1. Feedback studio

Interpretation of the similarity report

Text that is similar to any text on the Turnitin www databases is marked in a colour that is the same as the corresponding source in the Match Overview column on the right-hand side. Matching sources are numbered and sorted from highest to lowest occurrence in the document.

      Clicking on the open book icon opens the Full source text in the match overview window.

      Close it by clicking on the X next to Full Source Text.

Match breakdown

Lecturers / supervisors can select sources to verify their origin or to be excluded.

Some thesis chapters like Methods will have high similarity due to terminology in the field, and do not necessarily implicate plagiarism.

Filters and settings

The Download button allows one to download the document with/without feedback and similarities. The documents are often too large to email or print.

Some assignments do not display your report till after the due date, and you will not be able to resubmit.

To resubmit a revised document:

To submit an improved / corrected version of this assignment, go to the Inbox and click on resubmit. If you resubmit your paper, the new report will not be available immediately; it can take up to 24 hrs to be available.

Tips on writing a good assignment:

• Use high quality, verified, scholarly resources found in the Library’s e-journals (if unfamiliar with using those, talk to the information specialists on how to create web-searches for your topic.
• Keep track of where information comes from: use a reference organiser like Endnote (on your own computer: see UPLibrary web for student licensing and links to download to your own computer) This programme helps you to use a reference style consistently.
• Always try to write information in your own words, as you would explain it to someone else, while still citing the original author whose idea you refer to.
• Make sure that the heading for your references or bibliography is a proper heading, left aligned, not numbered and spelled correctly as either References or Bibliography.
• When quoting someone’s own words use double quotation marks (short quotes) or Block Quotes (longer quotes) followed by a full citation (including page numbers). Turnitin assignment settings usually exclude quotations from the similarity score. Familiarise yourself with the details of the prescribed reference style.
• Avoid using unscholarly web-pages such as social networking, blogs, Wikipedia etc as resources.
• Revise, revise, revise…

Tips for academic writing (when using Turnitin)

• Goal: Strive for an overall similarity score of less than 10% when small matches References, front matter and addenda are excluded.

• Strategy

Do not include generic documents like plagiarism declarations or lengthy descriptions of standardised methods in your dissertation. Make optimal use of quotations, diagrams, the Glossary, Abbreviations, and Addenda. For the rest, practice writing in your own words.

• Front matter

Plagiarism declarations, language editing certificates, acknowledgments, table of contents, tables of figures etc., Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms (as used) and the Abstract(s) should be placed in the Front Matter of the dissertation, pages numbered with small roman numerals, and need not be submitted to Turnitin. Make optimal use of the Glossary and Abbreviations, providing the generic definitions and explanations of terms that are used many times. These explanations need not be repeated every time in your text, and increase the readability of the text. The full name of an abbreviation or acronym is given in the text only the first time it is mentioned.

• Addenda / Appendices

Standard methods could be provided as numbered Addenda, as should research instruments like questionnaires. The materials and methods chapter might display the highest similarity score of all chapters, and do not necessarily constitute plagiarism. Addenda need not be submitted through Turnitin as part of the final Turnitin submission.

• Quotes

Short quotes should be enclosed in double quotation marks, followed by a reference and page number. Single quotation marks are used for quotes within quotes, and to denote unpublished spoken words, without citations. If you quote a published speech, use double quotation marks and a citation. The text of long quotations (length determined by the reference style, typically more than 30 words (APA) or 3 lines of text (Harvard) should be formatted as blocked, indented text and followed by a citation and page number. Do not quote more than one paragraph in a block quote.

• References

Text preceded by an unnumbered heading named References, Bibliography or Resources will be excluded from the similarity index, if this exclusion has been selected in the Turnitin assignment settings. This is not a chapter!

• Footnotes and Endnotes

If you place references in the footnotes and not in a reference list at the end of the document, note that Turnitin will not exclude them from the similarity score. If this is the preferred or prescribed citation format in your field, adjust the acceptable similarity score accordingly. A 10% similarity goal might not be feasible. Documents discussing laws and legislation will also have higher similarity scores, and have to be evaluated accordingly.