Reading the Similarity Report

Turnitin scans each student's paper against its database and flags text that matches existing sources. The result is a similarity score—a percentage representing how much of the paper matches outside content. A high score does not automatically indicate plagiarism; Turnitin provides data to support your judgment, not to make the determination for you.

 

Viewing Similarity Matches

In the Active Layers panel, select the Similarity checkbox to enable the Similarity layer. Then select the similarity score to open the Match Overview panel.

Matched text in the paper is highlighted and numbered by source. Each number corresponds to a source in the Match Overview, along with the percentage of the paper that source accounts for.

To view matching text from a specific source:

• Select the numbered flag on the paper, or

• Select the source in the Match Overview panel

To view the full text of a matched source, select the page icon in the top-right corner of the source box. If the match is from another student's paper, the full paper is only accessible if that student previously submitted it to one of your Turnitin-enabled courses.

 

Viewing and Excluding Sources

To see all sources, select the descending bar graph icon on the Similarity layer toolbar to open the 'All Sources' panel, which lists every matched source in descending order by percentage. The similarity score recalculates whenever a source is excluded or restored.

To remove a source from view:

1. Click the 'Exclude Sources' button at the bottom of the 'All Sources' panel.

2. Select the source(s) you wish to hide and click the red 'Exclude' button.

To restore excluded sources, select the 'no' symbol (a circle with a slash through it) icon on the Similarity layer toolbar to see the list of excluded sources. Check the box next the source(s) you want to bring back and select 'Restore', or 'Restore All'.

 

Filters and Settings

If you did not configure exclusions when creating the assignment, you can adjust them directly in Feedback Studio:

1. Select the filter icon (a funnel) on the Similarity layer toolbar.

2. Exclude quotes and/or the bibliography by clicking the checkbox beside either option.

3. Exclude sources that are a certain number of words or less. You can also exclude matches by percentage based on the total word count (found at the bottom of the Feedback Studio).

4. Click 'Apply Changes'. Making changes may impact the similarity score.

 

Document Details

Select the 'Document Details' icon (magnifying glass over paper) on the Similarity toolbar to view file and language information about the submitted document. This feature supports contract cheating detection by revealing authorship metadata, the software used to create the document, and language patterns. The Language section, for example, flags words or phrases common outside U.S. English — consistent UK English usage in a paper, for instance, may warrant a closer look.

 

Downloading the Similarity Report

To download a report, select the download icon (downward arrow above a horizontal line), then choose 'Current View'. The downloaded report will include information for all ACTIVE layers.

 

Similarity Score Color Reference

The color of the similarity score indicator reflects the percentage of matching text found in the paper from 0 to 100, with 0 indicating that there are no matches.

Providing Feedback and Grading

The Grading layer gives you several tools for annotating student papers, leaving comments, applying rubrics, and publishing grades—all within Feedback Studio.

In the Active Layers panel, select the Grading checkbox to enable the Grading layer. The blue icons on the side panel correspond to Grading layer tools.

 

QuickMarks

QuickMarks are reusable, drag-and-drop feedback comments—a faster alternative to typing the same notes across many papers.

Accessing QuickMarks

Select the checkbox icon on the Grading layer toolbar to open the QuickMarks Manager. The pre-loaded "Commonly Used" set is selected by default. This set includes general feedback applicable across many courses and assignments. For example, an "Improper Citation" mark you can drag directly to the relevant passage if a student fails to properly cite their source.

Use the drop-down menu or search bar to browse additional pre-loaded sets of QuickMarks. Turnitin offers downloadable sets of QuickMarks, including topic-specific options, or you can also create your own custom sets. For more information, visit Turnitin's QuickMarks help page.

Applying QuickMarks

In addition to the drag-and-drop option, a QuickMark can also be added by clicking anywhere on the paper and allowing the in-context marking tool to appear then selecting the QuickMark icon. You can add a Quickmark to a direct line or sentence within the student’s paper by highlighting that portion of the text and selecting the Quickmark icon

 

Comments

Personalized comments can be added by clicking anywhere in the paper space and choosing the speech bubble icon from the in-context marking tool. Type your message in the text box provided. You can format the your message and even include a hyperlink. For example, you could ask the student to update some data used in the assignment and provide a link to the source of the data.

Save Common Comments as a QuickMark

If you find yourself writing the same comment on multiple papers,  you can save it for future use as a QuickMark. Select 'Convert to QuickMark', give the mark a name, choose the set to add it to, and click 'Submit'. The new QuickMark will appear in your chosen set for use on other students' papers.

Inline Feedback

To type feedback directly on the paper, select anywhere on the paper and choose the inline text icon (a capital T) from the in-context marking tool.

Flag Text for Deletion

To flag text for deletion, highlight the passage, click anywhere on the paper, and choose the strike (S) icon from the in-context marking tool.

 

Feedback Summary

To give overall feedback to the student on their submission, click on the Feedback Summary icon (paper with pencil on top) in the Grading layer toolbar. From here you can:

• Record a voice comment of up to three minutes

• Write a text comment of up to 5,000 characters

These summary-level comments give students an overall impression of their performance beyond the inline annotations.

 

Rubrics and Grading Forms

Select the table/grid icon on the Grading layer toolbar to access rubrics and grading forms. The enlarge icon can then be used to view the full rubric in a separate window. Turnitin offers several types of grading templates suited to different assignment types, and instructors can create custom rubrics and forms to share with colleagues.

Rubrics are not viewable to your students in advance—they function solely as grading tools and become available to students once the feedback is published.

Detailed guides can be found on the Turnitin Guides site.

 

Downloading the Grading Report

To download a report, select the download icon (downward arrow above a horizontal line), then choose 'Current View'. The downloaded report will include information for all ACTIVE layers.

 

Assigning and Publishing Grades

You may choose to manually assign grades within Turnitin and publish them to D2L. Simply enter the grade in the overall grade field at the top of the page and Turnitin will automatically save it.

When you have finished grading all submissions, you can publish the grades to the D2L Grade Book and release feedback to students:

1. Check the box next to individual student names, or select the checkbox at the top to select all students.

2. Click 'Publish Feedback' and confirm you're ready to publish.

After publishing, the date and time of publish will appear on the submissions list. When a student has viewed their feedback, the date and time for 'Feedback Read' will also appear.