Turnitin for Staff Q & A
Getting Started
As an Academic staff member, how do I sign up for a Turnitin account?
What happens to a Turnitin assignment when I rollover a course from one year to the next?
How do I add a Turnitin Assignment link to my unit?
Can Higher Degree Students access Turnitin?
Interpreting Originality Reports
How do I exclude quotes from being marked as unoriginal?
How do I restore an excluded source from an Originality report?
How do I view the copied material indicated in the Originality Report, is it possible to see the actual text of the document?
How do I remove a source from an originality report?
How do I exclude the bibliography from being marked as unoriginal?
What do I need to consider if a student has self-plagiarised?
Why is there a difference in the word-count between the originality report and the word document?
Why is it taking so long to obtain a paper from another UWS unit or institution for comparison?
I'm trying to open an Originality Report and receiving the error: No service currently active
How do I access and open Originality Reports?
Managing the Inbox
Why are some of my students' names missing when I look at a Turnitin Assignment Inbox?
How can I bulk download student papers from Turnitin?
How do I enter grades into Grade Book?
How do I delete a Turnitin assignment submission?
Technical Support
Where do I go for technical help?
Turnitin Assignment Links
How do I create a Turnitin assignment link?
How do I change the due date of a Turnitin Assignment link?
Will students be able to see other students' papers?
Students have submitted draft assignments to check for issues but can't submit again?
What is the 'Post Date' in a Turnitin Assignment?
What happens if I use the default setting exclude bibliographic or quoted material from the Similarity Index (Originality Report)?
Can students submit PowerPoint presentations to Turnitin?
Can you create group assignments in Turnitin where only one member of the group can submit an assignment?
Why can't students view their reports?
I'm trying to create a Turnitin Assignment link and receive the following error message (Error: 430 Unable to retrieve WebCT gradebook column for assignment)
Getting Started
Q: As an Academic staff member, how do I sign up for a Turnitin account?
A: You will need to attend a training session and fill out a Turnitin Registration Form . Please contact the Turnitin Project Officer for further information.
Q: What happens to a Turnitin assignment when I rollover a course from one year to the next?
A: When a rollover occurs, the content is normally copied including the previously created Turnitin links. It is recommended that you delete old Turnitin links and create new ones, as old links will generate errors.
Q: How do I add a Turnitin Assignment link to my unit?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Can Higher Degree Students access Turnitin?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Interpreting Originality Reports
Q: How do I exclude quotes from being marked as unoriginal?
A: If quoted material is highlighted as similar or matching, this information can be removed from the report. You are only able to remove quoted material for the duration of the current view of the report. To exclude quotes select the 'Filter and Settings' icon from the sidebar and check the 'Exclude Quotes' option. For permanent exclusion, you will need to update the Turnitin assignment settings. Note: the Exclude Quotes feature only recognises double quotation marks and /or indented material.
Q: How do I restore an excluded source from an Originality report?
A:
Q: How do I view the copied material indicated in the Originality Report, is it possible to see the actual text of the document?
A: To view match content:
Q: How do I remove a source from an originality report?
A:
Q: How do I exclude the bibliography from being marked as unoriginal?
A: If bibliographic material is highlighted as similar or matching, this information can be removed from the report. You are only able to remove bibliographic material is for the duration of the current view of the report. To exclude the Bibliography, select the 'Filter and Settings' icon from the sidebar and check the 'Exclude Bibliography' option. For permanent exclusion, you will need to update the Turnitin assignment settings.
Q: What do I need to consider if a student has self-plagiarised?
A: Self-plagiarism is defined as students reusing sections of previously submitted assignments in different courses. Any text previously submitted by a student will be identified by Turnitin. The extent to which this is considered acceptable or not needs to be determined by the Unit Coordinator.
Q: Why is there a difference in the word-count between the originality report and the word document?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Why is it taking so long to obtain a paper from another UWS unit or institution for comparison?
A: Delays are occurring because the system requires the instructor from the other UWS unit / institution to respond and accept the request. Please contact Turnitin Project Officer if you have not received a reply after seven days to your view paper request.
Q: I'm trying to open an Originality Report and receiving the error: No service currently active
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: How do I access and open Originality Reports?
A: Please review the Academic Instructions
Managing the Inbox
Q: Why are some of my students' names missing when I look at a Turnitin Assignment Inbox?
A: When you create a Turnitin assignment only the names of students that are enrolled at the time you created the link are recognised. If more students are added to the unit after the initial creation, you will need to update your class-list. To update your class-list click on the 'Roster Sync' button in the upper right-hand corner of the Turnitin inbox. This adds the names of the newer students.
Q: How can I bulk download student papers from Turnitin?
A:
Q: How do I enter grades into Grade Book?
A: When you create a Turnitin assignment link, it also automatically creates a grade column for the assignment in Blackboard's Grade Book.
Once the grades are in the Grade Book you can release them to students via My Grades tool.
Technical Support
Q: Where do I go for technical help?
A: Contact the Turnitin Project Officer, Tracy Donelly on 9852 5938 or lib-turnitin@uws.edu.au
Q: Will students be able to see other students' papers?
