Turnitin is a plagiarism prevention tool. Turnitin uses a special algorithm to compare text based student submissions to the Turnitin database and other online sources. The Turnitin database includes periodicals, journal articles, and previously submitted student papers, as well as indexed web content. Turnitin produces a detailed similarity report that can be customized and viewed by instructors and students if desired. Additionally, instructors have the ability to record voice comments in Feedback Studio for ease of grading.
Note that Turnitin does not automatically confirm cases of plagiarism. Ultimately, interpretation of similarity reports is up to the discretion of the instructor. The tool is best implemented as one of many efforts to educate students about plagiarism and to help improve student writing.
Turnitin is integrated with Jenzabar. Students can also use Turnitin to check their own work with the Turnitin Draft Coach add-on in Office 365.
Turnitin's pedagogy and product experts have partnered to create short videos that feature best practices for educational settings. These quick clips highlight essential features, effective shortcuts, and helpful feedback tools to extend your reach in the classroom.
The following resources can be shared with your students.
Student Guide to Turnitin Draft Coach in Mocrosoft Teams. Turnitin Draft Coach enables the student to use Turnitin independently of their instructor (or even course) to validate the originality of work submitted as Google Docs (including Word documents uploaded to the UMass Boston installation of Google Workspace).
Overview of Turnitin Draft Coach for Students