Skip to main content

What is Turnitin.com?

Although technology has made it easier for students to cheat, it has also made it easier to catch the cheaters. UOIT uses the plagiarism detection service Turnitin.com, which enables a professor to check written work for plagiarism. Using this service, the professor or student can upload one single sentence or an entire paper into the database. According to Turnitin.com, it has a database of over 40 million student papers, more than 12 billion Web pages, and 10,000 newspapers, magazines, books and scholarly journals. Within minutes, it compares the student's paper against all these resources and sends a report back to the instructor and/or student on the integrity of the paper. You should note that once your paper has been submitted into the Turnitin.com database, it will reside in the Turnitin.com database.

Tip: 

Not all professors will require students to submit essays through Turnitin.com. Some professors will have you submit your essay in Blackboard, for example, and the professors or TAs will then upload all the essays to Turnitin.com. Pay attention to all instructions given by the professor or TA. It is your responsibility to follow the instructions, even if you have missed a class.

Use Turnitin.com when assignments are not submitted through Canvas:

  1. Go to the web site http://www.turnitin.com:
  2. Register as a New User;
    • Your professor will send you the enrollment information and password to the assignment.
  3. Professors may require that:
    • The originality report be sent directly to the professor (default setting)
    • The originality report be sent to the professor and the student with the option of having the student correct any plagiarism errors and then resubmit the paper;
    • The originality report be sent to both the student and professor with no option of rewrites.

What if I do not want my paper submitted to Turnitin.com?

You do have an option of not having your papers submitted to the Turnitin.com database. You must inform your professor that you are not giving your permission to have your work submitted to Turnitin.com. You then must consult with your faculty member on what requirements must be met to ensure your work contains only your original work. This may include all copies of any documents you may have referred to, all books, any notes, drafts and other development writing of your paper. The requirements must be determined with the professor at the time the work is assigned, NOT on the due date.

Tip: 

Always keep research notes and rough drafts for all assignments. If there is any question of plagiarism (whether or not Turnitin.com is used), your professor can ask for evidence that you did all of the work on the assignment. Your notes and rough drafts are your evidence.

  The steps to decline the use of Turnitin.com are:

  1. When work is assigned, you inform the professor you will not give your permission to have the paper submitted to Turnitin.com.
  2. You discuss with your professor how you will prove the originality of your work. In other words, you will have to hand in documents to the professor to prove you did all the research and writing for the essay.
  3. You keep copies of all documents, articles, notes and drafts used in the development of your paper.
  4. When you hand in the paper, you attach the Turnitin.com Assignment Cover Sheet.
  5. Submit your paper with the required documents.

The best way to avoid any plagiarism problems is to learn how to write scholarly papers using proper research, writing, and referencing techniques. Check with your professor about which citation methods are required for your course. For detailed instructions on how to use Turnitin.com, review the Student Quick Start Guide.