A: No. Your students will not be able to see papers submitted by other students.
Q: Students have submitted draft assignments to check for issues but can't submit again?
A: You can edit the Turnitin Assignment link at any time.
Q: What is the 'Post Date' in a Turnitin Assignment?
A: The Post Date refers to when a student can see their 'GradeMarked' papers. Please note: UWS does not have access to GradeMark so just ensure you enter a date that is after the due date for the assignment.
Q: What happens if I use the default setting exclude bibliographic or quoted material from the Similarity Index (Originality Report)?
A: This is an assignment-level preference for excluding bibliographic and quoted material rather than adjusting this setting for individual papers. This feature will save time, allowing lecturers to quickly determine how much of a paper is original work. Note for the bibliography to be excluded, students must use one of the following specific headings: 'Bibliography', 'Reference' or 'Work Cited'.
Q: Can students submit PowerPoint presentations to Turnitin?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Can you create group assignments in Turnitin where only one member of the group can submit an assignment?
A: You can view student submissions according to group if you are using the Groups feature. This function requires groups be already created within your unit. For more information on how to create group sets go to Control Panel choose User and Groups > Groups.
To access a group via a Turnitin link:
Q: Why can't students view their reports?
A: You need to edit the Turnitin Assignment link.
Q: I'm trying to create a Turnitin Assignment link and receive the following error message (Error: 430 Unable to retrieve WebCT gradebook column for assignment)
A: The best way to resolve this issue is to choose a different assignment title. Alternatively, enter a hyphen between terms. Turnitin will distinguish that a different assignment title is in use and will proceed as normal.
Getting Started
Interpreting Originality Reports
Managing the Inbox
Technical Support
Turnitin Assignment Links
Getting Started
Q: As an Academic staff member, how do I sign up for a Turnitin account?
A: You will need to attend a training session and fill out a Turnitin Registration Form . Please contact the Turnitin Project Officer for further information.
Q: What happens to a Turnitin assignment when I rollover a course from one year to the next?
A: When a rollover occurs, the content is normally copied including the previously created Turnitin links. It is recommended that you delete old Turnitin links and create new ones, as old links will generate errors.
Q: How do I add a Turnitin Assignment link to my unit?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Can Higher Degree Students access Turnitin?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Interpreting Originality Reports
Q: How do I exclude quotes from being marked as unoriginal?
A: If quoted material is highlighted as similar or matching, this information can be removed from the report. You are only able to remove quoted material for the duration of the current view of the report. To exclude quotes select the 'Filter and Settings' icon from the sidebar and check the 'Exclude Quotes' option. For permanent exclusion, you will need to update the Turnitin assignment settings. Note: the Exclude Quotes feature only recognises double quotation marks and /or indented material.
Q: How do I restore an excluded source from an Originality report?
A:
- In Document Viewer, click on the View/edit excluded source button at the bottom of the page.
- Click on excluded source you want to restore.
- Click on the Restore button at the bottom of the page.
Q: How do I view the copied material indicated in the Originality Report, is it possible to see the actual text of the document?
A: To view match content:
- Click on a highlighted area of text on the student paper
- A pop-up window will appear above the highlighted text displaying the matching text within the source of the match.
- Click on the "Full Source Text" link in the top right of the pop-up window to view the Full Source Text within the sidebar
- If the source you are viewing contains multiple segments of matching text, you can navigate between segments using the up/down arrows. The text in the paper will automatically line up with the source for easy comparison. Note sections in red have been matched from the student submission
- To view matching text, select the link listed at the top of the sidebar. It can either display matching text from a web source in its original web context or another student paper from the same class
- When you have finished viewing a source, return to the list of matching sources by clicking the close link
Q: How do I remove a source from an originality report?
A:
- In Document Viewer, click on the black arrow which will appear when you move the mouse over the particular match. You can then view the match breakdown in detail.
- Click on Exclude Source button at the bottom of the page.
- Locate the source you wish to exclude and click on the Remove button.
Q: How do I exclude the bibliography from being marked as unoriginal?
A: If bibliographic material is highlighted as similar or matching, this information can be removed from the report. You are only able to remove bibliographic material is for the duration of the current view of the report. To exclude the Bibliography, select the 'Filter and Settings' icon from the sidebar and check the 'Exclude Bibliography' option. For permanent exclusion, you will need to update the Turnitin assignment settings.
Q: What do I need to consider if a student has self-plagiarised?
A: Self-plagiarism is defined as students reusing sections of previously submitted assignments in different courses. Any text previously submitted by a student will be identified by Turnitin. The extent to which this is considered acceptable or not needs to be determined by the Unit Coordinator.
Q: Why is there a difference in the word-count between the originality report and the word document?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Why is it taking so long to obtain a paper from another UWS unit or institution for comparison?
A: Delays are occurring because the system requires the instructor from the other UWS unit / institution to respond and accept the request. Please contact Turnitin Project Officer if you have not received a reply after seven days to your view paper request.
Q: I'm trying to open an Originality Report and receiving the error: No service currently active
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: How do I access and open Originality Reports?
