Index
Student FAQ on Turnitin
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an online service, operating on servers in the U.S., into which teachers and students submit student assignments into an online database. The database compares the text in the assignment against a large body of database content which includes all of the World Wide Web, online e-journals, previously uploaded assignments and other academically relevant content. Teachers and their students are then able to review the citation and paraphrasing used throughout the student assignment to see if any improvements are needed.
At RMIT University, many teaching staff use Turnitin with student assignments. Teaching staff at RMIT endeavour to use the Turnitin service as an educative tool. Turnitin helps teaching staff identify students who need assistance with referencing and research skills. To find out more about this service please visit the website: www.turnitin.com
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How can I access Turnitin?
Your lecturer or tutor is able to use Turnitin directly from within Blackboard as a Turnitin Assignment, in which case you can submit your work to Turnitin from within Blackboard as you would with a regular Blackboard Assignment.
Your lecturer may choose to use Turnitin independently of Blackboard, in which case they will need to provide you with log-in details for you to access the Turnitin service (www.turnitin.com). Once you have received those details from your lecturer or tutor you will need to follow the instructions for access located at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/academicintegrity/studentprocedures
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What happens to my assignments?
When you or your teacher upload your assignment into Turnitin, it is stored electronically in the Turnitin database in the United States. Your assignment cannot be viewed by anybody except for the original author, or the teacher who uploaded it into Turnitin. Your assignment is stored in the database and text-matched against any other documents that are uploaded into the Turnitin database. The privacy processes associated with this is described at: http://turnitin.com/static/privacy.html
An Australian legal opinion addressing issues associated with Turnitin and student Intellectual Property, is presented at: http://turnitin.com/static/pdf/australian_legal.pdf
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How long does a Turnitin check take?
Turnitin will assess your work in approximately one minute, and return a colour coded response for the originality of the text.
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I also use correct citation and referencing, how will Turnitin detect that?
Turnitin will highlight any direct quotes within your document. You or your lecturer will be able to see if those highlighted quotes have correct citation methods associated with them. In the end, it will ultimately be the responsible academic who determines whether or not you have used correct citation methods. Turnitin is a tool to assist in this process.
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What happens if I don’t use correct citation methods and it is detected by Turnitin?
Your lecturer will identify that you have not used correct citation, and they will communicate with you about your citation skills. You may need further education in research and referencing skills which your lecturer will be able to direct you on.
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What happens if someone else’s assignment is submitted to Turnitin, and it matches text in my assignment?
The lecturer who uploaded the second assignment may request to contact your lecturer to discuss the text-match. The lecturer who uploaded your assignment will be contacted by Turnitin, and will be given the option of contacting the other lecturer. Those two lecturers may then discuss the two assignments in question. At no stage will your details be disclosed.
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I need help using the Turnitin service
For any queries and technical assistance, refer back to the instructions at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/academicintegrity/studentprocedures
For assistance with interpreting the output from Turnitin, and responding to your assessment requirements refer to your lecturer or tutor for further assistance.
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Further information to support my use of Turnitin
There is a full user guide available at the Turnitin site (www.turnitin.com), specifically at: http://www.turnitin.com/static/pdf/tii_student_guide.pdf
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