What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an online tool created in 1996 by a group of professors from the University of California, Berkeley. This tool allows professors or students to upload papers to the Turnitin database.
How does Turnitin work?
The student's paper matched against the database of web pages, paper mill essays, and other student papers submitted online. Turnitin then creates an "originality report" highlighting any passages from the paper that might not be authentic and lists websites and other resources with content that matches that in the paper.
Does Alfaisal University provide access to Turnitin?
Yes, Alfaisal University has subscribed to Turnitin as an institution. For student access/use information see "getting started" to the right. For more information using TurnItIn please contact Mr. Abdullah M. Alhelan:
Email: aalhelan@alfaisal.edu
Phone: 215-7846
Turnitin is used as part of the assignment submission process at ATU to help students demonstrate academic integrity in their work by demonstrating how to use, create and communicate information in an original, honest, and responsible manner.
Turnitin identifies when texts are similar. Its purpose is to educate students about correct citation and referencing methods.
The purpose of Turnitin is to help students improve their academic writing techniques by highlighting similarities to other sources on the Internet and other students’ work, enabling them to make decisions about the quality of their writing.
For example, has the student:
Relied too strongly on one source.
Paraphrased, summarized or quoted someone else’s work without referencing it.
Used no sources at all; and thus, their work is uncorroborated.
Turnitin should also help in reducing instances of plagiarism and improve overall academic integrity. It is a formative tool intended to help students. Students are encouraged, but not required, to follow up on the analysis it provides.
Each time a paper is submitted to TurnItIn, an Originality Report is created that compares that document with the TurnItIn database, along with a number in the form of a percentage, called the Similarity Index. These are tools to be used to identify when matching text has been found, ideally to ensure proper citations. As mentioned on TurnItIn's website:
"Warning: These indicies in no way reflect TurnItIn's assessment of whether a paper contains plagarized material or improperly used material."
So, if you were running an originality report on this guide, you would probably find a decent chunk of matching text. Just remember: cite your sources.