A: Please review the Academic Instructions
Managing the Inbox
Q: Why are some of my students' names missing when I look at a Turnitin Assignment Inbox?
A: When you create a Turnitin assignment only the names of students that are enrolled at the time you created the link are recognised. If more students are added to the unit after the initial creation, you will need to update your class-list. To update your class-list click on the 'Roster Sync' button in the upper right-hand corner of the Turnitin inbox. This adds the names of the newer students.
Q: How can I bulk download student papers from Turnitin?
A:
- Go to Course Tools > Turnitin Assignments and select the relevant Turnitin link.
- At the assignment inbox, click on the box next to the author for the submission(s) you wish to download. If you want to download all submissions, click on the box adjacent to the author column.
- Click the download button and choose 'Original File' and accept any prompts.
- Save the archived zip file to the preferred location on your computer. You will need to extract the documents from the downloaded zip file.
Q: How do I enter grades into Grade Book?
A: When you create a Turnitin assignment link, it also automatically creates a grade column for the assignment in Blackboard's Grade Book.
Once the grades are in the Grade Book you can release them to students via My Grades tool.
Note: you can also open originality reports and enter in the grades (top right corner). If you add a grade to the originality report, the grade will also appear in the Grade Book column; however this only has a limit of 2 character spaces. This means if you enter in half grades such as 25.5 - the grade will be rounded down to 25.
Q: How do I delete a Turnitin assignment submission?
A: At times, you may need to delete an assignment submission to allow a student to resubmit their assignment after the due date has passed or to remove an assignment that has been uploaded in error.
To do this:
- Go to Course Tools > Turnitin Assignments and select the relevant Turnitin link.
- Locate the student and click on the adjacent check box for the submission you wish to delete.
- Click the delete button.
- Note that the submission will still exist in the Turnitin database.
Technical Support
Q: Where do I go for technical help?
A: Contact the Turnitin Project Officer, Tracy Donelly on 9852 5938 or lib-turnitin@uws.edu.au
Outside business hours, you may contact
Information Central or Online Librarian.
Turnitin Assignment Links
Q: How do I create a Turnitin assignment link?
A: Please review the
Academic Instructions
Q: How do I change the due date of a Turnitin Assignment link?
A:
- Go to Course Tools > Turnitin Assignments and select the relevant Turnitin link.
- From the top menu, choose the Edit Assignment menu option
- Amend the due date as required but also ensure that the post date is listed as any date after the due date.
- Click on the Submit button to save changes
Q: Will students be able to see other students' papers?
A: No. Your students will not be able to see papers submitted by other students.
Q: Students have submitted draft assignments to check for issues but can't submit again?
A: You can edit the Turnitin Assignment link at any time.
- Go to Course Tools > Turnitin Assignments and select the relevant Turnitin link.
- From the top menu, choose the Edit Assignment menu option.
- Scroll down to select Optional settings.
- At the option: Generate Originality Reports for student submissions ensure the following setting is displayed: immediately (can overwrite reports until due date)
- Scroll down and select the Submit button to save these changes.
Q: What is the 'Post Date' in a Turnitin Assignment?
A: The Post Date refers to when a student can see their 'GradeMarked' papers. Please note: UWS does not have access to GradeMark so just ensure you enter a date that is after the due date for the assignment.
Q: What happens if I use the default setting exclude bibliographic or quoted material from the Similarity Index (Originality Report)?
A: This is an assignment-level preference for excluding bibliographic and quoted material rather than adjusting this setting for individual papers. This feature will save time, allowing lecturers to quickly determine how much of a paper is original work. Note for the bibliography to be excluded, students must use one of the following specific headings: 'Bibliography', 'Reference' or 'Work Cited'.
Q: Can students submit PowerPoint presentations to Turnitin?
A: Please review the following FAQ
Q: Can you create group assignments in Turnitin where only one member of the group can submit an assignment?
A: You can view student submissions according to group if you are using the Groups feature. This function requires groups be already created within your unit. For more information on how to create group sets go to Control Panel choose User and Groups > Groups.
To access a group via a Turnitin link:
- From the Control Panel select Course Tools and choose Turnitin Assignments by Groups.
- Click the title of the Turnitin assignment link you wish to access.
- Select a group from the pull-down menu and click Go.
- To review an individual Originality Report for a student, click the title or the originality score.
Q: Why can't students view their reports?
A: You need to edit the Turnitin Assignment link.
- Go to Course Tools > Turnitin Assignments and select the relevant Turnitin link.
- From the top menu, choose the Edit Assignment menu option.
- Scroll down to select Optional settings.
- At the option: Allow students to see Originality Reports? ensure you choose: Yes
- Scroll down and select the Submit button to save these changes.
Q: I'm trying to create a Turnitin Assignment link and receive the following error message (Error: 430 Unable to retrieve WebCT gradebook column for assignment)
A: The best way to resolve this issue is to choose a different assignment title. Alternatively, enter a hyphen between terms. Turnitin will distinguish that a different assignment title is in use and will proceed as normal.
