About Turnitin
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is text-matching software that compares the originality of a student’s written work against electronic texts from the Internet, published works (such as journal articles and books), and assignments previously submitted to Turnitin by other students.
Does Turnitin detect plagiarism?
Turnitin does not detect plagiarism. This is because Turnitin cannot make a judgement about whether plagiarism has occurred, it can only tell you whether a particular piece of text matches to text from another source. The tutor in charge of the subject will decide whether the text that has been identified as matching constitutes plagiarism.
How can I log in to Turnitin?
Go to www.turnitin.com and click on the "Log In" link then use your email and password to log in to your class. If you do not have a Turnitin account clink on the "Create Account" link and create an account.
Turnitin isn’t working, what do I do?
Try using a different browser - Turnitin works best in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers. Other suggestions:
- Log off out of Turnitin and try again later.
- Email your assignment to your tutor, explaining Turnitin is not working. You may want to include a screenshot of the Turnitin page to show what the problem is.
- Assignment settings – e.g. The assignment setting may not allow submissions after a certain date. Hover your mouse over the ‘Submit’ button to see the reason you cannot submit your assignment.
- Ask for help at the Learning Resource Centre.
Can I use Turnitin if my tutor has not set it up?
No. Your tutor first needs to set up your Turnitin class, then you are able join the class..
What is the maximum file size I can submit?
If an assignment is set to allow any file type, Turnitin will accept any file:
- less than 100MB;
- has a minimum of 20 words; and
- is less than 800 pages.
What file types can I submit?
If the assignment settings are set to allow only file types that Turnitin can check for similarity, Turnitin will only accept files that can generate Similarity Reports. This includes:
- Microsoft Word® (.doc/.docx)
- OpenOffice Text (.odt)
- WordPerfect® (.wpd)
- PostScript (.ps)
- HTML
- Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)
- Rich text format (.rtf)
- Plain text (.txt)
- Google Docs via Google Drive™
- Adobe® PDF
- Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, and .pps)
- Microsoft Excel® (.xls and .xlsx)
Submitting my work
How do I submit my work to Turnitin?
- Log into www.turnitin.com
- Once you've logged in, you should see your homepage listing the classes you enrolled in.
- Click the name of the class where you'd like to upload a file. This will take you to your Class Homepage for that class.
- Click the Submit button to the right of the assignment name.This will take you to the file submission page.
- Enter a title for the submission.
- Click the What can I submit? link to review the types of files and file sizes Turnitin can accept.
- Decide whether you'd like to upload a file from:
- the computer you're using OR
- Dropbox OR
- Google Drive
- Click one of the submission buttons (computer, Dropbox, or Google Drive).
- Select the file you want to upload.
- Click the Upload button on the file submission page.
- Review the preview panel (and congratulate yourself on getting your paper done).
- Then, you must click the Confirm button to officially upload the file to the assignment.
- Review the preview panel (and congratulate yourself on getting your paper done).
Can I submit my work to Turnitin more than once?
Yes. You are allowed three resubmission attempts where the Similarity Report will generate immediately. After three attempts, you'll have to wait 24 hours before a new Similarity Report can be generated.
Will Turnitin check a resubmitted assignment against previous submissions for the same assignment?
Some assignments may allow students the ability to overwrite their previous submissions until an assignment's due date. This option is activated by an instructor on an assignment-by-assignment basis. Any resubmission will overwrite previous generated originality reports in the same dropbox. Note:Similar papers submitted by the same student to a Turnitin dropbox in a different course WILL match.
If students in the same course submit similar papers to the same assignment, will these submissions be checked against each other as soon as they are submitted to Turnitin?
Yes. Turnitin compares the originality of a student’s written work against electronic texts from the Internet, published works (such as journal articles and books), and assignments previously submitted to Turnitin by other students, including past and present WITT students.
For some reason I can't see the 'Submit Paper' icon to submit my assessment
Try another internet browser, Turnitin recommends you use the internet browsers Firefox or Chrome. Firefox and Chrome are available on all WITT computers, alternatively you can download them for free to use on your laptop or PC.
I submitted the wrong document! What can I do?
If you have submitted the wrong document, we suggest that you contact your tutor by email and ask them to delete the submission. A second submission (of the correct document) will take 24 hours to generate an originality report and you may not have enough time to view or download the report before the deadline.
I submitted my document to the wrong dropbox! What can I do?
Notify your tutor who may either delete your document so you can re-submit correctly, or they may move it to the correct drop box on your behalf.
The Originality Report
How long does the Originality Report take to generate?
An originality report is usually created within 5 seconds for an average paper of 1000 words if this is your first submission, longer submission will take a little more time. If the similarity index is still showing "processing', try selecting the “Refresh Submissions” link to reload the page. If you have resubmitted an assignment, there may be a delay of 24 hours before an originality report is available.
Who can see my Originality Report?
Your tutor will view your originality report after the assessment due date. Tutor's can access the originality report earlier if you request them to do so for feedback purposes.
What does the similarity number mean?
Is it possible to get a similarity of 0%?
It is possible and acceptable to obtain a similarity of 0% through writing orginal work. A low similarity relates to the way your tutor set up the Turnitin dropbox. There are options to exclude bibliographies and small matches (5-8 words long) which can lead to a legitimate 0% similarity in your report.
How do I know if my similarity number is acceptable?
Your tutor will provide information on this.
The similarity is too high - what do I do?
If your similarity index is high and you want to reduce it, check that: (a) Quotation marks (“...”) are used around every quote and the source is cited. (b) You are not over-using quotations. (c) Your own words are not too similar to the original text. For further information check out the “How do I increase originality" tab.
How can I download/print my report?
You can download your originality report if you want to, or are required to, by clicking the printer icon at the bottom of the Turnitin report page.
What does it mean if my report is 'processing'?
Processing means that your report has not yet been generated. Check back again later to see if the status has changed. Remember that it takes 24 hours after a resubmission to generate a report.
