If I'm interested in using Turnitin, what caveats should I be aware of?
Properly cited quotes
The initial originality report from Turnitin will not distinguish between legitimate direct quotations and text copied directly from a source that has not been cited properly. Students who are quoting correctly might have reports that indicate a high level of overlap with these sources. However, while reviewing the originality report, you can exclude quoted materials and bibliographic materials. For help, contact your campus teaching and learning center.
Plagiarized ideas or concepts, or paraphrasing
Turnitin does not catch essays that include plagiarized ideas or concepts, nor can it detect paraphrasing that dramatically changes the wording of an original source while maintaining that source's organization.
Coverage
Turnitin.com compares submissions against a wide database of Internet sources (as well as previously submitted student work and commercial databases); however, it may not scan every site on the Internet. A clean originality report does not necessarily guarantee that the submission is the student's own work.
Originality reports
Turnitin originality reports are not always self-explanatory. Instructors need to discuss the interpretation of these reports with students, and allow students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the tool. For help interpreting originality reports, contact your campus teaching and learning center.
Turnitin.com offers guides and user manuals. Note that PeerMark is available only from the Turnitin site, not through Oncourse. Most GradeMark options are available through Oncourse, but students will be unable to view comments until after the due date for an assignment. For information about pilot testing these two features, contact your campus teaching and learning center.
For more about standards of academic integrity at IU, including disciplinary procedures for academic misconduct, see the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct.
Instructors at IUB may submit academic misconduct reports online.
Last modified on July 30, 2011.
