How to Turnitin

Dr Stephen RankinLecturer in Academic Writing and LiteracyMurdoch University

A 6 step guide for submitting your assignments to Turnitin

Using Turnitin at Murdoch University

•Turnitin is a tool that the university uses to ensure the integrity of your work. It checks for material copied from the Internet and from other students.

Adapted from Using Turnitin in an online unit. Educational Technologies. Retrieved from http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/In-an-online-unit/

You can check your Turnitin report when it is produced. Depending on the demand this can take up to 24 hours, but usually takes much less time.

Adapted from Using Turnitin in an online unit. Educational Technologies. Retrieved from http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/In-an-online-unit/

A high percentage of copied material can mean that the assignment will be subject to plagiarism, unless the parts copied are correctly referenced - in quotes with a reference in brackets at the end.

Adapted from Using Turnitin in an online unit. Educational Technologies. Retrieved from http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/In-an-online-unit/

Instructions are for students using Turnitin

Please note that an assignment with many quotes, even when correctly referenced, may receive a low grade as it does not show that the writer has understood the material, merely that they can use a search engine and copy and paste. Remember the 10% rule!

When you submit your file to Turnitin DO NOT include the Assignment Cover Sheet or the reference list.

If included they will be reported by Turnitin as

material that is copied.

Adapted from Using Turnitin in an online unit. Educational Technologies. Retrieved from http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/In-an-online-unit/

Submitting an Assignment to Turnitin

•Go to your online unit.•Select the link to Turnitin. • If Turnitin is set up for more than one

assignment item, choose the one that you want to submit to.

Step 1. Select the file you want to upload

Step 2. Upload your

assignment to Turnitin Step 3. Check it and

submit it.

Step 4. Copy your digital receipt

Step 5. Check your Originality Report

Step 6. Decide what you need to change

How to Turnitin: an overview of the process

How to Turnitin

A step by step guide though the process of submitting your assignments to Turnitin

4. Then click on the ”Browse” button in order to find your assignment file on your computer.

Step 1. Select the file you want to upload

1. Choose a paper submission method

2. Enter a suitable submission (assignment) title in the textbox.

3. Click the Choose File button

5. Click Upload.

Check the unit title and the assignment title.

If correct, upload your assignment to Turnitin by clicking the submit button.

Step 2. Upload your assignment to Turnitin

IStep 3. Check it and submit it.Before final submission of your assignment, Turnitin gives you an opportunity to:1. Check the author’s

name and document title to make sure the correct document has been uploaded

If everything seems okay, click the “submit” button.

If it is the wrong document or you need to make changes click the “return to upload page”.

2. Make sure your cover sheet and reference list has not been included

Once you have submitted your paper you will get a digital receipt indicating that your paper has been successfully submitted to Turnitin.

In order to see your originality report click on “Go to portfolio”

Copy your receipt number or print off the page as evidence that your assignment was successfully submitted

Step 4. Copy your Digital Receipt

On the Portfolio page click on the “show details” button

This will open the bottom half of your portfolio which will show:

Step 6. Check your originality Report

1. The title of the document you submitted2. And the percentage of written text in your document that Turnitin has

identified as copied from the Internet or other students (i.e. written material that matches documents on the Turnitin database)

Once your originality report is ready...

You can click on the percentage and Turnitin will show you the copied material it has matched with its database (with and without quotation marks) in a new window. Note: Your originality report may not be ready as soon as you have submitted it. It can take up to 24 hours to generate a report.

Step 6. Check your originality report and decide what you need to change

The report will highlight in different colours those passages that it decides have been copied and it will list, in the side column, the sources of the copied material (colour coded to match the highlighted text).

Notice that two of the passages highlighted are quotes from sources (which is indicated by the block indentation) and are therefore acceptable uses of the sources.

The passage highlighted in the red, however, gives no indication of a source but matches a published text. It, therefore, needs to be either paraphrased or changed into a quotation by adding quotation marks.

If you want to compare your text with the matching source you can click on the highlighted passage or on the source listed in the right-hand column

If you click on the highlighted passage you will be shown the matching phrase in its original context.

Turnitin will also show any other sources that have used the matching phrase

You can also click on “expand to full text” in order to see the entire article that has the matching phrase or look at it in its original online format.

Step 6. Decide what you need to change: Print, download, change

If your Originality Report indicates you have copied material from published sources you have an opportunity to:

1. Print or download the report2. And make the necessary changes by paraphrasing and referencing the original

texts

Most units will allow students to upload their assignments to Turnitin multiple times prior to the final submission date

You should use this opportunity by submitting your work well in advance of the assignment due date so that you have a chance to correct and change any passages that have been matched.

Then you can resubmit as often as it takes to improve your originality score.

Step 1. Select the file you want to upload

Step 2. Upload your

assignment to Turnitin Step 3. Check it and

submit it.

Step 4. Copy your digital receipt

Step 5. Check your Originality Report

Step 6. Decide what you need to change

How to Turnitin