Using Turnitin.com, Part 1:
Overview, Guidelines and Signing Up
(Text-Only Version)

 

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Hello and welcome to this presentation on using Turnitin! This presentation covers an overview of Turntin, a review of UMUC's guidelines for using it, and instructions for registering to use the service. You will work through the Class Setup Wizard to create a class and an assignment area in Turnitin.

The next section of the presentation can be viewed separately. It will cover how to submit papers to Turnitin and how to view originality reports.

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Turnitin is a Web-based service that is used for plagiarism detection. The service contains over one million papers and assignments that have been “turned in” by students and faculty and checked for text that matches text in other papers and assignments.

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After you register and set up a profile, you can submit suspicious papers on a case by case basis or have your students submit their own papers to Turnitin for checking.

Turnitin checks your students' submissions for textual match with material in its database and creates an Originality Report. In the report the paper will be colorized based on the degree to which text matches material already in the Turnitin database. Material with the highest degree of match is colored red, while material with the lowest degree of match is colored blue.

Remember, the crucial step is for you to interpret the Originality Report to determine whether plagiarism occurred. Note that Turnitin will find a textual match even in instances where text has been properly quoted and cited. A heavy score of Red may not necessarily mean there is plagiarism. It may only indicate that the submission is mostly made up of properly cited quotes.

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All UMUC faculty and staff worldwide are eligible to use Turnitin.

You can also allow students access by having them join your account. Students can view their own submissions and originality reports but not the reports for others.

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What are UMUC's guidelines for using Turnitin?

UMUC acknowledges and respects students' right to privacy as well as their copyright.

To protect student privacy when using Turnitin, you can decide to submit students' works anonymously, using an alias, so that it is not indicated in the Turnitin database that the work was written by a particular student.

You must notify students in advance that you are using the Turnitin service. As a best practice, I recommend that if you know you will use Turnitin in a class, inform students at the beginning of the semester or term with a class announcement and a message in the syllabus.

Note too that students cannot be compelled to submit their papers to the Turnitin database. Legally their work is their own. Students hold copyright to their works, including papers and assignments they create for classes at UMUC, and technically only the holder of copyright can distribute copies of their works unless they give permission.

The UMUC guidelines state that from the time you inform students you are using Turnitin, students have two weeks to express their objections to having their work stored in Turnitin. If they do NOT object, UMUC considers the student to have given tacit permission.

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As faculty, you have the right to investigate works that you suspect are plagiarized. Students cannot hide behind claims of privacy or copyright to prevent you from reviewing their work to ensure the academic integrity of works submitted in your class. If a student objects to your using Turnitin, there are other ways to investigate suspicious work for plagiarism. You can use search engines like Google to find textual match, or use other plagiarism detection services like EVE2 that do not store student papers. You can search in the library databases for articles that may be the source of plagiarized material. And you can call on the library for assistance in finding text that matches. Information and Library Services staff will be happy to assist you!

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Now let's move on to setting up a Turnitin account!

The first step is to register with UMUC for an account.

From the Information and Library Services home page at www.umuc.edu/library click on Faculty Resources and Services.

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On the Faculty Resources and Services page, click the link to Academic Integrity and Copyright.

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Next, click the link to Turnitin.com.

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Please read through the FAQ on Turnitin- it will answer your most basic questions about the service.

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Once you have read through the FAQ, go to the yellow box toward the top right-hand side of the page and click Request a Turnitin.com Account.

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Fill out the form with your last name, your library barcode, your EMPL ID or social security number, and your e-mail address. This information is on a secure server, so your information should be safe.

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The next screen will provide detailed instructions. Read them and click Register for Turnitin to begin the registration process.

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You will see a split screen. The top frame has the instructions for setting up. You will need to scroll down in the top frame to read all the instructions.

The lower frame has the Turnitin interface. Toward the upper right of the Turnitin interface, click New Users.

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Select user type: Instructor and click next.

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Enter the UMUC Turnitin account number and password. This information is in the top frame. Just click your mouse in the top frame and scroll down to see it.

Because this presentation is on a public server anyone can access, including non-UMUC faculty and staff, we won't show you the account number and password in this presentation. Rest assured, that information is in the top frame instructions!

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Enter your e-mail address and click next. If you use multiple e-mail accounts, be sure to note which one you enter. You will need this e-mail address to enter Turnitin after set up.

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Follow the prompts. Create your personal profile with Turnitin. Create your own personal password and confirm.

Note that this is NOT the same password you were given to join the UMUC account. This will be your own personal password for logging in to Turnitin. UMUC will not have a record of your password, so you may want to keep a record of it in a safe place.

Your password is case sensitive. It must be 6-12 characters long and include at least one number. When you are satisfied with your password, click Next to move to the next step.

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Continue with the prompts in the lower frame. Next you are asked to answer a secret question for security reasons. If you should forget your password and need to contact Turnitin to reset it, Turnitin will ask you this secret question so that you can identify yourself.

The drop down menu offers options for your secret question.

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Enter your first name and last name.

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Read through the Turnitin.com User Agreement and click I agree, Create Profile.

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Now you are ready to create classes, assignments and start submitting papers. Click Start Class Setup Wizard.

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Enter a class name. You may want to use the UMUC number, such as LIBS 150, if the course title is too long.

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Make a note of your class ID. Next, create an enrollment password. You need to give the class ID and this password to your students if you want them to join your account and submit their own papers. The enrollment password you create must be between four and twelve characters. Keep a record of this password. UMUC will not have access to it. You will have to contact Turnitin directly if your forget or misplace the enrollment password for your class. Or you may just find it simpler to create another class!

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Enter an assignment name. Select the assignment due date using the drop down menu.

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Congratulations! You have completed the class setup wizard, and are ready to start using Turnitin. If you are going to have your students submit papers, please instruct them to create their own user profiles and login to Turnitin. Make sure your students have your class ID and enrollment password--they will need this information to create their user profiles.

If your students already have profiles with Turnitin, they can login and enroll in your class.

If you plan on submitting papers yourself, please login to Turnitin and click on the name of your new class. You will be taken to your class home page, which will look much like this: Next to the name of your assignment will be a submit button to the right. You can click on the submit button to submit your first paper.

Click end wizard and log in to begin submitting your students’ papers.

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If you forget your Turnitin password, just go to the Turnitin log in screen and click Password Help. Turnitin will contact you by e-mail, ask your secret question, and reset your password.

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In the next presentation, we will demonstrate the process for submitting papers to Turnitin and reviewing papers with the Turnitin Originality Report.

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Thank you for watching this presentation. Visit us often for all of your information needs.

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