Turnitin - Students
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Overview of Turnitin for Students inc. Copyright and Data Protection
The University uses Turnitin for electronic submission (e-Submission) of work for assessment. This enables you to submit your work through Blackboard and receive an e-mail receipt. Your programme, course or module may then also use Turnitin on an assessment-by-assessment basis for:
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Originality Checking: to help educate you to avoid plagiarism and to help detect plagiarism in assessed work
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e-Feedback: electronic feedback from tutors on your work
See the Overview of Turnitin for Students inc. Copyright and Data Protection (PDF)| for more information.
If you have not used Turnitin before, you must read this overview document first so that you are familiar with the University's use of Turnitin and you understand your rights.
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Student Guides to Using Turnitin in Blackboard
For Turnitin 2 Document Viewer users (main University supported version):
For users of the old version of Turnitin (note will be switched off during 2011/12):
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Interpreting Your Originality Report
See the student guide Viewing and Interpreting Your Originality Report (PDF)| for some basic guidance on looking at your originality report.
We found in the Insitutional Turnitin Evaluation research project 2010/11 that students would like more advice and guidance in interpreting originality reports. To help you do this, see the Student Video Guide| (from Oxford Brookes - ignore first and last minute or so) which shows some examples of what to look for in your originality report.
Also, contact your tutor for advice on your originality report. From academic year 2011/12 your tutors will be providing an educational focus on the use of Turnitin early on in your programme to help you understand the meaning of originality reports and avoid plagiarism.
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Submitting PowerPoint and Publisher to Turnitin
Turnitin accepts files in the following formats: Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, plain text.
Turnitin doesn’t accept Microsoft PowerPoint or Publisher so if you need to submit work in these formats, e.g. a presentation or a poster, you must convert your files to PDF first.
Check with your tutor first that you are actually required to submit PowerPoint or Publisher files (the Plagiarism Policy doesn't require these to be submitted, it's your tutor's decision) then see the guide Submitting PowerPoint and Publisher to Turnitin (PDF)| for instructions.
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Help and Support for Students
Contact your tutor:
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for training on using Turnitin
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if you’re not sure what and when to submit to Turnitin
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if you accidentally submit the wrong file or to the wrong Turnitin Assignment
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to check if you have been given access to your originality report or if you have any queries or concerns about it
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if you’re unsure about how many quotes you can use and what to reference
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to check if you will be receiving e-Feedback via Turnitin and ask about the type of feedback you’ll receive
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if you can’t find your feedback or have or any queries about feedback you have received
See also the Turnitin online help:
Contact the i-Zone:
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if Turnitin is not working properly including any technical error messages
For all other help on using Turnitin, refer to this web site.
See also the University web site for information about what plagiarism is, how to avoid it and what the University’s approach is:
http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/plagiarism|
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Frequently Asked Questions - Students
Q. I don't know anything about Turnitin, where do I start?
First, read the Overview of Turnitin for Students inc. Copyright and Data Protection (PDF)|. Next, check with your tutor on which assignment/s you'll be required to submit to Turnitin, when and where to submit. Then refer to the guides on this web site |for instructions on how to use Turnitin in Blackboard. Contact your tutor for advice on using Turnitin.
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Q. What is the University's approach to using Turnitin?
The University’s Plagiarism Policy is about education before detection. It aims that students learn about plagiarism, and how to avoid it, before catching and punishing it. As such the Policy sets out some rules for the use of Turnitin. Currently, programmes and departments are allowed to use Turnitin at their discretion, but where used:
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they must provide a formative experience of Turnitin before students submit any work for final assessment for the first time.
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all students taking the assessment must submit to Turnitin.
From academic year 2012/13 the Plagiarism Policy will further require:
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all coursework for levels 4-7 (Undergraduate and Masters) will be submitted to Turnitin for originality checking:
where it is in a format acceptable by Turnitin and
unless your tutors feels it’s not appropriate because of the nature of the assessment (this will be the exception to the rule).
