TVO ILC uses Turnitin, an academic integrity tool that supports student understanding of plagiarism and encourages the creation of original, properly sourced work.
If Turnitin has been enabled for your course, you will notice this icon ( 
) next to each assessment for grading along with this message on the submission page: “This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin.”
How does Turnitin work?
After submitting an assignment for grading, Turnitin will compare your written work with other works in their databases, including works found on the Internet and other student submissions.
A Similarity Score is calculated, which represents the overall percentage of your written work that has been found to match the work of their sources.
A Similarity Report highlights the areas of your work where matches have been found.
Explore these resources to learn more about this report:
- Understanding the Similarity Report (PDF)
- Interpreting the Similarity Report
- Similarity Report score ranges
- Viewing a breakdown of your matches
What is a reasonable Similarity Score?
There is no specific Similarity Score that your written work is expected to meet. Some similarity is to be expected with all assignments.
TVO ILC encourages students to use the folder titled “Draft Assignment for Turnitin Feedback” to view your assignment’s Similarity Report and determine what score is appropriate to submit.
If your Similarity Report indicates some parts of your work have been plagiarized, ensure these parts are rewritten in your own words and you have attributed any sources appropriately.
This does not include:
– Direct quotes with correct in-text citations
– Original assignment questions from the course
– Correct works cited page
If your Similarity Score solely consists of the above-listed exceptions, then you can consider this a reasonable score and proceed with your assignment submission.
How to access your Similarity Report
- Submit your assignment.
- Return to the assignment page.
- Under the ‘Completion Status’ column, select the submission you wish to view.
- Under the ‘Turnitin Similarity Report’ column, select the percentage to view the report.
Using the Draft Assignment folder for Turnitin Feedback
For each assessment for grading, a draft submission folder has been created to allow students to check their Similarity Report before submitting their assignment for grading.
You can submit to these folders as many times as you need. A Similarity Report will be generated each time. However, after your third submission, you will need to wait 24 hours before another Similarity Report is generated.
Students should use these draft folders to view their Similarity Report, make any adjustments, and submit their assignment to their finished assessment for grading folder. You can only submit assignments one time in the assessment for grading folder.