Using the Web based TurnitinUK Service Jim Sharp Hotline -

2 Overview The extent of plagiarism in the UK QMU approach – avoiding the “arms war” Introduction to the TurnitinUK service Role of the tutor (Instructor) Interpreting “originality” reports Using with students

3 Latest, latest…. 17 March One in three students cheats, survey finds One-third of students admit to cheating at university by copying ideas from books or the internet, according to the results of a survey published today in The Times Higher Education Supplement. The statistics come to light only a day after Oxford University warned that plagiarism by its students could threaten the value of its degrees. The survey, based on 1,022 undergraduates at 119 universities and colleges, found that one in six students admitted they copied work from friends while 10 per cent said they looked for essays online. Male students were more likely to copy work from their friends (21 per cent) than female students (14 per cent), the study revealed. Nearly half of male students (45 per cent) said they copied from their friends for group assignments, compared with 29 per cent of female students, the researchers discovered. 

4 Student View?

5 Essay Banks (Cheat Sites) * (notorious!) ‘Essays’ can be available for as little as £4.99

6 Exercise – your experience A recent survey of both students and staff at Northumbria University ascertained the proportions of students who believed certain forms of cheating to be common (Dordoy, 2002). From your experience and intuition complete the supplied pro-forma with your best guess at these proportions (the percentages need not add up to 100%)supplied pro-forma Then check your answers with the next slide.

7 Plagiarism in the UK Proportion thinking that cheating is ‘common’ (i.e. more than 10% cases) Staff % (n=155) Students % (n=140) A recent survey of both students and staff at Northumbria University ascertained the proportions of both staff and students who believed certain forms of cheating to be common (Dordoy, 2002). Copying a few paragraphs from a book/internet un-cited Copying most of an assignment from some source Downloading a whole essay from a cheat site on the internet Buying an essay from a ghost-writing service Cheating in an exam Making up data for a project or lab class Working with another student on work that is meant to be individual Passing off others’ ideas/images/designs as your own

8 The QMU Approach - 1 One of the key elements of our approach is to avoid a ‘them and us’ situation caused by a perception of being “policed” It is tempting to believe that a problem exacerbated by ICT (eg the Internet) can be solved by ICT (eg the TurnitinUK service) Cole & Kiss (2000) describe a situation in American Universities where ‘cheaters’ are using devices such as silent pagers and tiny video cameras to gain marks which in turn requires lecturers to deploy forensic linguistics to detect plagiarism They describe this as a ‘dispiriting arms race’ and is certainly something we at QMU want to avoid.

9 The QMU Approach - 2 Using workshops where appropriate, we are introducing what Carroll & Appleton (2001) describe as a “balanced institutional response” including: –Creating a climate that discourages plagiarism –Teaching students what plagiarism is –Teaching students paraphrasing/referencing skills to avoid plagiarism –Encouraging tutors to ‘design out’ opportunities for plagiarism –Introducing the judicious use of electronic aids ie TurnitinUK (Note that these steps should not be confused with the need for a well defined disciplinary procedure for when serious plagiarism is detected. This procedure should be clearly separated from the assessment process.) 

10 TurnitinUK – An introduction QMU is a registered user of the TurnitinUK service available at This web-based service compares submitted assignments against a database of over 1000 million web pages, Electronic databases such as Emerald, Gale InfoTrac, CrossRef, ProQuest and thousands of previously submitted student assignments from UK universities.Gale InfoTrac ProQuest It then produces an originality report identifying sections of matching text and providing links to the original sources. This service is free to all QMU tutors and students. The intention is that students will routinely submit their assignments to the service and use the originality reports generated as re-assurance that they have referenced appropriately.

