staff guide - usp.ac.fj

Turnitin

Staff Guide

This revision (Version 2.0) – January 2021

Arpana Deb

Nitendra Gounder

Petrina Jione

Salanieta Saratibau

Shradha Datt

Version 1.2: 30/08/17

Alena Meo

Arpana Deb

Eroni Racule

Mohammed Hussein

Vasiti Naucabalavu

Version 1.0: 30/06/16

Valentine Hazelman

Eroni Racule

Alena Meo

Mohammed Hussein

Turnitin Staff Guide Page 1

Page

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 About Turnitin? 2

2.1 Why and how Turnitin is used at the USP 2

2.2 The USP’s Turnitin policy 2

2.3 Moodle and Turnitin integration 3

2.4 Accepted file types 4

2.5 Turnitin terminology 4

3.0 Enabling Turnitin in Moodle courses 5

3.1 To enable/disable Turnitin in an assignment drop box 5

3.2 Adding Turnitin to a Moodle Discussion Forum 8

4.0 The Turnitin Similarity Index and the Similarity Report 10

4.1 Viewing the Turnitin Similarity Report 11

4.2 Interpreting the Turnitin Similarity Report 20

4.3 Student strategies to try and bypass Turnitin 25

4.4 Troubleshooting tips 28

5.0 Who to contact for further help with Turnitin 29

6.0 References 30

7.0 Frequently Asked Questions 31


1.0 Introduction

This guide explains the use of Turnitin, a tool to help and guide teaching staff to evaluate the

originality of student submitted work.

The objectives of this guide is to:

describe the use of Turnitin at USP;

explain the setting up of Turnitin for assignments and discussion forums;

identify features of a Similarity Report and how to interpret it; and

outline strategies used by students to bypass Turnitin.

2.0 About Turnitin?

Turnitin is a text-matching software that USP uses. Turnitin provides teaching staff with a report

that advises on text matches between a student’s work and other works within the Turnitin

database, by checking against web pages, academic and commercial journals and

publications, and previously submitted student work from all institutions subscribing to Turnitin.

2.1 Why and how Turnitin is used at the USP

When students enrolled, they agreed to be responsible for their own learning and

maintaining the University’s accepted academic standards. Students are encouraged to

read the work of other authors, to critique it and to use it to support their own argument or

line of discussion. A common issue amongst students is how to cite and reference the work

of others that they have used in the production of their assignments.

It is vital that teaching staff portray the use of Turnitin as an educational tool rather than a

monitoring tool that will allow students to develop good academic skills. Nevertheless,

students should receive instructions on academic writing from an early stage in their

University education and Turnitin should never be seen as a replacement for this instruction.

The Turnitin Similarity Report does not differentiate between correctly cited references and

unacknowledged or intentional copying. It only reports text matches and provides a ranking

of submissions according to the level of text matching with other sources in its database. A

teaching staff then evaluates and makes appropriate decisions. This is covered in detail in

section 4.0 (page 10) of this guide.

2.2 The USP’s Student Academic Integrity Regulations

Students are required to submit all written work through Turnitin via Moodle to check their

work for originality and ensure that appropriate referencing and citation is used. This is

covered under USP’s Student Academic Integrity Regulations, which is available online from

USP’s Policy Library (http://policylib.usp.ac.fj/).

http://policylib.usp.ac.fj/


2.3 Moodle and Turnitin Integration

At USP, Turnitin is integrated with Moodle. Currently, Turnitin works with the Assignment

and Discussion Forum tools. This means that if Turnitin is enabled in an assignment drop

box or on a discussion forum, all assignment submissions or discussion forum postings

would be checked for similarities using Turnitin (provided an acceptable file format is

submitted – acceptable file formats is listed in section 2.4 (page 4) of this guide). Turnitin

would then generate a Similarity Report which teaching staff and students can access from

within Moodle.

Note: Turnitin ID and Similarity Index may take longer to be generated depending on the

internet traffic and file size. Students are allowed three resubmission attempts where the

Similarity Report will generate immediately. After three attempts, students will have to wait 24

hours before a new Similarity Report can be generated.


