What is Turnitin?

1. Introduction to TurnitinUK – Plagiarism Detection Tool

2. What is TurnitinUK? TurnitinUK is a plagiarism detection software Roehampton University like many other universities in the UK is using TurnitinUK to help detect and deter cases of plagiarism The software is integrated within the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, StudyZone:moodle. TurnitinUK may be used by your lecturers to check your work for plagiarism. You can also check your own work by accessing the TurnitinUK assignment area on the StudyZone:moodle student support site

3. How does it work? The software checks your submitted work for matches of text against: the internet an archived copy of the internet (i.e. previous versions of internet content) a host of database resources and previously submitted documents to the TurnitinUK database (i.e. other students’ work) The software keeps a copy of your work to use for the sole purpose of checking against future submissions by others students or users of TurnitinUK Upon submitting your work, a report is generated that shows a summary of the matching text found in your submission with the resources listed above. Staff (and usually students too) can see this report The report may be used by students to guide their work (i.e. learn how to reference work properly) but it may also be used to check if a student’s work is guilty of plagiarism

4. FAQs How is it being used on my course? You should contact your tutor or course administrator to check with them What is a “good” score? There is no correct or “perfect” score. Generally speaking a piece of work that returns a “zero score” and doesn’t include some quotations, referenced, or paraphrased text is probably lacking in academic endeavour. A lower score is preferable to a high score, but you should always check your originality report regardless of the score What happens if I get a high score? You should review your work and the originality report thoroughly. A high score does not necessarily mean that a piece of work is plagiarised. You may have checked your work and all sources are properly referenced. However, if your work contains more of someone else’s work than your own you are not likely to get a good mark Can I submit my work more than once? This will depend on how your tutor has set up the assignment. It is possible to submit your work twice or even multiple times. You may wish to re-submit your work to ensure that your work is properly referenced and to check your score after making amendments

5. eLearning Support Virtual Librarian and StudyZone support Tel: 0208 392 5006 Moodle Bar StudyZone:moodle student support site Video: how to make a submission http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEuOToHG610