Turnitin compares student papers against a vast database of academic work, including submissions from other institutions. This comprehensive comparison process helps educators identify potential plagiarism and ensure academic integrity. This article explores how Turnitin compares papers and what those comparisons mean.
Understanding Turnitin’s Cross-Institutional Comparisons
Turnitin utilizes a repository of submitted papers from various institutions, enabling it to detect similarities between student work across different universities and colleges. Consequently, Turnitin can flag instances where a paper submitted in one course might have been previously submitted in another, even at a different school.
While a high percentage of similarity could indicate plagiarism, lower percentage matches often have a different explanation. For example:
A 4% match with a paper from another institution likely signifies that both students consulted the same source material but inadequately paraphrased or cited it. Collaboration on such a small portion is improbable.
Identifying the Common Source
Although Turnitin doesn’t reveal the content of externally submitted papers, it allows instructors to pinpoint the likely common source. By excluding the match with the other student’s paper, Turnitin will highlight the next closest match, often revealing the original source both students used:
- Locate the matched source in the “Match Overview” sidebar.
- Click the arrow beside the percentage and select “Exclude Sources.”
- Select the source to exclude and click “Exclude.”
Turnitin will then re-analyze the passage, connecting it to the original source. This helps differentiate between unauthorized collaboration and insufficient paraphrasing or citation.
Interpreting Low-Percentage Matches
Low-percentage matches with papers from other schools usually indicate a shared source, not plagiarism. If the student cited the source near the flagged passage, it suggests a paraphrasing issue. If no citation is present, it likely points to an unattributed source. In either case, these instances offer valuable teaching moments to reinforce proper citation and paraphrasing techniques. They are less likely to represent academic dishonesty stemming from collaboration between students at different universities.
