How to interpret turnitin reports

How to use Turnitin&

How to Interpret Turnitin Report

Phone: 01707 281237 / 1248Email: [email protected]

The CASE website provides guides to help you: www.studynet.herts.ac.uk/go/CASE  

1. What is Turnitin?

2. How to use Turnitin?

3. How to Interpret a Turnitin report?

Introduction

What is Turnitin?• It is an online ‘text matching’ software checks text

matches online and compares it with previously published materials.

• It is an aid to detect and deter plagiarism, but not a ‘plagiarism detector’ on its own.

• It is a learning and teaching tool in the context of academic integrity.

• It is used as a developmental tool for students to improve their academic writing, by being enabled to submit draft assignments to Turnitin.

What is Plagiarism?

… is representation of other people’s work as your own without acknowledgement ().

– Direct quotation without appropriate referencing– Poor paraphrasing – Inaccurate citation – Failure to acknowledge assistance – Auto-plagiarism

• Submitting work for assessment that has already submitted (partially or in full) before

Turnitin at HBS

Turnitin is part of each StudyNet Module site, but can only be set up by a Module Leader

When available, •Students will be able to run their draft assignment through Turnitin, ONCE, to check the Turnitin originality report and make improvement accordingly•The Turnitin originality report on the draft assignment cannot be seen by the academic staff

However, •The final submission is subject to Turnitin check by tutors who have their own Turnitin facility which is separate to Turnitin for students

How to use Turnitin? – Step 1/6

1. Log on the Module site on StudyNet, and click ‘Assignment’

If you can submit to Turnitin against an assignment then an “Open Turnitin Submission Page” link will appear.

How to use Turnitin? – Step 2/6 2. Upon clicking “Open Turnitin Submission Page”,

you will be presented with a screen as below.

2. Tick the box to certify that the piece of assessment is your own work. You will have to confirm that the work is your own before you will be granted access to any Turnitin functionality

How to use Turnitin? – Step 3/6

3. The Turnitin “Assignment Dashboard” will Open; Select the file, provide a title and upload it.

Click here to upload their file

How to use Turnitin? – Step 4/6

4. Accept submission

How to use Turnitin? – Step 5/6

5. Check the Turnitin originality report via the “Assignment Dashboard”

This is the percentage of the text in your paper that matched sources in the Turnitin database.

Click to view the Originality Report

There is no ideal % to look for. The % will vary depending on the length, type & requirement of the assignment.

What does the similarity index % mean?

Percentage (%)

Indication Exceptions

A low % Low incidence of matching text

But may mask academic misconduct, if…•The copied text is a key sentence from a longer work•Paraphrased/summarised text without acknowledgement

A high % Poor academic writing / Plagiarism

But could be acceptable, if it is because of… •Overused quotations?•References/Bibliography•Common words/phrases•Matching formats •Appendices, e.g. annual report

A 100% match No original work • Accidental resubmission• Collusion • Copying from others

6. View the Turnitin report Online or Download the PDF

How to use Turnitin? – Step 6/6

What a Turnitin Similarity Report Look like?

An overall similarity index % = the total amount of matched text

The colour-coded & number-coded individual matches appears in the text against the original sources

It identifies matches from various sources online

A large match to a single source

A series of small matches from different sources

Not well paraphrased or referenced

BUT… evaluate the

credibility of the source,

especially for direct

quotations

It may identify common words & phrases, e.g.‘On the other hand’; ‘in the public sector’

It may identify references

It may identify same format

Chick the to View Match Breakdown

There are 78 instances out of the individual 9% match

Click to view each individual instance

The original source and text (in red) appears on top of the highlighted text

… it shows that the student has NOT well paraphrased or acknowledged the source of the work – could be a case of plagiarism.

The original source is given but not the original text

… HOWEVER, based on the highlighted text, students should be able to judge whether to re-write the work or not.

It may identify common words & phrases, e.g.‘On the other hand’; ‘in the public sector’

It may identify references

It may identify same format

NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT

NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT

‘Acceptable’ matched text:•Quotations•Common phrases•Subject terminologies•References•Matching formats

There is no ideal % to look for. The % will vary depending on the length, type and

requirement of the assignment.Percentage

(%)Indication Exceptions

A low % Low incidence of matching text

But may mask academic misconduct, if…•The copied text is a key sentence from a longer work•Paraphrased/summarised text without acknowledgement

A high % Poor academic writing / Plagiarism

But could be acceptable, if it is because of… •Overused quotations?•References/Bibliography•Common words/phrases•Matching formats •Appendices, e.g. annual report

A 100% match No original work • Accidental resubmission• Collusion • Copying from others

Further Reading

UH (2016a) Academic Integrity Learning and Teaching Innovation Centre [Online] Available at: http://www.studynet2.herts.ac.uk/ltic.nsf/Teaching+Documents?OpenView&count=9999&restricttocategory=Guidance,+Resources+and+Toolkits/Academic+Integrity [Accessed on 06/12/2016]

UH (2016b) Turnitin - online text matching software [Online] Available at: http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/LIS.nsf/lis/Turnitin [Accessed on 01/12/2016]

Turnitin (2016a) The Similarity Report [Online] Available at: https://guides.turnitin.com/01_Manuals_and_Guides/Student_Guides/Turnitin_Classic_for_Students/17_The_Similarity_Report [Accessed on 12/12/2016]

Turnitin (2016b) Turnitin Instructor QuickStart Guide [Online] Available at: https://guides.turnitin.com/01_Manuals_and_Guides/Instructor/01_Instructor_QuickStart_Guide#quickstart3 [Accessed on 12/12/2016]