2.4 Accepted file types Turnitin at USP will accept any file that:

is less than or equal to 100MB;

has a minimum of 20 words.

2.5 Turnitin Terminology

Similarity Index – a percentage score indicating the similarity of the student’s work to

text-matches in the Turnitin repository/database.

Similarity Report – a detailed breakdown of the Similarity Index showing the actual

text-matches and their respective sources.

Text-only Report – this report enables teaching staff to view student submitted work

without document formatting (such as hidden characters and numbers placed in

between sentences within a document/posting). This is further explained in section 4.1

(page 18) of this guide.

File types checked for similarity File types not checked for similarity

Microsoft Word® (.doc/.docx) Zipped (.zip, .rar)

Adobe® - PDF (.pdf) PDF files of images

Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx, .pps) Note: Turnitin converts the PowerPoint slide deck into a static PDF, leaving all text and images in their original format but leaving out features such as presenter notes, embedded video, and animations. Text with visual effects is not supported, and it is recommended that any visual effects such as shadows and 3-D be removed prior to submitting to Turnitin.

Source code (.cpp,.java, .sql, etc)

Microsoft Excel ® (.xls and .xlsx) Microsoft® Works (.wps) files

PostScript (.ps/ .eps) Microsoft Word 2007 macros-enabled .docm files

HTML (.htm) OpenOffice Text (.odt) files created and downloaded from Google Docs online

Rich text format (.rtf) Password protected files

Plain text (.txt) Apple Pages file types

Corel WordPerfect® Text with visual effects

Adobe PostScript®

OpenOffice Text (.odt)

Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)

WordPerfect® (.wpd)

Google Docs via Google Drive™


Turnitin Feedback Studio – this is the view that opens up when teaching staff access

the Similarity Report, it has different components and features that can assist you to

refine your evaluation. This is further explained in section 4.1 (page 12) of this guide.

Similarity Check – a process where Turnitin compares the content of a student

submitted work to items within its repository/database.

3.0 Enabling Turnitin in Moodle courses

Please note that Turnitin will only generate a report if it is enabled:

within the assignment drop box or on a discussion forum; and

for accepted file types (as listed in section 2.4 (page 4) of this guide).

3.1 To enable/disable Turnitin in an assignment drop box:

i. Either click the Turn editing on tab at the top right-hand corner of your Moodle page

and click on Edit tab of the assignment dropbox on the Moodle page and choose Edit

settings from the drop-down list.

ii. Or on the Assignment drop box page, click the Actions menu (green wheel on the top

right hand corner) and choose Edit settings from the drop-down list. The assignment

drop box settings open up:


iii. Before enabling Turnitin, it is important to note that Turnitin will check all work submitted

as a file and/or online text. While teaching staff may be familiar with the file submission

option, the Online text option enables students to type in each text format directly into

the editor field for their submission. The teaching staff could activate this from the

Submission types settings.

iv. Scroll down to the section titled Turnitin plagiarism plugin settings and ensure that

the Yes option is selected for the Enable Turnitin. Select No option to disable Turnitin.

The default for this setting is Yes, so Turnitin is automatically enabled whenever an

Assignment drop box is created.


Exclude Bibliography, Exclude Quoted Material, Exclude Small Matches

Turnitin can exclude checking certain elements of an assignment submission from its

Similarity Report to provide a more accurate Similarity Index. Teaching staff can exclude the

following from a Similarity Report:

1. Bibliography - Text appearing in the bibliography, works cited, and references

sections.

2. Quoted Material - Text appearing in quotes.

3. Small Matches - Matches that are not of sufficient word length.

v. Click on save and return to course button.


3.2 Adding Turnitin to a Moodle Discussion Forum

Teaching staff can have Turnitin enabled in a Discussion Forum. Please remember that

Turnitin will only generate a report for file formats discussed in section 2.4 (page 4) of this

guide.

To enable Turnitin in a discussion forum:

i. Click on the green Turn editing on tab at the top right-hand corner of your Moodle page.

ii. Hover your mouse over the Discussion Forum Activity and click on Edit. You will notice

several icons appearing, click on the Edit Settings icon.

