Turnitin

nearly_there

Anyone here have experience of this? I have just been told to run all my work through this before handing it in to supervisor (drafts and final thesis). Its a plagarism testing software.

I have found that when i put through my own work that it tells me I have a high level of plagarism but then references other papers which i have never read never mind copied. another thiing was definitions or introductory pieces. there are only so many ways to write a sentence so its hardly plagarism, is it?

My worry is that when my work is being examiined this will not be taken into account and only the high % given will be asessed. But they probably know this....dont they?

2Scoops

You've probably copied copies of a copy, leading to a high plagiarism index. I wouldn't worry about definitions as long as you include the appropriate citation. Changing introductions etc. might be worthwhile.

Red Alert

I didn't realize you can run your own stuff through that system... at best the computer can only suggest where there's some lexical similarities, so I'm not sure how accurate something like it is.

emeraldstar

I did have to use it for one module years ago. Apparently my work contained 2% plagiarism and when I went and checked what they'd highlighted as the plagiarised text, it was my name.

When I used it the tutor of the module also had access to the work that you had scanned through so he was able to see what was supposedly plagiarised, so I'd say you should be okay!

But yeah in my experience of Turnitin I wasn't particularly impressed.

Ostrom

I have used it quite a bit in classes before, not so much anymore due to the unnecessary stress. Programs like turnitin are only necessary for large-volume undergrad courses where you expect to get one or two chancers copying bulk text (to save you a lot of googling!).

A 3000 word assignment should range from 5-10% + 'plagiarized', there are simply too many configurations of text on the interweb for an average sample of your text not to be found somewhere. That, and turnitin hits all the usual academic paper repositories.

When your lecturer/supervisor looks at your assignment, he will see a copy of your paper with a series of links to the source of matched text, so at a glance, he can check your citations. As long as your citations are in order, you have nothing to worry about.

nearly_there

thanks for the replies. my mind is put at ease for now.

Jigga

Hi guys, didn't see the point in starting a new thread so just bumping this one instead.

Does anyone know how to check how much plagiarism is in your document before you submit it to Turnitin? Thanks in advance.

Red Alert

At one stage you could pay a one-time fee to TurnItIn or a similar site and it would just do the report for you.

Jigga

Red Alert wrote: »

At one stage you could pay a one-time fee to TurnItIn or a similar site and it would just do the report for you.

Thanks for reply RA, these anti-plagiarism sites are a pain in the arse. How much plagiarism is acceptable? None I assume as long as its properly referenced

Ostrom

Jigga wrote: »

Thanks for reply RA, these anti-plagiarism sites are a pain in the arse. How much plagiarism is acceptable? None I assume as long as its properly referenced

Turnitin is more for our benefit as markers. I have marked with and without and always end up having to chase citations, google chunks of text. Plagiarism usually stands out a mile anyway, it is the proof that takes time and effort.

Consciously copying text to pass it off as your own is never acceptable. There is a difference between an honest misguided paraphrase and a copied article. Generally the copier, if they have to resort to plagiarism wont have the good sense to touch up the text anyway.

nearly_there

I was actually discussing this with an Indian classmate of mine yesterday and when he was an undergrad they were told to download the program themselves. Now it wasnt Turnitin , but something similiar. So he still has it and is able to run all essays etc through it before submitting.

I dont think you can download turnitin but if you were able to find a suitable alternative youre flying!!

Jigga

efla wrote: »

Turnitin is more for our benefit as markers. I have marked with and without and always end up having to chase citations, google chunks of text. Plagiarism usually stands out a mile anyway, it is the proof that takes time and effort.

Consciously copying text to pass it off as your own is never acceptable. There is a difference between an honest misguided paraphrase and a copied article. Generally the copier, if they have to resort to plagiarism wont have the good sense to touch up the text anyway.

I appreciate that efla, it does seem to subject the student to a presumption of guilt. That's just my opinion and I'm sure I'd see different in your shoes.

Dr Strange

Jigga wrote: »

Thanks for reply RA, these anti-plagiarism sites are a pain in the arse. How much plagiarism is acceptable? None I assume as long as its properly referenced

The recommended cut-off between normal "plagiarism levels" due to referencing etc. and suspicious material seems to be the 15% mark anything over that would be flagged as suspicious (mind you, that was for the other programme SafeAssign for Blackboard).

Due to referencing and such you can hardly get 0% on the plagiarism checkers.