TurnItIn is an educational software known as a 'text-matching' tool. Its purpose is to educate students about proper citation and referencing methods. Additionally, TurnItIn is utilized by the TU Dublin to ensure the academic integrity of students' work. To achieve this, TurnItIn compares a student's submission with a vast collection of internet documents, data, previously submitted papers, and a repository of periodicals, journals, and publications. Subsequently, it generates an 'Originality Report' that can be accessed by both instructors and students. This report highlights instances where the text in a student's submission matches another source.
It is crucial to understand that TurnItIn does not directly identify plagiarism. Instead, it primarily focuses on detecting similarities between a student's assignment and other texts from various sources, such as the internet, journals, or databases of student papers. The accurate interpretation of these results by instructors and students plays a vital role in effectively utilizing TurnItIn.
If a lecturer chooses to use TurnItIn for a particular Course or Assignment, the lecturer will create a 'TurnItIn Assignment' within Brightspace.
When a student submits a 'TurnItIn Assignment' within Brightspace, the assignment will then be submitted to TurnItIn for text-matching.
TurnItIn matches the text within an assignment by comparing a student's submission against an archive of internet documents, Internet data, a repository of previously submitted papers, and subscription repository of periodicals, journals, and publications.
TurnItIn then creates an 'Originality Report' which can be viewed by both lecturers and students, which identifies where the text within a student submission has matched another sources.
Remember to view our training guides for using TurnItIn for Brightspace below:
The TurnItIn service is available within your Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Brightspace
For more information on how to access and use TurnItIn via your VLE view our Turnitin 'How to' Guides for Students