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you will have an opportunity, and be encouraged to, submit at least one draft and view the originality report for each piece of coursework you're asked to submit to Turnitin.
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there must be an educational focus on the use of Turnitin early on in programmes to help you understand the meaning of originality reports and avoid plagiarism.
See the University web site for more information about plagiarism, what it is and the University's approach to it|. See also the Plagiarism Policy. Contact your tutor for advice.
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Q. What file types can be submitted to Turnitin?
Turnitin accepts files in the following formats: Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, plain text.
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Q. Where is the link to submit my work to Turnitin?
You submit to a Turnitin Assignment link in Blackboard. Your tutor will direct you to a link in a specific Blackboard area, button and folder for each piece of work you're asked to submit. See the guide Submitting Your Work to Turnitin via Blackboard (PDF)| for detailed instructions. If you don't know which Blackboard the link your need to submit to is in, under which button or folder, then you must check with your tutor.
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Q. Help! I get an error and/or am asked to login to Turnitin/submit.ac.uk when trying to open my Originality Report.
This may happen if you click the 'View' button to access to your Originality Report. To access your Originality Report you must click on the '% link' under the 'Similarity' heading, do not click on the 'View' button. This is on your homepage for the Turnitin Assignment which can be accessed by clicking on the 'View/complete' link through which you first submitted your work to Turnitin. See the guide Viewing and Interpreting Your Originality Report (PDF)| for detailed instructions.
Following an update to Turnitin in Jan-Feb 2012, a new 'View' button is available to access e-Feedback (if being provided by your tutor). In this case 'View' means view feedback not your Originality Report. Apologies for any confusion.
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Q. Where is the link to see my e-Feedback (where has the speech bubble gone)?
Following an update to Turnitin in Jan-Feb 2012, you now click on the 'View' button to access your e-Feedback. You no longer use the 'speech bubble' icon'. The 'View' button can be found in Blackboard by clicking on the 'View/complete' link through which you first submitted your work to Turnitin. See the guide Getting Your Feedback| for a full guide.
Check with your tutor first: are you expecting to receive e-Feedback? Also, what date will e-Feedback be released on? (You won't be able to click the 'View' button until then ..).
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Q. Can I see the Turnitin originality report for my work?
The University Plagiarism policy requires that you are able to self-check at least one draft in Turnitin for every piece of work you're asked to submit, and encourages you to do so. You'll be able to see the originality report for your draft/s. See the guide Viewing and Interpreting Your Originality Report (PDF)| for detailed instructions.
Check with your tutor first: are there separate Turnitin Assignment link for draft and final submissions?
For final submission of work for marking, it's your tutor's decision whether you can see the originality report. Check with your tutor.
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Q. How do I Submit PowerPoint or Publisher files to Turnitin?
Turnitin doesn’t accept Microsoft PowerPoint or Publisher files. They must must be be converted to PDF first.
If your tutor requires you to submit PowerPoint or Publisher files to Turnitin, for example for a presentation or a poster, see the guide Submitting PowerPoint and Publisher to Turnitin (PDF)|.
Do check with your tutor that you are actually required to submit PowerPoint or Publisher files. The Plagiarism Policy doesn't require these to be submitted, it's your tutor's decision.
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Q. I've submitted the wrong file for my final submission and Turnitin won't let me re-submit. What can I do?
Contact your tutor who can clear your original submission for you, allowing you to resubmit.
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Q. Can I check a draft of my work before submitting a final version for marking?
The University Plagiarism policy requires that you are able to self-check at least one draft in Turnitin for every piece of work you're asked to submit, and encourages you to do so. Contact your tutor for details of the Turnitin Assignment link/s to use to submit drafts.
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Q. How can students with visual impairments use Turnitin?
There are various ways to students with visual impairments can use Turnitin:
Submitting Work to Turnitin
Submitting work uses regular Blackboard web pages which are screen-readable and tab-controllable. However, it does take a lot of 'tabbing' to get to the links to submit work.