11 Administrators –Susi Peacock and Jim Sharp –will create “Instructor” (QMU Tutor) accounts on-demand and also operate as a Plagiarism hot-line to deal with queries via –Note we do not know and cannot retrieve passwords (but tutors can do this for themselves) Instructors –QMU tutors who wish their students to use the TurnitinUK service –Able to set up “classes” (usually one per module) with one or more assignment areas. Optionally each assignment can be accompanied by one or more “revision” areas Students –Enrol themselves onto classes set up by their tutor –Then submit assignments via the appropriate class to get an “originality” report –Use the originality report to refine their assignment referencing –Can re-submit a number of times depending on how many revision areas the QMU “Instructor” tutor has set up.  TurnitinUK – 3 types of user

12 TurnitinUK – the process 1.Tutor contacts administrator to be set up as an “Instructor” 2.Administrator creates “instructor” account using tutor’s address. The TurnitinUK service s a starter password directly to the tutor. 3.Tutor logs in to the new account at and adds a class, creating a “class name” and a “class enrolment password”. The system creates a unique “class id” number. To this class the Tutor adds “assignment headings”logs inwww.submit.ac.uk 4.Tutor communicates the “class id” number and the “class enrolment password” to the relevant students (the tutor can also enrol the students manually) 5.Each student accesses and creates an account (user profile) using a convenient address and a suitable passwordwww.submit.ac.uk 6.After creating the account, the student “enrols” onto the class created by the tutor, using the class id and password supplied in step 4 8.Student checks originality report and makes any necessary changes to the work. If the tutor has provided revision areas, the student can re-submit as in step 7. 7.When ready, the student submits work under the relevant assignment heading. The TurnitinUK service then matches the work against the database, generating an “originality” report

13 Tutor / Student Interaction Student submits work & receives reports  Class A Assignment 1 Revision 1b Revision 1a TurnitinUK Service Tutor creates & monitors Assignment 2 Class B

14 Tutor (Instructor) – logging on 1.Tutor types in full address followed by the password sent via TurnitinUK (note that only the tutor can change or retrieve his/her password) 2.and clicks on ‘Sign in”’ button Using any browser, access :-

15 Instructor – adding a class 2.tutor adds a class (module) to the account by clicking the “ + add a class" button. 3.The next screen - the tutor is setting up a class called ‘Study & ITSkills module’ with an “enrolment password” of ‘sitsmodule’ 4.The tutor has set up a class end date of 26 August Note that all assessment submission dates must be before this date. 1.The ‘tutor account’ page will appear 5.Tutor clicks on ‘submit’ button to continue

16 Instructor – adding an assignment ‏Note: the number next to the class name is the class id, which students will need along with the class enrolment password to enrol in the class. The tutor should note this number so that it can be distributed to students along with the class enrolment password. The class is now listed on the Tutor’s account page This will initially be empty so Tutor clicks on ‘+ new assignment” button Tutor clicks on the class name to "enter" the class and open the class ‘assignments page’.

Instructor – choosing assignment type 17 Click “Next Step” to continue

18 Instructor – adding assignment dates If tutor wants students to submit revisions then additional copies of the assignment need to be created with this set to ‘revision assignment’ (from assignment home page) Note: on first use tutor must click on + (more options) to see additional options (IMPORTANT!) First occurrence of assignment only due date = deadline for assignment post date = release date for marks if using Grademark otherwise set to one day after due date Only used if using Grademark (marking online)

19 Instructor – adding assignment options 1 Normally ‘no’ unless using GradeMark Always ‘yes’ Usually ‘no’ but can be ‘yes’ if required Always set to this Usually ‘no’ but can be ‘yes’ if required

20 Instructor – adding assignment options 2 Always ‘yes’, submission after the due date will be flagged as ‘late’ When complete, click on the ‘submit’ button Best as ‘yes’ and 1%, makes report easier to read Always ‘yes (critical) Leave this section as is … Always ‘yes for QMU Leave this section as is …

21 ProQuest ProQuest offers instant access to a vast range of content: current and historical periodicals; newspapers; dissertations; out-of-print books and scholarly information. Their archive includes more than 5.5 billion pages of information, spanning 500 years of scholarship, in formats that range from print to microform and digital. Subject coverage extends across business and economics; science, technology and medicine; general reference; humanities and social sciences. Back to TiiUK Intro

22 Gale InfoTrac Thomson Gale™ ( is a business arm of The Thomson Corporation. It is a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses. Best known for its accurate and authoritative reference content as well as its intelligent organisation of full-text magazine and newspaper articles, the company creates and maintains more than 600 databases that are published online, in print, as eBooks and in microform. Back to TiiUK Intro

23 Assignment Inbox Once the assignment dates and options have been submitted, the assignment inbox is created as above. Tutors and student submit by clicking on the “View” link. The tutor can use the ‘More actions’ link to editing the assignment settings, submit a paper or delete the assignment. Usually, tutors allow more than one opportunity for students to submit work so they can improve their referencing and see if their changes have worked. In this case the next step is to create what are called “revisions”. The process is started by clicking on the ‘+ new assignment’ button.

