TextHunter - finds familiar phrases!

What does it do?

Texthunter takes inputted text and breaks it into small phrases, which it them searches Google to find matching phrases. It selects phrases that are less likely to be altered or changed, in case the meaning changes, which means it is perfect for finding articles that have been borrowed, or borrowed from. It was created to find out how plagiarised (or not) a body of work was.

Can't I do the same thing myself with Google?

Feel free! Texthunter was created to be a shortcut, to make your life a little easier. You could indeed take your text, select seven phrases of seven words long, wrap them in speech marks, search for them separately, recording the results that appear, and how often the same sites come up, then put that all on one page. I'll race you!

What's wrong with a bit of copying?

Nothing at all, when credit is given/permission sought. Creative commons licenses actually encourage co-operative sharing of resources, provided credit is provided. The fact remains however that some sites are built wholly on another person's efforts, and vast proportions of essays submitted have been swiped from the net without a thought. Texthunter is simply a quick and free way to right those wrongs, like some nerdy superhero from Grammar City.

What is the best formula for finding results?

See our 'tips' page. If you have found a particular formula perfect for a particular type of search, please let me know.

I'm a teacher/lecturer. How can you help me?

I'll certainly try! The code is available to all schools and universities for their intranet or internet sites under an annual licence, which is embarrassingly small. Please use the 'contact' page for a rates card for this service.

You have clearly spent a lot of time on this. How can I ever thank you?

If you are a professional body, you can purchase a licence. If you are a grateful individual, you can always donate to my bandwidth costs! Ask me about it here.