If you find this difficult, tutors or programme administrators can submit work on your behalf. To do this, simply e-mail them your work and ask them to submit it for you. Staff can contact their Faculty Learning Technologist for advice.
Viewing Originality Reports and e-Feedback
Originality Reports and e-Feedback open in the Document Viewer window. The Document Viewer is not screen-readable nor tab-controllable.
Students with visual impairments can use a screen-readable Text Only version of the originality report. To access this, first open the Document Viewer window then click on the 'Text-Only Report' button towards the bottom-right of the window. You might ask your tutor for help with this. Once changed, Turnitin remembers for next time.
For e-Feedback, or if the text only Originality Report is not preferable, tutors or programmes administrators can download a PDF version of either and e-mail them to you.
PDF versions of Originality Reports and e-Feedback contain the same basic information as the online version in the Documents Viewer, and are more easily screen-readable and navigable, but they are not as interactive.
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Q. Why is there a delay before I can view the originality report for a re-submission?
Originality reports for the first submission to a Turnitin Assignment are generated very quickly, typically within 10 minutes.
Your tutor can choose whether you can re-submit one or more times to the same Turnitin Assignment link. However, where you can re-submit, each successive submission will take up to 24 hours to generate an originality report. This is an intentional feature built-in to the system.
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Q. Where can I get help in interpreting my Turnitin originality report?
See the student guide Viewing and Interpreting Your Originality Report (PDF)| for some basic guidance on looking at your originality report.
We found in the Insitutional Turnitin Evaluation research project 2010/11 that students would like more advice and guidance in interpreting originality reports. To help you do this, see the Student Video Guide| (from Oxford Brookes - ignore first and last minute or so) which shows some examples of what to look for in your originality report.
Also, contact your tutor for advice on your originality report. From academic year 2011/12 your tutors will be providing an educational focus on the use of Turnitin early on in your programme to help you understand the meaning of originality reports and avoid plagiarism.
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Q. Will I get feedback on my work through Turnitin?
This is your tutor's decision on an assessment-by-assessment basis. There is currently no University requirement to use e-Feedback, although it is generally popular with students and use is growing steadily. Contact your tutor for advice.
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Q. I've missed the cut off date for an assignment. What can I do?
Check with your tutor. If they have enabled late submissions to the Turnitin Assignment, you will still be able to submit after the Turnitin 'due date' and up until the 'post date'.
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Q. I received an error when using Turnitin. What should I do?
For technical problems, including error messages from Turnitin and Blackboard, contact the i-Zone.
Contact your tutor for advice on using Turnitin, including what and when to submit to Turnitin, and questions about your originality reports and/or e-Feedback.
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Q. Can I refuse to submit my work to use Turnitin?
The University does not require consent from students to use Turnitin. However, consent is given by students signing up to the Terms and Conditions for Registration from 2010/11.
You may refuse to use Turnitin as a data protection issue if you can lclaim that use of your personal data will cause you "unwarranted damage or distress". However, this is only expected to be in exceptional circumstances. Refer to the guide Overview of Turnitin for Students inc. Copyright and Data Protection (PDF)| for more information.
If you consider that your work is of a highly private or sensitive nature, your tutor may require you to submit it to Turnitin for originality checking but choose not to store a copy in Turnitin's database for future comparison with other students' work. Contact your tutor to ask about this.
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About This Page
If you have any queries about this web page or suggestions for improvement, please contact:
Simon Starr, Learning Technologist
Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit
Office: 01227 767700 ext 2018
E-mail: simon.starr@canterbury.ac.uk|
NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE CONTACT FOR STUDENT SUPPORT ..
Contact your tutor:
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if you’re not sure what and when to submit to Turnitin
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for training on using Turnitin
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if you accidentally submit the wrong file or to the wrong Turnitin Assignment
Contact the i-Zone:
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if Turnitin is not working properly including any technical error messages
For all other help, including technical support, see the guidance on this Student Support Page| of this web site.
Page last edited: 03 January 2012
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