24 Instructor – adding a “revision” area (1) Start as for a new assignment but select ‘revision assignment’ here - Click ‘Next Step’ button

25 Instructor – adding a “revision” area (2) Choose the correct one from the assignments listed here Change due and post dates to the same as the assignment (not done automatically) Always set to yes Always set to this When complete, click on the ‘submit’ button

26 Instructor – assignment after revision After adding a revision the assignment page for the ‘Study & IT Skills’ class looks like this to the tutor: A tutor can add a further “revision” if required by clicking again on the “+ New Assignment” button. A tutor can view all submissions in an assignment by clicking on the “View” link in the appropriate line.

27 Enrolling students Before students can access a TurnitinUK class they have to have an account and be enrolled on to the class. This can be done: –By the tutor, student by student –By the tutor by preparing an batch file of all students off line –By the student on receipt of the class id number and password from the tutor For more details see the Tutor Guide

28 Student view – assignment inbox The student would submit their first attempt using the “Submit” button in the “coursework essay” line, then if necessary submit a second attempt in the “coursework essay | revision” line. A student sees a slightly different view of the In-box:

29 Typical Tutor Inbox Entry Name of Student Title of Student submission Outcome of submission – click here to see Originality Report No match 1 word-24% match 25-49% match 50-74% match % match Tutor can submit an assessment at any time by clicking on the “+ submit paper” button

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31 Please remember … Academic judgement is essential when interpreting the report –% scores can be misleading –try including/excluding reference list/quotations –always check matches for referencing –look out for plagiarism “rings” –take care with other class data situationsother class data The TurnitinUK service is one tool in the QMU “plagiarism toolbox”

32 Turnitin and Students Book a computing workshop if necessary Invite students to bring a trial submission Issue Student Guide document Publicise class id and password Take students through account creation using Student presentation Supervise their first submissions Assist in interpreting reports

33 Other Class Data Sources The matching process includes all previous student submissions to the Service This includes those to another tutor’s class area If a match is found across areas, the service will not display the matched text because of the TurnitinUK privacy policy Instead the submitter is advised to seek permission from TurnitinUK to view the text TurnitinUK will act as a middleperson If this happens you and that tutor might want to consider the implications

34 Signposts to Resources Hotline - Website –Introduction to originality reports –Examples of originality reports –This presentation online –Tutor Quick Start Guide –Student Quick Start Guide –List of “Cheat” sites –Access to referencing guides via Library website –Access to relevant QMU regulations –Hints on assessment design (Leeds University) Study Skills website –

35 Bibliography Franklyn-Stokes,A. and Newstead,S. (1995), ‘Undergraduate cheating: who does what and why?’ Studies in Higher Education, 20(2), Newstead, S., Franklyn-Stokes, A. and Armstead, P. (1996), ‘Individual differences in student cheating’, Journal of Educational Psychology, 88 (2), Dordoy, A. (2002), ‘Cheating and Plagiarism: Staff and Student Perceptions at Northumbria’, University of Northumbria Conference on Plagiarism [on-line] Carroll, J. and Appleton, J. (2001), ‘Plagiarism: A Good Practice Guide’, Oxford Brookes University Guide Series [on-line] Cole, S. and Kiss, E. (2000), ‘What can we do about student cheating?’, About Campus, May-June, Other reading – ‘Plagiarism and Poor Academic Practice – A Threat to the Extension of e-Learning in Higher Education?’ Mike Hart, King Alfred’s University College, Winchester, UK, and Tim Friesner, University College Chichester, UK [on-line]