Centre for Learning and
Professional Development
North Terrace Campus
Level 2, Schulz Building West
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
SA 5005
AUSTRALIA
Email

Telephone: +61 8 8303 5771
Facsimile: +61 8 8303 3553

Turnitin

(Source: Information on this page was obtained from the Turnitin Student User Guide.)

Background Information

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is a totally web-based tool which provides an online plagiarism prevention service for both educators and learners. For further information visit http://www.turnitin.com/static/products_services/plagiarism_prevention.html

Whilst effective to help identify suspected individual cases of plagiarism, or as a deterrent, Turnitin plagiarism prevention is even more effective when used as an educational tool.

Digital versions of papers submitted to the Turnitin web site are compared against billions of documents online, including Turnitin's local databases of submitted student papers. Any matching text is detailed in an Originality Report which includes direct source comparison.

Originality Reports provide a summary of the matching text found in a submitted paper. The colour of the report icon (blue, green, orange, yellow, red) indicates the overall similarity index of the paper, based on how much matching text Turnitin finds. Originality Reports are tools to help users find sources that contain similar text to submitted papers. The decision on whether or not the work is plagiarised still needs to be made by the educator, and only after careful examination of both the submitted paper and the suspect sources.

University of Adelaide and Turnitin

A trial of the Turnitin software was undertaken in 2003. The report from this trial may be found at:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/resources/reports/index.html
The University of Adelaide has a University-wide licence to access Turnitin. At this stage, only the Plagiarism Prevention facility is enabled (not the grademark, peer review, gradebook or digital portfolio facilities).

Research Resource Site

Turnitin host a research resource site with information on plagiarism for both instructors and students. It is particularly effective in outlining how to avoid plagiarism through effective research and citing sources.

Go to: http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_home.html

Who can use Turnitin?

All University of Adelaide staff (instructors) and students can use Turnitin.
Instructors can submit student papers to check for plagiarism.
Alternatively students can submit their own papers, either as a course requirement or for personal checking.

Getting Access to Turnitin

Your lecturers have been provided with information on how to set up their own classes in Turnitin.
Students need to contact individual lecturers regarding access details.

How to Use Turnitin

Quick Guide to Turnitin for Students.
This quick overview prepared for University of Adelaide staff is adapted from the full Turnitin Student User Guide.