LibGuides: ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: TURNITIN

WHAT IS TURNITIN

Turnitin is an online software program that can detect similarities between an existing work and your submittedwork. When you submit a work to Turnitin, the proprietary software compares that work to Turnitin's database.
Similarities are instances when your words match words found in other works found in the Turnitin database
Turnitin's database contains billions of works, such as:
- Web Pages (blogs, organizational websites, Wikipedia, etc.)
- Articles (scientific journals, book reviews, abstracts, etc.)
- Other Student Papers (your own work, and the work of others).
After the Turnitin software has completed comparing your work to the contents of its database, a Similarity Report is generated. This is also sometimes known as an Originality Report.

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SOFTWARE BETTER

Turnitin detects similarities, and not necessarily plagiarism.
Plagiarism is using someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as your own.
When your work is run through Turnitin, any significant similarity to another work will be identified. This means, if you are using quotes and citations in your work (which you probably are), they will show up in your Similarity Report. This does not necessarily mean that you have committed plagiarism. Your instructor will determine whether the similarities in your work are actually due to plagiarism.

It’s useful at this point to highlight what common matches can be found:

References and Bibliography – other students will have used the same references at some point. These can be filtered out.
Quotations – similar to references quotations properly referenced may be used by others in the internet and by students
Data tables/Charts showing same data
Appendices (if part of your submitted assignment), again can be matched to others work if used by them
Small common matches – common phrases or subject terminology can be detected. Matching formats e.g title essay will be picked up A filter can be used to exclude such smaller matches.
Paraphrasing from another source will be matched, your tutor will judge if this has been appropriately written

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SIMILARITY REPORT

The Similarity Report will rate your work with a Similarity Index.
The Similarity Index is a percentage of how much of your work matches other works in the Turnitin database.

The Similarity Index is color coded:

BLUE - no matching text

GREEN - one word to 24% matching text

YELLOW - 25%-49% matching text

ORANGE - 50%-74% matching text

RED - 75%-100% matching text

REMEMBER! Having similarities in your work DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN you have committed plagiarism! Your instructor will review the similarities and determine their nature. She or he will be able to see exactly which part(s) of your work matched other works. For instance, if you quoted something in your assignment, the instructor will be able to see that your quoted phrase matches another work exactly (the original work where you took the quote from). Turnitin DOES NOT determine whether you have quoted or cited correctly. It ONLY points out similarities of any kind.
If you are concerned about your Similarity Index, or your Similarity Report, schedule a meeting with your instructor.