As you might remember from the previous posts, I created r3ciprocity.com to help me with my own writing. We have built in a free grammar checker into R3ciprocity, an AI-based plagiarism checker into the software, and are currently building in a tone-checker into the software. I am happy to build more features into the software, but the basic idea behind R3ciprocity is to encourage people to help each other out on their writing. The R3ciprocity software is built to incentivize people to give feedback to other people. Feel free to use the free grammar check and other features on the software.
If you need a paper grammar check, I would recommend that you try R3ciprocity, and let me know if you can think of features you would like us to build into the software. I am always up for suggestions. The ultimate goal is to create a software platform that allows you to get online spell checking and grammar checking as a basic feature, but then have a suite of other features that might help you become a better writer and researcher.
Yes, building an software application has been a lot more difficult than I could imagine, but it has been quite rewarding. Not from the monetary sense, but from the sense of accomplishment. Remember that part of my goal is to help out other writers get feedback, particularly those that are academic writing (ie. graduate students). My goal is to eventually create a website that not only provides various free resources for grammar checking your papers, manuscripts, and journal articles, but to see what happens if you just are giving and nice for a decade.
I truly believe in the power of ‘niceness’ and giving for the sake of giving, but I do not believe that anyone has actually tested the hypothesis that generalized reciprocity can help you advance in your life.
Remember, the R3ciprocity project started out with me wanting to create a software to help me correct my grammar for free when I was a graduate student and I had little research funds for academic editing services. I wanted to make the grammar checker scaleable, such that anyone can use the software.
A few months ago, I created a video about different useful grammar and spelling apps that you can check your grammar for free. This video appears to be quite useful to some, so I thought I would put this as a blog post about grammar checker apps. By the way, if you find issues with the syntax of this blog – I did not run it through r3ciprocity.com just yet. Remember, I am just trying to get the word out about it at this moment.
If this software ever grows, I will get someone to put this post on r3ciprocity. Oh, the joys of cobbling together a tool to help out with my own limitations and still working as a professor. Blaa. 🙁
Enough about that, this blog details many resources where you can get free online grammar checkers and writing resources. Some of these resources are will not provide free spelling and grammar checks, however, they are extremely useful if you are writing, need to check your grammar, or you need an online spellcheck.
Without further ado, here is the list of grammar checker apps and resources. They are not rank ordered, such that you get find the best grammar checkers and resources at the top, but rather, these are just grammar resources that I find useful for my own research and writing.
1. http://www.dictionary.com/
I am a big fan of dictionary.com. I often use it to find words that I forgot how to spell, and I use its companion site www.thesaurus.com to find other variants of the same word. As you might know from my previous videos, I have difficultly with attention and working memory, so having this resource close by is very helpful. I also prefer thesaurus.com to MS Word because it provides more words than the thesaurus on the latter. While not specifically a grammar checker app, you will benefit from going to this website.
2. MS Word As A Grammar Checker App.
I’m truly recommend that Microsoft Word is perhaps the best spell check and grammar checker in the world. I just like it because most people use MS Word, which makes this grammar checker easy and portable to other situations. It is one of the the best grammar checker apps because Microsoft products have so many people using the grammar and spelling software, making it easy to use. As well, the grammar checker is built into the software, making it simple to call upon as an academic writer.
3. www.gingersoftware.com/grammarcheck
You can use the Ginger grammar checker app to do simple grammar checks. Many of these software services are similar below, and I would recommend them too. However, I often don’t use them. Why? I just like to simplify my life and just have few tools that are useful for me. If there is a preference that you like, and you would recommend this online grammar checker for me to try, please do in the comments. I am still learning about this industry and the software that is available. I suspect that the difference between the software will depend on how many rules each one of the grammar checker softwares have programmed in. Perhaps, one day I will actually get someone to do an analyses of the the results that they all provide, but I suspect that most will generate slightly different results depending on their engine:
https://www.grammarcheck.net/editor/
https://spellcheckplus.com/
https://www.scribens.com/
http://www.online-spellcheck.com/
https://prowritingaid.com/
http://www.polishmywriting.com/
4. https://www.grammarly.com/
One grammar checker app that I really like is grammarly.com. I don’t use this app that often, but I love the basic premise of what they are trying to do. Maybe, someday I will start using it more. They have built a software that is quite usable to check grammar and spelling online for free, and is becoming increasing more popular. As a professor of innovation, I often stressed that the most important reason to try a technology is often the number of users that they have, and I really think that they are growing a pretty big user base. Way to go, Grammarly folks! I would imagine that Grammarly has the largest number of users outside of MS Word, which makes it easier for them to spot errors in their code.
5. http://www.hemingwayapp.com/
The Hemingway App is really neat. When I started the R3ciprocity project, it was recommended to me as one of the best grammar apps available on the internet. I am quite impressed with their simple user interface. I very much like this grammar checker app because it is so clear and easy to use. I truly hope that this app continues to grow because it can be super useful for people that just need a quick suggestion on their writing.
6. https://www.paperrater.com/
You can also check out paperrater.com to check grammar and spelling online for free. What’s cool is that paper writer also has a plagiarism detector built into the system. Although, I use turnitin.com for plagiarism detection as a teacher, from the student-side, paperrater.com is likely a good check for your paper. I am always really scared about the whole plagiarism issue, and I think it is becoming increasingly more important as text becomes even more digital.
7. Strunk’s Elements Of Style
You can also check out Strunk’s Elements Of Style. One of my graduate student friends told me about this back in the day. While it is not a grammar checker app, I would recommend this book to try to improve your writing. I turn to this writing resource from time to time, not every day, but it is nice to know it is there when I need it.
8. Dale Carnegie’s “How To Make Friends And Influence People”
I always recommend this book for understanding style, and how to make people like what you do when you write and communicate. It is not a grammar checker app, but it had such a large impact on my own life that I really need to tell others about it. It is quite important about how to frame your writing to win over your audience.
Anyway, thanks for reading this blog. I know that it is a bit of a smattering of stuff, but sometimes these types of posts are useful to others. By the way, if you have suggestions in what I should add to this post, let me know, and I will be glad to add them. 🙂 If you want watch the video, you can check it out here: