Turnitin

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is a text-matching tool used at Queen's University. Students upload papers to receive Similarity Reports that show text matches to the following sources:

  • Student paper repository
  • Current and archived website content
  • Periodicals, journals, and publications

Turnitin has three main tools:

  • SimilarityCheck: text-matching tool that presents results in the Similarity Report.
  • GradeMark: a tool for digital assessment (annotations, comments, and grades).
  • PeerMark: a tool for peer-assessment of assignments (not available in onQ).

Please consult our Turnitin Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for further information.

Enable Turnitin in Your Course

Turnitin can be enabled in the Course Creation Tool+ when creating a new course or after the course has been created.

For instructions on creating your course and enabling Turnitin, please see the Create a Course tutorial.

Or

If you have already created your course and would like to enable Turnitin, see  Add Resources To an Existing Course. Select the Turnitin option. 

Before you start...

Instructors must agree to the Instructor Conditions of Turnitin Use at Queen's University including adding the Student Statement to the course syllabus.  See below:

Turnitin Statement

This course makes use of Turnitin, a third-party application that helps maintain standards of excellence in academic integrity. Normally, students will be required to submit their course assignments through onQ to Turnitin. In doing so, students’ work will be included as source documents in the Turnitin reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarized text in this course. Data from submissions is also collected and analyzed by Turnitin for detecting Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated text. These results are not reported to your instructor at this time but could be in the future.

Turnitin is a suite of tools that provide instructors with information about the authenticity of submitted work and facilitates the process of grading. The similarity report generated after an assignment file is submitted produces a similarity score for each assignment. A similarity score is the percentage of writing that is similar to content found on the internet or the Turnitin extensive database of content. Turnitin does not determine if an instance of plagiarism has occurred. Instead, it gives instructors the information they need to determine the authenticity of work as a part of a larger process.

Please read Turnitin’s Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and End-User License Agreement, which govern users’ relationship with Turnitin. Also, please note that Turnitin uses cookies and other tracking technologies; however, in its service contract with Queen’s Turnitin has agreed that neither Turnitin nor its third-party partners will use data collected through cookies or other tracking technologies for marketing or advertising purposes.

For further information about how you can exercise control over cookies, see Turnitin’s Privacy Policy.

Turnitin may provide other services that are not connected to the purpose for which Queen’s University has engaged Turnitin. Your independent use of Turnitin’s other services is subject solely to Turnitin’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and Queen’s University has no liability for any independent interaction you choose to have with Turnitin.

Portions of this document have been adapted, with permission, from the University of Toronto Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation tip sheet “Turnitin: An Electronic Resource to Deter Plagiarism”.

Download Instructions

For Instructors

  1. Instructor onQ - View Similarity Scores and Similarity Reports
  2. Instructor onQ - Commenting Tools
  3. Instructor onQ - Understanding the Similarity Report

For Students 

To help you assist your students in using Turnitin you can refer them to the Turnitin onQ Support pages or download the Student Turnitin Help documents and add them to your course.

 

Set Up Turnitin

The following video provides step-by-step instructions to create an assignment submission folder:

Note: Turnitin can be accessed by expanding Evaluation & Feedback. 

To create an an Assignment Submission folder with Turnitin enabled:

  1. On the navbar, select Assignments under the Assessments tab.
  2. On the Assignments page, click New Assignment
    To save your progress at any point, click Save.
  3. Enter a Name for the assignment.
  4. Enter a Score Out of. The grade item is automatically added to your gradebook.
  5. Set a Due Date.
  6. Enter assignment instructions.
  7. Expand Availability Dates & Conditions.
  8. Set a Due Date
  9. Expand Submission & Completion.
  10. For the Assignment Type, specify if this is an Individual Assignment or Group Assignment.
    Note: You must have groups set up in your course to set an assignment as a group assignment.
  11. Select a Submission Type.
  12. Expand Evaluation & Feedback.
  13. Scroll down to Turnitin Integration, click Manage Turnitin.

To enable the Turnitin integration:

Note: Turnitin reporting will not be available if the Similarity Report is not enabled.

  1. Ensure the Enable Similarity Report for this folder option is checked.
  2. Under Display, select Allow learners to see similarity scores in their Assignment folder if required.
  3. Under Submissions Checked, select Automatic similarity checking on all submissions.
  4. Under Online Grading, select Enable Online Grading for this folder. From Transfer select, Automatically sync grades as Draft in onQ.
  5. To customize the assignment further and find Turnitin's optional settings, select the More Options in Turnitin button.
  6. Click Save..
  7. To exit the Assignment click Save and Close.

Turnitin instructor configuration settings

After creating the Assignment Submission folder, with Turnitin enabled the folder settings will transfer to the Turnitin Assignment settings page.

  1.  The assignment Title and Max Grade will be automatically populated with the information from the assignment folder.
  2. Now click the Optional Settings, the page will now expand revealing additional options.

Submission Settings

Submission Storage Options

There are two options regarding submissions:

  1. Turnitin standard paper repository
  2. Do not store the submitted papers

Allow Late Submissions

The Allow Late submissions option allows students to submit work after the due date. The default is set to Yes.  If you do not want late submission set Has End Date in the Assignment Submission folder settings.

Enable Anonymous Marking

Anonymous Marking is NOT available in this integration.

Enable E-Rater Grammar Check 

This feature of assignment creation provides instructors with the option to enable the e-rater grammar and spelling check for all submissions to the assignment. When enabled student submissions receive detailed grammar feedback in GradeMark automatically through the e-rater technology. Select Yes to enable the e-rater engine for the assignment.
If grammar checking is enabled the following options are available:

  • (Optional) Select the ETS handbook level from the drop-down menu. The ETS handbooks provide students with in-depth information about the grammar errors the e-rater technology finds in their paper.
  • Select the dictionary used for the spelling check.
  • The Categories enabled by default option allows instructors to choose which categories of feedback are enabled when viewing assignment submissions in GradeMark. The default is to show the feedback for every category.

Attach a Rubric to the Assignment (Turnitin Rubric)

  • Select a previously created or imported rubric to the assignment by clicking the drop-down menu to add the required rubric to the assignment.

or

  • Create a new rubric to attach to the assignment by clicking on the Launch Rubric Manager button.

​​​​Compare Against

Compare Submitted Papers Across the Following Sources

The instructor can select the available repository sources to compare submissions in the assignment against. This allows an instructor to disregard a source type if the comparison against this type of source is not needed.

There are three database search options:

  1. Check against Student paper repository.
  2. Check against Current and archived web site content.
  3. Check against the Periodicals, journals and publications.

The default is to enable searching against all available repository sources.

Similarity Report

Similarity Report Generation and Resubmissions

There are three options for generating Similarity Reports for student submissions:

Generate reports immediately, students cannot resubmit
Similarity Reports for all submissions will be generated immediately. Students cannot resubmit papers. Submissions must be deleted by the instructor to enable resubmission.

RECOMMENDED: Generate reports immediately, students can resubmit until the due date
Similarity Reports for the initial 3 submissions by each student user to this assignment will be generated immediately. After the first 3 submissions reports will take 24 hours to generate. Students may resubmit as often as the student wishes until the assignment due date.

Generate reports on due date NOT RECOMMENDED
Similarity Reports will not be generated for any submission until the due date and time of the assignment. Students may resubmit as many times as needed until the due date and time without receiving reports. Resubmissions may not be made after the due date and time of the assignment.

Allow Students to view Similarity Reports

This setting is enabled by checking Allow learners to see similarity scores in their submission folder under the Turnitin tab.  This feature of assignment creation provides instructors with the ability to control the option to allow students to see Similarity Reports within each created assignment. 

Additional Settings

Enable Peermark

PeerMark is NOT available in this integration.

Save these settings for future use

Would you like to save these options as your defaults for future assignments”? Select Yes to have all future assignments use the advanced assignment options that have been selected as the default setting. Select no to continue with the previous default advanced assignment option settings.

The default settings can be changed at any time when creating a new assignment or updating an existing assignment.

Click the Submit button to save any changes to the assignment settings.

Grade Turnitin

The following video provides step-by-step instructions on how to view the similarity score of a submitted assignment:

To view Student Assignment Submissions and the Turnitin Similarity Score:

  1. On the navbar, select Assignments under the Assessments tab.
  2. Select the Assignment Submission Folder containing the submissions you wish to view.
  3. Click the black drop-down arrow to the right of the Assignment Submission Folder name and select View Submissions.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to view a list of submissions.
  5. The Similarity score for each assignment will be shown in the Turnitin Similarity column. By clicking on the Turnitin Similarity score you will access the Turnitin Similarity Report.
  6. To grade the assignment using Turnitin GradeMark click on the Pencil icon to access the Turnitin Similarity Report.

Note: If the report is not ready you will see In Progress in the Turnitin Similarity column for that assignment.

LEGEND

The icons indicate the percentage of the similarity score and the corresponding colour on a blue (0%) to red scale (100%).

Blue: No matching text. 

Green: One word to 24% matching text. 

Yellow: 25% to 29% matching text. 

Orange: 50% to 74% matching text. 

Red: 75% to 100% matching text. 

The following video provides step-by-step instructions to view the submission and similarity  report of a submission:

To view the student submission and Similarity Report:

  1. If you want to open the Turnitin Similarity Report click on the Turnitin Similarity score.
  2. If you want to open the onQ Evaluate Submission window click Evaluate.
  3. If you selected to open the onQ Evaluate Submission window you can access the Turnitin Similarity Report by clicking on the Turnitin Similarity.
  4. The student submission will now open in Turnitin Feedback Studio and you will see the Similarity Report.

The following video provides step-by-step instructions to grade an assignment within Turnitin and transfer the grade to onQ:

 Note: The Assignment Submission Folder must have a grade item associated with it to enable the transfer of the grade in Turnitin GradeMark to the onQ Gradebook.

  1. To grade in Turnitin access the student submission by following the instructions to View Student Submission and Similarity Report.
  2. The Similarity Report should open in a new browser tab.  Once you have finished using the commenting tools in the paper you can enter a grade.
  3. The grade item is available in the Similarity Report in the top right-hand corner.
  4. Enter the grade by clicking the  _ _.  Turnitin Feedback Studio will auto-save the grade.
  5. The grade will also be sent to the onQ score in the Evaluate submissions window and saved as Draft by default.
  6. When you are ready to publish all grades go back to the Assignment Submissions. 
  7. To select ALL submissions to publish check the Select all rows
  8. Click on Publish Feedback. All Grademark feedback will now be released to students.
  9. Click Back to Folder Submissions to go to the next student submission to evaluate.

INLINE COMMENTS
  1. The in-context marking tool allows you to choose between all of the different marking types that Turnitin offers. Click anywhere on a paper to reveal the in-context marking tool, where you can then click on the relevant icon to leave a mark on the page.

"marking tool icon"

  1. Inline comments allow you to leave text directly on top of your student's paper. From the in-context marking tool, choose the T icon and then begin typing your comment. The comment will automatically be saved.
"marking tool text icon"

DELETING AN INLINE COMMENT

  1. To delete an inline comment, hover over the comment with your mouse and click the trash can icon that appears above the comment.

"screenshot of deleting in-line comment"

  1. If you accidentally remove a comment, you can undo this change by clicking Undo in the notification that appears upon deletion, located at the top of the paper. 

 

"undo deleted comment blurb"

STRIKETHROUGH TEXT
  1.  By selecting a piece of text, you have the option to strike through a piece of text, instead of adding an inline comment. Choose the S icon to strike through.

"screenshot of strikethrough tool"

DELETING A STRIKETHROUGH

  1. A pop-up box will appear; this will show you further details relating to the source that your writing has been matched with.

"screenshot of strikethrough delete"

  1. If you accidentally remove a comment, you will be able to undo the change by clicking Undo in the notification that appears upon deletion.

"screenshot of strikethrough delete undo."

BUBBLE COMMENTS
  1. Bubble comments can be left in two ways. You can leave a bubble comment by clicking directly on the page or by selecting a portion of text
  • Click directly on the paper, then select the speech bubble icon from the in-context marking tool to leave a bubble comment.

"screenshot of assign criterion tool"

  • Alternatively, select a section of text, then select the speech bubble icon from the in-context marking tool. This will connect the bubble comment to your chosen text.

"bubble comment icon with highlighted text."

  1. With bubble comments, you can add text, convert text to hyperlinks, and apply simple formatting to your comment. Highlight the text you wish to format and use the formatting tool to bold, italicize, underline, or hyperlink.

"screenshot of an example bubble comment"

ASSIGNING CRITERIA TO A BUBBLE COMMENT

If you've attached a rubric or grading form to your assignment, you can assign any of the criteria in your rubric or grading form to a bubble comment. The bubble comment will generally be linked to the theme or topic of the rubric criterion.

Note: The Assign Criterion option will only appear within your bubble comment options if a rubric or grading form is attached to the assignment you are marking. Learn how to attach a rubric or grading form here.

  1. Click the Assign Criterion button at the top of a bubble comment box. This will reveal a list of your rubric or grading form's criterion, from which you can choose to assign an individual criterion to the bubble comment.

Note: To remove the assigned criterion from the bubble comment, return to this step and click the selected criterion to remove it.

"screenshot of assign criterion drop-down"

  1. The Assign Criterion button will revert to the criterion name, confirming that it has been assigned to the bubble comment.

"screenshot of word choice comment"

  1. The bubble comment icon will be displayed with a rubric icon inside it.

    You can also view the bubble comments with assigned criterion in the rubric and grading form manager.

"rubric comment icon"

"screenshot of convert to QuickMark option"

CONVERTING A BUBBLE COMMENT TO A QUICKMARK

  1. For easy reuse in this assignment or other assignments, you can convert your bubble comment into a QuickMark. Click Convert to QuickMark from the bottom right-hand corner of the bubble comment box.

  1. A menu will appear within the bubble comment box. Here, you can set a title and assign the QuickMark to a specific set.

"Screenshot of QuickMark tool example"

  1. Click the Save button to convert your bubble comment to a QuickMark.

"screenshot of rubric criterion example"

  1. Your QuickMark title will now appear on the paper.
  • If your QuickMark has a criterion assigned to it, the criterion icon will appear alongside the QuickMark title.

Note: To edit the description of the QuickMark, navigate to the QuickMark manager and edit it from within the set you have just assigned. 

"Expand tool"

"Expand tool with rubric"

DELETING A BUBBLE COMMENT

  1. To remove a bubble comment from the paper, click the blue bubble comment, and click the trash can icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the bubble comment box.

"Assign criterion tool"

  1. If you accidentally remove a comment, you will be able to undo the change by clicking on the Undo notification that appears upon deletion.

"undo comment delete blurb"

  

QUICKMARKS COMMENTS

QuickMarks allow you to create a library of feedback that might be applicable, on multiple occasions, to multiple students, across multiple classes and assignments.

  1. You can add a QuickMark to both a selection of text or on the full paper.
  • To add a QuickMark to the full paper, click on the paper and select the QuickMark icon from the in-context marking tool. This will allow you to choose a QuickMark to leave on the paper.

"Quickmarks text icon"

  • To add a QuickMark to a selection of text, highlight the section of text you would like to associate the QuickMark with, and click the QuickMark icon from the in-context marking tool. This appears as a tick inside a rectangular box.

"QuickMarks text selection example"

  1.  By clicking the set title at the top of the QuickMark box, this will reveal a dropdown list, allowing you to change the active library.

"QuickMarks commonly used dropdown list"

  1. Click any of the QuickMarks within the library to leave that particular QuickMark on the paper.

"Example of commonly used QuickMarks"

  1. To leave a comment alongside your QuickMark, click your QuickMark title from the paper. Scroll to the bottom of the QuickMark information and click in the Add comment field to begin typing.
     
  2. Click anywhere outside of the comment field to save your comment.

"Example of QuickMarks feedback"

  1. A comment left alongside a QuickMark is identifiable by a speech bubble alongside the QuickMark title.

"Example weak transition icon"

ADDING A QUICKMARK FROM THE SIDE PANEL

You are also able to add QuickMarks by using the side panel. One of the most useful features that is accessible by adding QuickMarks via the side panel is the ability to search through all the QuickMarks currently attached to the account.

  1. Open the QuickMark side panel by selecting the the QuickMark icon in the navigation bar.

"Screenshot of QuickMark side panel"

  1.  The current QuickMark set will be displayed in the side panel. You can use the search box to find a specific QuickMark.


Note : The search will look at both the title and the body of the QuickMark.
 

"Example QuickMarks"

DELETING AN INLINE COMMENT

  1. Click the QuickMark to open the QuickMark.
     
  2. Click the trash can icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the QuickMark box.

"Example of QuickMark weak transition"

  1. A banner confirming your deletion will appear at the top of your paper. If you change your mind, just click Undo from the banner to reinstate your QuickMark.

"Comment deleted blurb"

QuickMarks allows the instructor to create a library of subject-specific feedback comments that can be saved, reused, and shared. A QuickMark may be a word or phrase, or may even be an abbreviation. QuickMarks can be downloaded and then shared with TAs by importing the QuickMark set into their Turnitin QuickMark Manager account.

To learn how to use QuickMarks view QuickMarks Comments above.

QuickMark Manager

The QuickMark Manager stores every QuickMark that has been created by you, and also stores any QuickMarks that have shared with your account.

You can perform the following actions in the QuickMark Manager:

  • create new QuickMark sets;
  • create new QuickMarks;
  • edit QuickMarks or sets;
  • hide or delete sets;
  • delete comments from sets;
  • upload and download sets; and
  • archive QuickMarks.

To access the QuickMark Manager

Steps to Export (download) a QuickMark Set

  1. Login to onQ and navigate to one of your courses where you have an existing Turnitin Assignment with student submissions.
  2. On the navbar, select Assignments under the Assessments tab.
  3. Select the Assignment Submission Folder containing the submissions you wish to view.
  4. Click the black drop-down arrow to the right of the Assignment Submission Folder name and select View Submissions.
  5. Click on the View Similarity Report for one student submission. This will launch the TurnitinFeedback Studio.
  6. Click on the QuickMarks checkbox that will give you access to all of the default QuickMarks sets and any you have created.
  7. Click on Settings Cog in the top right corner.
    QuickMarks Manager
  8. Select the name of a QuickMark set to download.
  9. Open the 3 Dots menu in the top right corner of the Sets panel.
  10. Select Export set. This will download the QuickMark set as a .qms file.
    Export QuickMark Set

Steps to Import (upload) a QuickMark Set

  1. Login to onQ and navigate to one of your courses where you have an existing Turnitin Assignment with student submissions.
  2. On the navbar, select Assignments under the Assessments tab.
  3. Select the Assignment Submission Folder containing the submissions you wish to view.
  4. Click the black drop-down arrow to the right of the Assignment Submission Folder name and select View Submissions.
  5. Click on the View Similarity Report for one student submission. This will launch the TurnitinFeedback Studio.
  6. Click on the QuickMarks checkbox that will give you access to all of the default QuickMarks sets and any you have created.
  7. Click on Settings Cog in the top right corner.
    QuickMarks Manager
  8. Open the 3 Dots menu in the top right corner of the Sets panel.
  9. Select Import set.
    QuickMark Manager import
  10. Select the Browse link, locate and select the sets to upload from your device, then select Open.
    Alternatively, locate the Quickmark set files to be uploaded from your device. Hold-click the files, then drag and release over the gray box in the left panel of the QuickMark
  11. The selected set of files will appear below the gray box. Choose the Upload button to import the QuickMark sets.
  12. Once the sets have finished uploading, select Close to confirm and return to the QuickMark Manager.

Now you are ready to use your QuickMark Set(s).

TEXT COMMENTS
  1. You can leave a text comment by navigating to the Feedback Summary side panel.

"Screenshot of text comment side panel"

  1. To leave a text comment, simply click in the text box provided, and begin typing.

"Screenshot of text comment example"

  1. (optional) To delete a comment, click the trash can icon in the top right-hand corner of the Text Comment.

Note: Your comment will automatically save, so you don't have to worry about being timed out.

"Screenshot of text comment example."

VOICE COMMENTS
  1. You can leave a voice comment by navigating to the Feedback Summary side panel.

"Feedback summary panel"

VOICE COMMENTS

  1. A voice comment can be up to three minutes long. Click the record button (the leftmost button) to start recording.

Note: You may have to authorize the use of your computer's microphone before you can begin recording.

"Feedback summary voice comment tool"

  1. During recording, the record button will change to a pause button. Click pause to pause the recording.
"Recording example"
  1.  
  • Should you wish to resume your recording later, click the record button to continue.

Warning: Changing the active paper, or closing the page, will abandon any partially completed audio comment.

  • To finalize your voice comment, click the stop button.
  • Alternatively, click the trash can icon to delete your current voice comment.

"Recording paused example"

  1. Once you have stopped recording completely, your comment will then be available for playback and can also be saved by clicking the Save icon.
  • Click the play button to check your recording.
  • Click the save button to save your recording.
  • If you need to reset the audio comment and start again, click the discard button (the rightmost button) at any time. This will delete your current voice comment.
     

"Recording stopped example"

Understanding the Similarity Report

MATCH OVERVIEW

The Match Overview gives you a breakdown of all the matches that have been found in the paper and allows you to clearly view the similarity score. Matches are ordered by the highest instance of similarity down to the lowest. Each match has a colour and a number attached to it. These colour tags will help you to find the match on the paper itself.

  1. To view the Match Overview, click on the red, numerical similarity score from the product toolbar.

"Originality Report Options"

  1. The Match Overview will be displayed within the Match Overview side panel.

"Screenshot of example match overview"

  1. Having clicked the Match Overview icon will also highlight any matches within the paper itself. Each match can be colour-coded to help you identify them easily.

"Screenshot of match overview highlights"

  1. By clicking on one of the sources from the Match Overview side panel, you can discover how many matches have been found for each source. Click the navigation arrows to jump from one match to the next; this will move you through the paper itself.

"Match overview selector"

  1. Should you wish to see a match breakdown for each source, click the arrow to the right of the source.

"Example of match score"

  1. You can now see a large list of all the sources concerning this particular match. Click any of these matches to be directed to it on your paper.

"Example of match overview for a source"

VIEWING SOURCE DETAILS
  1. If you would like to see more information regarding the text that has matched to a source, click on the source number from within the paper

"Screenshot of matched source highlight"

  1. A pop-up box will appear; this will show you further details relating to the source that your writing has been matched with.

"Example of source match pop-up"

  1. Should you wish to view the source in more depth, click on the Full Source View icon in the top right-hand corner of the pop-up.

"Screenshot of Full Source view icon"

  1. he right-hand side panel will change to Full Source Text, which you can scroll through to read in detail.

"Example of Full Source Text window"

  1. Click the X icon in the top right-hand corner of the side panel to return to the Match Overview.

"Screenshot of Full Source Text Exit button"

ALL SOURCES

In the All Sources side panel, all of the sources that have been found are displayed and sorted by highest percentage to lowest percentage match. Clicking on any source will change the navigation bar at the top of the page, displaying how many times that this source has matched in the paper. Clicking the arrows will allow you to see where these have matched on the page. You can further refine this navigation by clicking on an individual page within a source; this will simply show you matches from that specific sub-source.

  1. To view All Sources, click on the red graph icon from the similarity toolbar.

"Screenshot of Turnitin originality report menu icon"

  1. You can now see a large list of all the sources for this paper. Click any of these matches to be directed to it on your paper.