This will enable Discussion Forum Settings to open up.

iii. From the list of collapsed optional settings, find Turnitin plagiarism plugin settings

option. By default, the Turnitin is enabled whenever a Discussion Forum is created.


Exclude Bibliography, Exclude Quoted Material, Exclude Small Matches

Turnitin can exclude checking certain elements of discussion forum posting from its

Similarity Report to provide a more accurate similarity index. Teaching staff can exclude the

following from a Similarity Report:

1. Bibliography - Text appearing in the bibliography, works cited, and references

sections.

2. Quoted Material - Text appearing in quotes.

3. Small Matches - Matches that are not of sufficient word length.

iv. Click on save and return to course button.


4.0 The Turnitin Similarity Index and the Similarity Report

The Similarity Index is displayed in a summary page in Moodle which shows a unique

Turnitin ID and a Similarity Index.

This summary page is accessible from the View all submissions page within the

Assignment drop box.

In a discussion forum, the Turnitin ID and Similarity Index will be displayed at the end of

each post.

Similarity Index


The background colour of the Similarity Index indicates the similarity score of the

submission based on the amount of matching or similar text that was found by Turnitin.

The similarity index range is between 0% to 100%. The possible similarity index ranges

are denoted by the following colours:

Colour Code Similarity Range

Blue No matching text

Green One word to 24% matching text

Yellow 25-49% matching text

Orange 50-74% matching text

Red 75-100% matching text

A Similarity Report needs to be thoroughly evaluated by the teaching staff to verify if

any plagiarism has occurred. This will be discussed in detail in the next section of this

guide.

4.1 Viewing a Turnitin Similarity Report

The Turnitin Similarity Report for each student can be accessed within a Turnitin

enabled Assignment drop box or Discussion Forum. Teaching staff can review a

detailed Similarity Report for each student.

This detailed report highlights the exact matches and individual sources of these

matches.

To view the detailed Similarity Report for a student, click on the coloured Similarity

Index on the summary page in Moodle and the detailed Similarity Report (shown on

page 12) will open in the Turnitin Feedback studio. It has several components that

teaching staff need to be familiar with and these are:


Turnitin Feedback Studio Features

A. Student name and the file name for the submitted assignment

B. B & D Navigate between other students’ submissions within the same

assignment drop box or discussion forum.

C. Current assignment you are grading (click to see the list of students)

E. Link to help on the Turnitin website

The Help button in the top right-hand corner of the page allows a user to access the Help documents that are available. When you click on this, you will be able to view two articles that can assist you if you need further information on Turnitin. The Help documents available are titled ‘Interpreting the Similarity Report’ and ‘Viewing the Similarity Report’.

F. Active Layers

When you click on this, the Turnitin that are available to USP will be shown with a

checkbox. Select the checkbox to activate or deactivate the services available to USP.

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/turnitin-website/instructor/the-similarity-report/interpreting-the-similarity-report.htm

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/turnitin-website/instructor/the-similarity-report/viewing-similarity-matches.htm

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/turnitin-website/instructor/the-similarity-report/viewing-similarity-matches.htm


G. Flags for Review

Turnitin’s algorithms look deeply at a submission for any inconsistencies that would set

it apart from a normal submission. If something strange is noticed, it would Flag for a

review. It is recommended that the student’s submission should be further reviewed.

H. Originality Match Overview Pane

The Match Overview gives teaching staff a breakdown of all the matches that have

been found in the submission and allows teaching staff to clearly view the similarity

index. Matches are ordered by highest instance of similarity down to the lowest. Each

matched source has a colour and a number attached to it. These coloured tags will help

teaching staff to find the match/es on the submission itself.

Click on the

Flag icon to

view more

information

about it.


To view the Match Overview, click on the red, numerical similarity index. The Match

Overview will be displayed within the Match Overview side panel as shown below.

If teaching staff click any of the sources within the Match Overview side panel, the

corresponding match in the submission will be highlighted as well, each source is colour

coded making it easy to identify. In the example below, source # 3 was selected and the

corresponding purple text within the paper was also highlighted.


