Turnitin is an online plagiarism-detection resource for educators and students concerned with developing quality writing and research skills. The system detects plagiarism by comparing submitted papers against three databases:
- A copy of the publicly accessible Internet (more than 2 billion pages updated at a rate of 30-40 million pages per day).
- Millions of published works (such as ABI/Inform, Periodical Abstracts, Business Dateline, and tens of thousands of electronic books).
- Student papers previously submitted from schools using Turnitin.com.
The results of these comparisons are compiled, one for each paper submitted, in custom "Originality Reports."
Even though a student paper may receive a high similarity rating in an Originality Report, it does not necessarily mean the paper is plagiarized. There are a number of perfectly legitimate reasons for a paper receiving a high similarity rating. For example, a research paper on the Bill of Rights which quotes extensively from the U. S. Constitution and is properly cited would nonetheless be flagged as being similar to content in the Turnitin databases. It is up to the faculty to review the Turnitin Originality Report to determine if the similar text is legitimate or reflects plagiarism.
There are two options for using Turnitin at Cal State L.A. The first option is to use the Turnitin website to manage student-submitted assignments. You and your students will need to create profiles on the Turnitin website. Before creating a user profile at http://www.turnitin.com, instructors must read "Recommendations for Faculty Using Turnitin.com at CSULA." After you have read these recommendations, please use the Turinitin account request form to obtain an account id and join account password information from eLPS.
The second option is to create Turnitin assignments within Blackboard. With this option, you will not need to request a join account id and password. We strongly encourage you to read "Recommendations for Faculty Using Turnitin.com at CSULA" before using Turnitin in your course.
Turnitin Links
- CSULA Academic Honesty Policy
- Turnitin FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions
Turnitin Additional Resources
Turnitin's training page offers a number of Flash Video Tutorials and downloadable PDF User Manuals and Quickstart Guides
- Turnitin Tutorials (Videos and PDFs)
- Instructor Quick Start Guide
- Student Quick Start Guide
Contact Us
Have questions or need assistance?
Help in the Lab: Fine Arts 138 (Map), Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Help via telephone: 323-343-6594
Help via email: teachme@calstatela.edu
Contact the eLPS Staff