  1. Click the X icon in the top right-hand corner of the side panel to close the full panel.

"Screenshot of All Sources exit button"

CHANGING FILTERS AND SETTINGS

You may apply several different filters to your report, should you wish to make any exclusions.

EXCLUSION BY TEXT TYPE

  1. Click the red Filter icon from the similarity toolbar.

"Screenshot of similarity toolbar"

  1. From the Filters and Settings side panel, use the checkboxes to make bibliography and quote exclusions from the Similarity Report

"Screenshot of filters settings pop-up"

  1. Click Apply Changes to confirm this change. This will regenerate the Similarity Report to include your exclusions.

"Screenshot of apply changes button"

EXCLUSION BY NUMBER

  1. Click the red filter icon from the similarity toolbar.

"Screenshot of similarity toolbar"

  1. From the Filters and Settings side panel, use the radio and text boxes to make report exclusions. You may exclude sources that are less than a certain number of words or a certain percentage of words.

    For example, filtering by 10 words will exclude all sources with a cumulative match word count that is less than 10 words.

"Screenshot of filtering pop-up"

REPORT MULTI-COLOUR HIGHLIGHTING

  1. To apply multi-colour highlighting to the Similarity Report, click the red Filter icon from the similarity toolbar.

"Screenshot of similarity toolbar"

  1. From the Filters and Settings side panel, use the Multi-Color Highlighting checkbox to turn multi-colour highlighting on and off in the Similarity Report.

"Screenshot of optional settings page"

  1. To save your filters and/or settings, click the Apply Changes button.

"Screenshot of apply changes button"

EXCLUDING SOURCES VIA MATCH OVERVIEW

You may apply several different filters to your report, should you wish to make any exclusions.

  1. To exclude sources from the Similarity Report using the Match Overview side panel, click the red numerical similarity score from the similarity toolbar. If the similarity layer was inactive, it will now be activated, highlighting all on-paper matches.

"Screenshot of similarity toolbar"

  1. All matches will be displayed within the Match Overview side panel.


"Screenshot of match overview"

  1. To access each match in more detail and exclude sources, click the arrow to the right of the relevant similarity percentage.

 

 

"Screenshot of example similarity percentage"

  1. At the bottom of the Match Breakdown side panel, click the Exclude Sources button.

"Screenshot of exclude sources button"

  1. Using the checkboxes, select the source(s) you would like to exclude from the paper's Similarity Report, and click the red Exclude button.

Note: By clicking the Exclude (x) button, this will recalculate the similarity score.

"Screenshot of example sources that are excluded"

EXCLUDING SOURCES VIA ALL SOURCES

You may apply several different filters to your report, should you wish to make any exclusions.

  1. To exclude sources from the Similarity Report using the All Sources side panel, click the graph icon from the similarity toolbar. If the similarity layer was inactive, it will now be activated, highlighting all on-paper matches.

"Screenshot of similarity toolbar"

  1. Click the Exclude Sources button at the bottom of the All Sources side panel.


"Screenshot of example sources page"

  1. Use the checkboxes to select the sources that you'd like to exclude from the Similarity Report.

 

"Screenshot of example sources and similarity scores"


 

  1. Click the red Exclude (x) button at the bottom of the All Sources side panel. The button will provide a count of the number of sources you have chosen to exclude. Alternatively, click the Cancel button to clear your selection.

Note: By clicking the Exclude (x) button, this will recalculate the similarity score.

"Screenshot of Exclude and Cancel buttons"

VIEWING EXCLUDED SOURCES

You may apply several different filters to your report, should you wish to make any exclusions.

  1. To view sources that have been excluded from the Similarity Report, click the red exclude icon from the similarity toolbar. If the similarity layer was inactive, it will now be activated, highlighting all on-paper matches.

  1. If you have not excluded any sources from the Similarity Report, you will simply receive a notification advising No sources have been excluded for this report.


  1. If you have excluded any sources from the paper's Similarity Report, you can find a list of excluded sources in the Excluded Sources side panel.
  • To restore only some of the excluded sources, use the checkboxes to select the relevant sources. Click the Restore button to continue.
  • To restore all of the excluded sources in the list, click the Restore All button.