Match breakdown for each source can also be viewed by clicking on the sources concerning

the particular matches.

I. All Sources Panel

All of the sources that have been found by Turnitin in the submitted student work can be

displayed by clicking on the All Sources side panel button.

Note: If the match is found to be from another

student’s paper, rather than an external

source, this will be unavailable for viewing.

All sources are displayed within the All

Sources side panel and will be listed in

descending order.

Click on the Full Source

View icon in the top right-

hand corner of the pop-up

to view the source in more

depth.

Click the X icon in the

top right-hand corner

of the side panel to

return to the Match

Overview.

You will see a list

of all the sources

concerning this

particular match.

Click any of these

matches to be

directed to it on

your paper.

Click on the

individual

source to

access the

Match

Breakdown.


To exclude sources from the Similarity Report using the All Sources side panel, click the

Exclude Sources button at the bottom of the All Sources side panel.

J. Filter and Settings

The Filter and Settings function can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Filter’ icon

Applying filters and exclusions will reduce the Similarity Index and refine the number of

matches shown in a report. This will be further discussed in section 4.2 (page 20).

Use the checkboxes to

select the sources that you'd

like to exclude from the

similarity report.

Click the red Exclude (x) button at the

bottom of the All Sources side panel. The

button will provide a count of the number of

sources you have chosen to exclude.

Alternatively, click the Cancel button to clear

your selection.

By clicking the Exclude (x) button, this will recalculate the Similarity Index.


Excluded sources pane – This function shows you all sources that you have chosen to

exclude from the system. You can also use this function to restore the excluded sources.

K. Download assignment - outlines the available download options for the Similarity

Report.


L. Submission information - Once you click on the submission information icon ( )

the information about that particular student submission will be displayed. The

information includes: submission ID, submission date, word count etc. as shown below:

M. Zoom

N. Change Resolution

O. Text-only Report

The Text - only Report function is located at the bottom right hand side of the feedback

studio.


An example of a Text-only Report:

P. Word Count

Q. Page number

R. Assignment page - highlights the different portions of the submitted file that Turnitin

has identified as matches to other sources within its database; these matches are

numbered and color-coded and they correspond to the relative source in the match

overview panel labelled H.

S. Example of highlighted text

T. Thumbnail Bar - The Thumbnail Bar icon ( ) located on the top left hand side of your

screen. This allows teaching staff and students to navigate/jump to different

sections/pages of the submission, by scrolling down. In order to access the thumbnail

bar feature click on the icon and the list of pages in that paper will be displayed with a

scrolling option. Example is shown on page 20.


4.2 Interpreting the Turnitin Similarity Report

Once the Similarity Report is generated by Turnitin, it is the teaching staff’s

responsibility to interpret the Similarity Index, evaluate the report and ascertain whether

the similarities highlighted by Turnitin were plagiarised.

Before forming any conclusions, teaching staff need to consider whether:

the matched text is a result of common terminology or templates used in the

course, subject, programme or the University;

the matched text has been properly referenced and cited in accordance with

the USP’s academic requirements;

there is an appropriate level of matched text given the nature of the

assignment or discussion; and

the source of the matched text is the student’s own work.


It is also important to realise that a high Similarity Index by Turnitin does not

necessarily translate to academic misconduct because the system might highlight

portions of text that has been properly cited and referenced. Turnitin cannot distinguish

between correctly cited works and intentional plagiarism. It only highlights parts of the

document that is similar or matched to/with other sources.

On the same note, a low Similarity Index does not guarantee that academic misconduct

has not occurred. This is because the database is not exhaustive and some forms of

academic misconduct may not be detectable as Turnitin can only check against

electronic sources in its database and those accessible over the internet. If students

use non-electronic sources such as an old book/publication, Turnitin will not be able to

detect it. Hence, it is vital that other non-electronic means of detection continue to be

used.

The interpretation of the Similarity Report produced by Turnitin must be undertaken by

a respective teaching staff responsible for marking that assignment. It is their

responsibility to ensure that they have seen and correctly interpreted and

evaluated the Similarity Report.

