Summary
Turnitin is a cloud-based service which identifies plagiarism by comparing submitted work against a database of sources. A submission made to an assignment will generate a Similarity Report, which is the result of the comparison between the text of the submission against the search targets selected for the assignment.
This support document includes information on creating a TurnItIn assignment within Canvas, as well as information the TurnItIn similarity report.
Create a Turnitin Assignment
At UNF, Turnitin is integrated into Canvas. This means that in order to submit a paper to be checked by Turnitin, that paper must be submitted through a Canvas assignment.
Step 1: Create a Canvas assignment. Select Online as the submission type, and check the File Uploads box.
Step 2: Select Turnitin from the Plagiarism Review drop down menu.
Step 3: Customize the Turnitin settings.
- Submission Storage Options
- Choosing Comparison Repositories
- Customizing the Similarity Report
- Setting Similarity Report Availability
As these settings may be customized based on the purpose of a given assignment, CIRT is available to consult with instructors to provide guidance on how to best configure Turnitin settings to meet individual needs.
Creating a Draft Turnitin Assignment for Student Self-Check
A common request is to allow students to view their similarity reports before they have to turn in their final submission. In order to do so, start by creating an assignment following the instructions above. Then, adjust the following settings accordingly:
- To make certain that it does not impact student grades set the assignment to be worth zero points.
- From the Store Submissions in dropdown menu, select Do not store the submitted papers. This will ensure student papers will not be checked against previous drafts of the same paper when they submit the final assignment.
- Set the Show reports to students option to immediately so that students can receive immediate feedback on their draft paper.
View a Turnitin Similarity Report
The Turnitin Similarity Report can be accessed via SpeedGrader. There are a few key things to keep in mind when using a Similarity Report to determine if plagiarism may have occurred. Turnitin’s article on Interpreting the Similarity Report breaks down the most important aspects to consider, as well as how to refine the Similarity Report to exclude pieces of information (such as small sources, quotes, and bibliography items) that may unintentionally impact the Similarity Score in a negative way.
Directly Submit a Paper to Turnitin
The Turnitin Plagiarism Framework does not have a built in direct submit feature, but instructors can use the Student View tool to submit a paper to any Turnitin assignment.
To begin you will need to already have an assignment with the Turnitin settings configured, or you will need to create a new Turnitin assignment. If you do not have an existing Turnitin assignment and you do not want your students to see one, you can create a new Turnitin assignment in one of your SANDBOX courses. Through Student View, follow the instructions to Upload a File as an Assignment Submission in Canvas. Once the file is submitted, a Similarity Report will be generated and can be accessed through SpeedGrader.
