Introduction to Turnitin
 
 
 
This document introduces UCLA Humanities faculty and TAs to Turnitin, a plagiarism prevention service available to all instructors at UCLA. It contains information on the
following topics:
 
•  What Exactly Is Turnitin?
•  Turnitin and Academic Integrity 
• Legal Considerations 
•  Basic Instructions for Using Turnitin 
•  Assistance Available from ITCs
•  Where to Go for Further Help 
 
 
What Exactly Is Turnitin?
 
Turnitin offers instructors a variety of tools for assigning and evaluating student work. The services are accessible via an online website (www.turnitin.com) and are available by subscription only. UCLA has an institutional subscription for the Plagiarism Prevention service. Turnitin also provides related tools like a Calendar, Discussion Board, Peer Review, GradeBook, GradeMark, and Digital Portfolio. Some of these services require an additional subscription fee, and may or may not be available at UCLA. Similar tools may be available through your Ecampus course sites or MyUCLA.
 
The Plagiarism Prevention service works by comparing student submissions to a variety of sources: the Internet, articles and essays in proprietary databases, and all student papers previously submitted at Turnitin. It helps instructors to identify instances of plagiarism and improperly used sources. They can discuss these misuses with their students and, if necessary, refer them to the Dean of Students for appropriate disciplinary action. 
 
 
Turnitin and Academic Integrity 
 
Turnitin is just one tool instructors can use to promote academic integrity. It works best as a preventative measure, when announced to students at the beginning of a term and made a required part of the course. The idea is to take away the temptation to cheat.
 
Turnitin not only discourages students from borrowing improperly from print and Internet sources, it also discourages multiple submissions of the same paper by different students, reuse of papers from previous classes, and other forms of inappropriate collaboration, since it compares the submissions to all other papers in the database. 

UCLA Center for Digital Humanities – Instructional Technology Resources             
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Use of Turnitin should be combined with other strategies to promote academic integrity, such as
•  creating a "culture" of academic integrity
•  designing assignments and exams to make cheating difficult (changing
assignments often, creating multiple versions of a test, collecting an assignment #p#分頁標題#e#
in stages, etc.) 
•  including citation methods and research strategies as part of the curriculum
•  and reminding students of the alternatives to dishonesty, such as tutoring,
psychological services, accepting late penalties, and retaking the course at a better time
 
These websites provide further information and strategies. Some even provide modules
that can be assigned to students as homework or offered as supplemental material:
•  Bruin Success with Less Stress: www.library.ucla.edu/bruinsuccess 
•  Road to Research: www.sscnet.ucla.edu/library 
•  Dean of Students Office: www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu 
•  YRL Site on Preventing Plagiarism:
www.library.ucla.edu/yrl/referenc/plagiarism.htm 
•  Information Literacy at UCLA: www.library.ucla.edu/infolit 
•  Office of Instructional Development: www.oid.ucla.edu 
 
 
Legal Considerations
 
Sometimes questions about the legality of Turnitin's services arise, especially in regards to confidentiality of personal information and infringement of copyright ownership. A reputable lawfirm has performed extensive legal analysis and determined that Turnitin's activities comply with existing U.S. privacy and copyright laws. To read the full legal analysis, please go to www.turnitin.com/static/legal . 
 
Moreover, the UCLA Registrar has issued an Official Notice endorsing instructors' using services like Turnitin to confirm the integrity of student work and assist with the evaluation process. You can read this statement at
www.registrar.ucla.edu/soc/notices.htm#AnchorPlag .
 
If you plan to use Turnitin, we recommend requiring all students to submit their work to Turnitin, rather than spot-checking papers on a random basis. When students self-submit it implies their consent and ensures all are undergoing the same evaluation process. However, it is legal and acceptable for instructors to submit individual papers on their own.
 Basic Instructions for Using Turnitin
 
There are two different ways instructors can access Turnitin's services. The first method is through MyUCLA. The second method is directly through Turnitin. Which method you use will depend on what kind of course you are teaching and what your instructor status is. 
 
 

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Method 1: Using Turnitin through MyUCLA 
 
This method works best for classes with a single instructor, who is listed with the Registrar as the "Instructor of Record." Only the Instructor of Record can activate Turnitin for a course through MyUCLA and access the papers. If the Instructor of Record wishes to share access with TAs, he/she should use the second method. The advantage to this first method is that no separate login to Turnitin is required (for teacher or students).
 
 
Method 2: Using Turnitin through Turnitin.com 
 
This method works best for classes with TAs, as sole instructors or section leaders. Using Turnitin directly gives instructors more control over the creation of classes. Lecturers can create "Master Classes" with sections, so that each TA can access their students' submissions. TAs can also create their own classes, which they can't do through MyUCLA. To use this second method, you must have a Turnitin user profile with instructor privileges (if you don't know how to access yours, please contact your ITC). Your students will also create user profiles at Turnitin. 
 
 
Step-by-step Instructions
 
The chart on the next page outlines the basic steps for using Turnitin. The two methods are explained side-by-side so that you can compare them. For a more detailed introduction to the process, please set up an appointment with an ITC.
 
Sample instructions for students that can be used with Method 2 are at
www.humnet.ucla.edu/itc/resources/turnitin/using_turnitin.html  
 
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