Turnitin uses a a program that it calls an "Originality Check" to analyze your paper for potential problem areas. The results of the analysis are contained in an Similarity Report. The Similarity Report shows how each section of your paper compares to sources you may have used and can help to identify incorrectly cited sources and plagiarism. It assigns a score to your paper called Similarity Index, that shows how much of the content in your paper matches Turnitin's reference sources.
If your professor has enabled this feature in D2L, you may be able to view the Similarity Index for a paper you submit in D2L. if this feature is enabled, you will be able to view it by clicking on the feedback icon for that paper.
Turnitin checks your paper against a variety of sources, such as books, journals, magazines, Internet sources, and even the papers of other Metro State students who have taken the same course. Your paper is assigned a similarity score based on how many words or phrases Turnitin found in your paper that matched sources that it searched. Your similarity score will be displayed next to your paper on the feedback screen. In the screenshot below, you can see the blue bar with a similarity percentage after the submitted file.
Reference Desk:
(651) 793-1614
General information:
(651) 793-1616
Email:
library.services@metrostate.edu