1. Using Turnitin
Vic Boyd
v.boyd@gsa.ac.uk

2. Using Turnitin
• Turnitin is a text matching tool that can be useful in helping
you develop critical writing skills and your use of evidence.
• An Originality Report is generated that outlines where
particular excerpts of text may have come from.
• There are a number of things to be aware of in interpreting
the Originality Report, such as the assessment
requirements, inclusion of bibliographic information, etc.
• Whilst a similarity percentage is generated, this should not be
considered in isolation. It’s important and more meaningful
to interpret the findings of the Originality Report in detail.
• You can submit multiple times before the final submission.
However, each new upload will over-write the last version.

3. In your course, find the Turnitin
assignment upload link that
you’ve been pointed to (and
look for the grey and red icon).
Click View/ Complete.

4. This will take you to the
Assignment Inbox. Click on
Submit to start the process.

5. As you have already logged on to the
VLE, your First name and Last name
should automatically appear.
Add a title for your submission.
Please note this info on file
sizes, format and maximum length.

6. As well as attaching a file from
your local computer you can
now browse Dropbox and
Google Drive.
Browse to find your file and
click Upload.

7. You will now see a preview of the
document you have submitted. Check
this carefully and click Submit.

8. You will be notified that your
submission is processing.

9. Your digital receipt will now be
displayed, and you will receive
a confirmation email.
Click Go to Portfolio.

10. Your Originality Report is now processing. It
will appear within a few minutes in most cases
but can take longer if lots of students are
uploading at the same time.

11. You can access the originality
report from the main course.
Return to the link and click
View/Complete.

12. On this page you will see your Similarity Index (a
percentage and coloured bar) and possibly an option
to Resubmit (not always the case). Click on your
Similarity Index to access your Originality Report.
< 24%
25 – 49% 25 – 49%
> 75%
The coloured bar indicates how much text has been matched. Don’t worry
about this too much – it’s more important to make sense of the report.

13. If not already active, click on the
Originality button to show the
Originality Report pane.
This pane allows you to view a
digest of where text has come, what
sources have been used and how
evidence has been incorporated into
an assessment.
Click on a Match to see its source and
incorporation.

14. The Match Breakdown helps to interpret
the Similarity Index. E.g. There is a fairly
large highlighted section here, but it is
properly referenced and clearly a quote.

15. To exclude bibliographic material or
quotations, click the filter icon at the
bottom right. You can then choose which
aspects you may wish to exclude. Then
click Apply Changes.

16. If there is a reference list this will now be
excluded from the Similarity Index.

17. You can save or print a copy of the
highlighted Originality Report by clicking
the printer icon.