Relevant to: faculty and staff
This article contains information considered accurate at the time of publishing. Technology updates, changes in University security practices, and/or policies and procedures may affect the information in this article - updates to articles are scheduled on a periodic basis and will address any required changes.
Introduction
This article will provide an overview of reading the Originality Score in assignments and accessing the full Similarity Report.
Note: Brightspace supports the use of TurnItIn in Assignments (only), TurnItIn cannot be used in other learning activities such as Discussions.
What Submission Types are Checked/Generate a Report
TurnItIn supports many different types of documents that may be submitted by students.
Document Types Supported by TurnItIn
- Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX)
- Corel WordPerfect (WPD)
- Adobe Acrobat PDF
- HTML (HTM, HTML)
- Rich text (RTF)
- Plain text (TXT)
- Hangul Word Processor (HWP)
- PostScript (PS)
- Microsoft Excel (XLS, XLSX)
- Microsoft PowerPoint (PPTX, PPT, PPSX, PPS)
What is Contained in the Database
Reports include possible text similarities or matches from the TurnItIn database, including sources from the wider Internet, academically published material (licensed documents, reference works, etc.), and previously submitted student material.
What Types of Matches are Not Shown
Results are based on matching texts that are the most relevant. This relevancy is calculated by a high degree of match against a primary source. This is intended to remove the "background noise," potential matches that can't be avoided. Settings are available to filter citations, quotes, and bibliographic material from the report totals.
Content That is Typically Not Shown as a High Degree of Match Includes
- Quotes in quotations marks
- Accurate citations
- Commonly used phrases like "Beat around the bush," "Rule of thumb," "Society nowadays," or "Beating a dead horse"
- Multiple uses of the same phrase within a paper
- Self-plagiarism
Reading TurnItIn Originality Reports in an Assignment
- Navigate to the assignment by selecting Course Menu then Assignments.
- Select the name of the assignment whose Originality Reports you want to view.
- A list of all student submissions will appear on the next page. If the report is ready, it will display a percentage under the column "TurnItIn Similarity Report."
- To review the similarity report for an individual student, select the Similarity Score listed for the student's submission. A new window will open with the student's similarity report displayed where you can interact with the TurnItIn tools and get a sense of what the assignment includes.
- If the status of the report reads as "In-Progress," the report is still processing.
Interpreting a Similarity Score
You can view Originality Reports from the Submissions page. When a report is available, the submission status changes from In Progress to a similarity percentage, which indicates the amount of matching text identified in the submission.
A lower similarity percentage generally indicates that the submission contains fewer matching sources, while a higher percentage indicates that more matching content has been identified. The similarity percentage alone does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred. Each report should be carefully reviewed, and faculty should use their professional judgment to determine whether the matches represent appropriate citation, common phrases, or potential academic integrity concerns.
For accessibility purposes, the similarity ranges are communicated using both percentages and color indicators. Do not rely on color alone to interpret the results.
- Blue (0%–19%) – Low similarity
- Green (20%–39%) – Moderate similarity
- Yellow (40%–59%) – Noticeable similarity
- Orange (60%–79%) – High similarity
- Red (80%–100%) – Very high similarity
Select the percentage indicator to open the associated Originality Report. The report contains two panes:
- Right pane: Lists all matching sources, the percentage of text matched from each source, and links to the original content when available.
- Left pane: Displays the submitted document with highlighted passages corresponding to the matching sources, allowing you to review each match in context.
Important: A high similarity percentage does not necessarily indicate plagiarism, just as a low percentage does not guarantee originality. Similarity Reports are intended to support the review process and should always be interpreted using faculty judgment.