The additional features of Turnitin may be utilised to thoroughly assess suspected

cases of academic misconduct. Teaching staff could choose to use the options

available in the filter settings (shown below) to further refine your investigation by

eliminating the (legitimate) causes of the high Similarity index such as works that were

properly cited and small matches that were picked up by the system. To do this:

i. Click on the filter settings icon. The side bar will display the Filters & Settings

options as shown below.


ii. Under Filters and Settings, tick the box to:

1. Exclude Quotes – where text has either inverted commas (“x”) around it or

text has been block indented.

2. Exclude Bibliography – Any references shown after a Bibliography or

References heading.

3. Exclude matches that are less than a certain number of Words or a

percentage (%) of the assignment. Enter an appropriate number in the

box provided.

iii. Multi-colour highlighting to the Similarity Report can also be applied by clicking on

the checkbox.

iv. Click Apply Changes to revise the matches shown in the Similarity Report.

You could also choose to use the exclude source filter to remove sources for which

the matches are unnecessary or not needed. For instance, students may be required to

copy the assignment question(s) to their submission and Turnitin could be picking up

Note: This option can also be activated from the Assignment drop box and Discussion

Forum settings as discussed in sections 3.1 (page 5) and 3.2 (page 8) of this guide;

1. The Similarity Index and the match Breakdown will be reduced where

these filtered sources are removed.

2. Sources can be included again by un-ticking the boxes.

Use the Multi-Color

Highlighting checkbox to

toggle highlighting on and

off in the similarity report.

The paper's similarity matches can now be

identified on-paper by color, as well as number.


this similarity from other students who have submitted the same. To exclude this

source:

i. Select All Sources on the side panel and click on Exclude Sources button at the

bottom of the sources list. (Labeled I in section 4.1, page 15);

ii. Click on the individual source (1) to access the Match Breakdown (2) and click on

Exclude Sources.

Match Breakdown Match Breakdown


iii. You will see check boxes appearing beside each source, select the one that you

would like to exclude by clicking in the relevant check box next to each source.

iv. Click the red Exclude (x) button at the bottom of the All Sources side panel. The

button will provide a count of the number of sources you have chosen to exclude.

Alternatively, click the Cancel button to clear your selection.

Once you have eliminated the assumed plagiarized content, you can now use your

discretion to judge whether the remaining highlighted matches have been appropriately

cited.

Refer to USP’s Student Academic Integrity Regulations, which is available online from

USP’s Policy Library (http://policylib.usp.ac.fj/).

Due diligence must be applied when interpreting and evaluating the Similarity Index

and emphasis should be placed on the detailed Similarity Report than the Similarity

Index displayed on Moodle.

By clicking the Exclude (x) button, this will recalculate the Similarity Index.

http://policylib.usp.ac.fj/


4.3 Student Strategies to try and bypass Turnitin

Over the years, students have used various strategies to try and bypass the Turnitin system.

Most of these strategies rely on the perception of students that the teaching staff would not

review the detailed Similarity Report but instead focus only on the Similarity Index generated by

the Turnitin system. Listed below are some common strategies students use to try and bypass

the Turnitin system.

i. Placing hidden quotation marks in between text

Students deliberately place quotation marks between copied text and change font colours

for these so the Turnitin system would not match these copied texts to its

repository/database resulting in lower a Similarity Index. Please note that Turnitin does not

automatically exclude quoted materials from its analysis unless the teaching staff changes

the settings. For instance, the example below shows a student who used the “hidden

quotation marks” technique:

The similarity index on Moodle shows a 7% match.

To view the hidden quotation marks:

1. Click on the Similarity Index.

2. Once you have done this, you will be navigated to the Feedback Studio.

3. Then Click on the “Text-only Report” button to view the hidden quotation marks.


4. Once you have clicked on the Text-only Report you should be able to view the hidden

characters placed within the document as shown below:

ii. Placing hidden characters amongst and in between text

Another strategy used by students is to place hidden characters such as numbers between

words or sentences so Turnitin will not be able to make the match (i.e. unable to recognize

the original words or sentences). This strategy can only be detected using the Text-only

Report.

