ARCHIVED: If I'm interested in using Turnitin, what caveats should I be aware of?

Properly cited quotes

The Turnitin originality report will not distinguish between properly and improperly cited work. 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 flag 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 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.

PeerMark and GradeMark

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