Faculty & Staff
Search    
Find Faculty/Staff

How to Use Turnitin

Last updated October 13, 2011 2:15:54 PM PDT
Give more feedback
turnitin.com

Learn about turnitin.com and how you can use the service to detect plagiarism and promote academic integrity in the classroom.

Turnitin is plagiarism-detection software that compares a student's assignment to every document in its database (which includes all previously submitted papers) and on the Internet.

  • You can use Turnitin to check lab reports, essays, research papers, or any written assignment.
  • By using this tool, you'll reduce the amount of "detective" work you conduct.
  • Turnitin ensures fairness and equity in plagiarism allegations, because every paper is checked, not just suspicious papers.

Expand all

1. Set up your account.

2. Let students know you're using Turnitin.

Include the following statement in your syllabus:

"Students agree that by taking this course all required papers will be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on the Turnitin.com site."

3. Go beyond plagiarism checks.

  • Allow students to submit drafts to Turnitin, so they can check for attribution and citation "mistakes."
  • Show students a sample Turnitin report to educate them on citation and attribution.
  • Give students the opportunity to fix their work before submitting it for evaluation.

4. Encourage but don't require Turnitin.

In lieu of submitting papers to Turnitin, you can ask students to:

  • Photocopy all their sources and submit them with the paper.
  • Run their papers through other plagiarism detection programs that do not archive papers (e.g., DOC Cop), and submit the results of those reports with the assignment.
  • Sign a statement that reads:
    "In refusing to submit my paper to Turnitin, I take full responsibility for the material contained within this paper and affirm its originality and use of proper citations. I understand that my paper may be checked for plagiarism by other means and that I will receive an F in the course if any evidence of plagiarism is found."

UCSD's Academic Integrity Office discourages instructors from penalizing students who refuse to submit assignments to Turnitin, because of unresolved intellectual property issues.

Expand all

For more information, contact the Academic Integrity Office, (858) 822-2163.