Turnitin for Faculty

Turnitin's Similarity Report is NOT an assessment of whether a paper has or has not been plagiarized. Similarity Reports are simply a tool to help an instructor find sources that contain text similar to submitted papers. The decision to deem any work plagiarized must be made carefully, and only after in depth examination of both the submitted paper and suspect sources.

• Turnitin's OriginalityCheck technology produces a "Similarity Report" that details any matches to websites, articles, books, and other sources found in a document. It also checks against papers previously submitted to Turnitin at colleges and universities all over the world.
• Keep in mind that Turnitin does NOT detect all possible copied passages, nor can it detect all forms of plagiarism.
• Turnitin's assessment of originality is open to a variety of interpretations. For example, Turnitin flags content that is properly quoted and cited as unoriginal, since the student did not write the original words. As the instructor, you need to evaluate any "match" within the context of how it was used.
• The library faculty strongly believe that Turnitin is most effective when used in conjunction with education and instruction around concepts of plagiarism, author voice, source documentation, citation, etc. University faculty should also be aware of relevant university policies and procedures related to academic integrity and student conduct.

Please watch this mini tutorial from Turnitin to understand the OriginalityCheck technology and how to access and interpret Similarity Reports:

You may also want to watch this more in-depth recorded webinar.

Reference Desk: 
(651) 793-1614
General information: 
(651) 793-1616
Email: 
library.services@metrostate.edu