Note: You do not need to refresh the Similarity Report to see these sources reflected in the similarity score.

Turnitin Conditions of Use

Last updated: July 2023

The use of Turnitin by our instructors is completely voluntary.

Please read Turnitin’s Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and End-User License Agreement, which govern users’ relationship with Turnitin.

Since April 2023, Turnitin automatically checks submitted assignments for AI-generated text. Queen’s is currently evaluating the efficacy of this detection tool, and as such the reports are not currently available. Queen’s has reviewed and verified that the use of submitted data complies with our agreement with the vendor. Additional information about the AI detection tool is explained in this FAQ.

Instructors wishing to use Turnitin in their courses must follow these conditions of use:

  1. Instructors must exercise their independent professional judgment in, and assume responsibility for, determining whether a text has been plagiarized or not. Turnitin does not determine if an act of plagiarism has occurred; rather, Turnitin can only assist in detecting textual similarities between compared works, as well as flag text believed to be generated by artificial intelligence (noting that the AI writing detection capability is not currently available to instructors).
     
  2. All students must be informed at the start of the course that the instructor will be using Turnitin. Turnitin cannot be used for spot-checking individual student work when the tool is not used for all student assignments.
  1. It is recommended that instructors also take the opportunity at the outset of the course to discuss the use of Turnitin and the issue of academic integrity with students.
     
  2. If a student objects to the use of Turnitin, they must advise the instructor at the beginning of the course and make arrangements for different assessment or alternative strategies to ensure the integrity of the work. In such instances, the instructor is still expected to ensure the integrity of the work, including using the following methods:
     
    1. check the assignment using manual internet searches;
    2. implement an alternative assignment such as requiring:
       
      • annotated bibliographies from students; 
      • students to submit all rough work with their written submission; 
      • students include citations of all sources utilized in their paper;
         
    3. developing an alternate assessment that allows students to demonstrate the achievement of the same course-level learning outcomes as the original assignment.
       
  3. No current evidence exists that shows that any third-party AI-detection tools reliably work to detect text generated by artificial intelligence. Do not use such tools as a strategy to ensure the integrity of submitted work. Submitting students’ work to AI detection software without student permission is a breach of the student’s privacy and intellectual property.
     
  4. The course syllabus must include the following statement:

    Turnitin statement

    This course makes use of Turnitin, a third-party application that helps maintain standards of excellence in academic integrity. Normally, students will be required to submit their course assignments through onQ to Turnitin. In doing so, students’ work will be included as source documents in the Turnitin reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarized text in this course. Data from submissions is also collected and analyzed by Turnitin for detecting Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated text. These results are not reported to your instructor at this time but could be in the future.

    Turnitin is a suite of tools that provide instructors with information about the authenticity of submitted work and facilitates the process of grading. The similarity report generated after an assignment file is submitted produces a similarity score for each assignment. A similarity score is the percentage of writing that is similar to content found on the internet or the Turnitin extensive database of content. Turnitin does not determine if an instance of plagiarism has occurred. Instead, it gives instructors the information they need to determine the authenticity of work as a part of a larger process.

    Please read Turnitin’s Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and End-User License Agreement, which govern users’ relationship with Turnitin. Also, please note that Turnitin uses cookies and other tracking technologies; however, in its service contract with Queen’s Turnitin has agreed that neither Turnitin nor its third-party partners will use data collected through cookies or other tracking technologies for marketing or advertising purposes.

    For further information about how you can exercise control over cookies, see Turnitin’s Privacy Policy.

    Turnitin may provide other services that are not connected to the purpose for which Queen’s University has engaged Turnitin. Your independent use of Turnitin’s other services is subject solely to Turnitin’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and Queen’s University has no liability for any independent interaction you choose to have with Turnitin.

 

Portions of this document have been adapted, with permission, from the University of Toronto Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation tip sheet “Turnitin: An Electronic Resource to Deter Plagiarism”.