Text-only Report

Click on the Similarity

Index


For instance, the example below shows a student who used the “hidden characters”

technique:

The similarity index on Moodle shows a 0% match.

To view the invisible quotation marks or hidden characters:

1. Click on the Similarity Index.

2. Once you have done this, you will be navigated to the Feedback Studio.

3. Then Click on the “Text-only Report” button to view the hidden characters.

Click on the Similarity Index

Feedback Studio page

Text-only Report


4. Once you have clicked on the “Text only Report” you should be able to view the

hidden characters placed within the document as shown below.

4.4 Troubleshooting Tips

What happens if:

The student mentions that their Turnitin Similarity Index increases after their

initial submission – It is normal for the Similarity Index to increase as Turnitin re-

generates the score for each submission whenever a new submission is added. This

could also indicate that the student’s work may have been accessed and used by some

other student within the class and the match was picked up by Turnitin. This could be

an intentional case of collusion or the student’s work was somehow obtained by another

student without consent. It could also be a result of students drawing from the same

sources (because the nature of the assessment requires them to do– as discussed in

section 4.2 (page 19) under - exclude sources) and hence Turnitin was picking up these

unnecessary matches.

There is an error message beside the student’s submission and Similarity Index

is not generated – verify if the submitted file is of an acceptable format outlined in 2.4

(page 4). The teaching staff can also check to see if the student had accidently deleted

the file extension (docs, .docx) when renaming the file. Consult your assigned CFL

personnel if the problem persists.

Turnitin Similarity Index is not generated in time – at times, this can be due to slow

network or a backlog in the system. Advise students to avoid waiting until the last hour

to submit an assignment. Refer to section 2.4 (page 3).


Turnitin Similarity Report/Index is not accessible – consult your assigned CFL

personnel for more information.

A student has copied and pasted a chunk of text into their paper. The Similarity

Index is 20%. In comparison, another student who has a firm basis of knowledge

for the same assignment and knows enough to gather information from several

sources to quote and reference correctly has a Similarity Index of 22%. Both

students will be shown to have matches against Turnitin database. However, one

of these students copied directly from a website, whereas the other provided

properly sourced quotes— teaching staff can opt to exclude quotes from the

Similarity Report to lower Similarity Index where applicable. Refer to 4.2 (page 19).

5.0 Who to contact for further help with Turnitin

For further assistance with Turnitin, please contact:

Your assigned CFL personnel;

The Learning Technologies & Analytics team at CFL - [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


6.0 References

Turnitin. (2020) Viewing the Similarity Report. Retrieved from

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/turnitin-website/instructor/the-similarity-

report/interpreting-the-similarity-report.htm

Turnitin. (2020) Accepted file types and sizes. Retrieved from

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/moodle/direct-v2/student/submitting-a-

paper/accepted-file-types-and-sizes.htm

University of the South Pacific. (2021). Handbook and Calendar. Suva, USP.



https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/moodle/direct-v2/student/submitting-a-paper/accepted-file-types-and-sizes.htm

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/moodle/direct-v2/student/submitting-a-paper/accepted-file-types-and-sizes.htm


7.0 Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many times can an assignment be submitted in the same dropbox with Turnitin

enabled? Refer to page 3.

2. How do you add Turnitin in a Discussion Forum? Refer to page 8.

3. What colors denote the similarity ranges? Refer to page 11.

4. How do I navigate to the Feedback Studio? Refer to page 11.

5. Each source under the Match Overview is color coded. What does it represent? Refer to

page 13.

6. How do I exclude sources from the Feedback Studio? Refer to page 16.

7. How do I access and use the Text-only Report? Refer to page 18.

8. How can I use the Filter Settings in the Feedback Studio to further refine my investigation

by eliminating the cause of high Similarity Index? Refer to pages 21 - 24.

9. How do I exclude quotes, bibliography and small matches directly from the Feedback

Studio? Refer to page 16.

10. How can I download assignment that contains the Similarity Report? Refer to page 17.

11. Does Turnitin check previous students’ submissions? Yes

12. Can a file attached to a forum post generate a Similarity Report? Yes

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