Turnitin compares paper submissions to ProQuest and Gale databases, internet sites, and a bank of previously submitted papers, providing an Originality Report that yields a numeric estimate of the percent of matching material and direct comparison windows to review the paper text side-by-side with the internet material. See General Procedure for Use.
Faculty discussion on this technological tool has already revealed its limitations as a stand-alone solution to student cheating; it is an exceptionally useful tool but it does not stop all plagiarism, it should be used concurrently with other strategies for preventing cheating and plagiarism, and care should be taken in setting up course and assignment policies so that students can be engaged in an appropriate learning experience, and also in interpreting results for matching scores.
As noted in our policies, faculty must communicate their intent to use Turnitin to their students, most appropriately through their course syllabi. Experience at other institutions and common sense indicate that prior notice is an important part of maintaining trust in the classroom as well as an essential pre-requisite for deterring plagiarism.
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