The editor has made changes to your document using ‘ Track Changes ’ in Word.  This means that you only have to accept or ignore the changes that are made in the text one by one.

It is also possible to accept all changes at once. However, we strongly advise you not to do so for the following reasons:

• You can learn much by looking at what mistakes you have made.
• The editors do not only change the text, they also place comments when sentences or sometimes even entire paragraphs are unclear. We therefore advise you to read through these comments and take into account your editor’s tips and suggestions.
• Because of the many changes, sometimes there may be double spaces, double periods, or other minor mistakes in a sentence. Checking the changes one by one, you can easily detect these minor errors.

We have written a manual in which we explain step by step how ‘Track Changes’ works.

Check out an example

Our editors are very experienced and will do their utmost to correct all errors in your thesis .

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Guest Essay

America’s Tariff Love Affair Will Hurt the World’s Poorest

By Shekhar Aiyar

Mr. Aiyar is an economist.

The World Bank’s measure of extreme poverty, at $2.15 a day, represents a level of deprivation that is rarely seen in the West. At this income, hunger or its shadow is an inescapable feature of life. Estimates suggest that over half the children born to poor families are undernourished . One could argue that even a small material improvement for a family living in such dire circumstances adds more to the sum of human welfare than big gains for the more fortunate.

One of humanity’s greatest achievements over the past half century has been its striking progress in reducing poverty. The share of the global population living under the poverty line fell to under 10 percent in 2021 from well over 40 percent in 1981, with much of the reduction coming from just two countries: China and India. The decline was so unexpectedly rapid that a United Nations goal of halving global poverty was achieved five years early. The improvement has also led to a more equitable distribution of global income, with developing countries accounting for a sharply rising share of world G.D.P.

International trade was indispensable to these gains. In the late 1970s and mid-1980s, China and India increasingly opened up their economies to the world. And many other countries prospered by using trade as a ladder of development, including the East Asian “Tigers” earlier in the 20th century.

All this is imperiled now that Western countries are turning increasingly protectionist. On both sides of the Atlantic, and both sides of the aisle in Congress, the idea has gained currency that trade with less affluent countries costs jobs and lowers wages. This kind of zero-sum thinking would sharply curtail development opportunities for countries with living standards far below those in the West.

Through its powerful link to economic growth , international trade has long been a scourge of global poverty. Developing countries that liberalized their trade regimes and integrated with the world economy — call them “globalizers” — have vastly outperformed the non-globalizers over the past four decades. The globalizers have also grown much faster than rich countries, allowing them to gradually reduce the still yawning per capita income gap with the West.

China and India have been among the world’s fastest-growing economies since the 1980s, together lifting an astonishing 1.1 billion people out of absolute poverty. Trade liberalization lay at the heart of both countries’ economic reforms , with the ratio of trade to G.D.P. soaring after liberalization. They reforms included tariff reductions, the elimination of licensing requirements and import monopolies, and greater exchange rate flexibility. Combined with a multitude of domestic policy changes, they unleashed the dynamism of local entrepreneurs. Businesses had much easier access to foreign ideas, capital and markets. At the same time, greater domestic competition, including competition from imports and from newly established subsidiaries of foreign companies, weeded out inefficient businesses and spurred brisk productivity growth.

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