OriginalityCheck is a tool within the Turnitin Suite. It uses a set of text comparison databases to reveal how much of a submitted composition matches written work released elsewhere. Depending on instructor choice, OriginalityCheck may compare student material to various internet resources, journal articles and / or other student writing at Ohio State.

OriginalityCheck can most effectively be used to provide opportunities for instructors to work with students about how to correctly research and attribute sources.

After the tool searches for similarities across databases, it generates an Originality Report. The report uses a percentage score to indicate how much of the submission is similar to text found within the databases chosen. It also provides a mechanism for comparing the non-original material with the same text found elsewhere. Instructors can then decide whether and how to review the report's results with their students.

Instructors should note that there is no Originality Report outcome that unequivocally indicates plagiarism. The percentage score generated by Turnitin can be influenced by instructor choice. Instructors in varying disciplines should expect to establish a different baseline for what the score means.

Review the best practice procedures explained below for ways to use and understand the OriginalityCheck tool.

Know What to Expect

Familiarize yourself with relevant guidelines

The guidelines provided by the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) and Section A of Ohio State's Code of Student Conduct define plagiarism as "...the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own; it includes the unacknowledged word-for-word use and/or paraphrasing of another person's work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person's ideas." Professional colleges that have a published honor code should follow the procedures that are set forth by their respective central offices. 

Unskilled or developing writers sometimes make errors in properly citing the work of others. Consider the context of the writing assignment (level, purpose, guidelines given to the student, nature of the errors, etc.) in assessing suspected misconduct. The OriginalityCheck tool allows you an opportunity to discuss proper citation and attribution techniques in order to help your students become better writers. 

See COAM's website for more details.

Test the tool

Prior to using OriginalityCheck with your students, submit test material and review the generated Originality Report. Questions to consider:

• To which databases are you comparing your material? What other settings will you use?

• Which internet sources do you notice being pulled as "matches"? Are they what you expect?

• What percentage of non-original material seems to be typical for well-written work in your discipline?

• Given the nature of your assignment, what percentage of non-original material should you expect to see?

• How can you maximize use of this tool within your course or discipline to enhance student learning?

Understand Originality Report Scores

An Originality Report Score is not definitive. The Orginality Report Score is influenced by the choices you make as the instructor. It shows the percentage of similarity between the uploaded composition and the databases to which it was compared. Use your own judgement to determine what the report's score means for individual cases.

False positives

A high percentage match score does not automatically mean that the student plagiarized the document. There are a number of reasons a student may receive a high percentage match score.

• A student has independently submitted his or her paper to Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism.

• A student is expanding research done for a different assignment, but copying text from his or her own original research. According to Ohio State's Code of Student Conduct, "submitting substantially the same work to satisfy requirements for one course or academic requirement that has been submitted in satisfaction of requirements for another course or academic requirement without permission of the instructor of the course for which the work is being submitted..." is considered a violation of the Code of Student Conduct. You should make students aware in your assignment guidelines of your policies regarding "recycling" of previous work.

• Your student submitted a draft of his paper earlier in the term and it was added to the Ohio State database.

• The student's original work is being plagiarized by another student. An Originality Report does not identify which text is the original and which text is the copy.

False negatives

Likewise, a low percentage match score does not mean that a student didn't plagiarize. There are a number of reasons OriginalityCheck might miss a plagarized text.

• The student "commissions" the paper to be written by another student.

• The source that was copied from is not within the included databases.

• The student paraphrased another's work sufficiently so that it did not match the original source, but did not cite the original source anywhere in his or her written work

Communicate Expectations Effectively

Announce when and how OriginalityCheck will be used in your course

However you choose to use OriginalityCheck, we recommend you include a statement within your syllabus to explain your intended use to students. Note that the Assignment in CarmenCanvas will indicate to students and instructors that OriginalityCheck is enabled.

Create trust

Make sure students understand what it means for their work to be submitted to OriginalityCheck. Talk in class about the Originality Report and how the Originality Report score will be used in your course, even if it's also written in your syllabus. As an instructor, you have a choice in how you present the message: do you want your students to view the Originality Check as a useful tool that helps them grow as writers and scholars, or do you want to use it as a punitive tool?

As a means to open dialogue, we recommend you allow students to test the tool. You might do this by creating a Turnitin assignment that requires students to submit a piece of original text. Then, provide time in class or during office hours to review the Originality Reports with students and allow them to ask questions.

If you plan to run OriginalityCheck on an assignment, we strongly recommend that OriginalityCheck be run for all students in the course as opposed to a select few.

Take advantage of the reports as a learning opportunity

For students and instructors alike, an Originality Report by itself is not useful. It displays which sources are similar to a student's paper, but tells nothing about what is considered a credible source, how to research credible sources, or how to use those sources to enhance writing. 

Here are a couple ways you might use OriginalityCheck as a learning opportunity for students:

• Make reports available to students - In order for an Originality Report to help enhance students' research and writing skills, the students need to be able to view the report. This allows them to see both the strengths and weaknesses of their papers. You might then encourage students to schedule an appointment during office hours to review the report.

• Create separate Assignments for draft submissions and final submissions - Giving students the option to submit a draft through Turnitin before submitting their final paper provides an opportunity to discuss research and citation techniques. You might then require students to schedule an appointment to review their draft.

Sample Syllabus Statements

If you choose to use Turnitin in your course, we encourage you to use these statements or something similar in the syllabus and/or the relevant Assignment description.

Turnitin Syllabus Statement

 

"Students at The Ohio State University are accountable for the integrity of the work they submit. Therefore, you should be familiar with the guidelines provided by the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) and Section A of Ohio State's Code of Student Conduct in order to meet the academic expectations concerning appropriate documentation of sources. In addition, Ohio State has made Turnitin, a learning tool and plagiarism prevention system, available to instructors. For this class, you will submit your papers to Turnitin from Carmen. When grading your work, I will interpret the originality report, following Section A of Ohio State's Code of Student Conduct as appropriate. For more information about Turnitin, please see the vendor's guide for students. Note that submitted final papers become part of the Ohio State database."

Faculty may opt to not include papers in the Ohio State Turnitin database. Adapt this statement accordingly.

Plagiarism Syllabus Statement

 

"Section A of Ohio State's Code of Student Conduct defines plagiarism as '...the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own; it includes the unacknowledged word-for-word use and/or paraphrasing of another person's work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person's ideas.'"