2. Interpret a Turnitin Originality Report
• Turnitin is a text matching tool that can be useful in helping
students develop critical writing skills and evaluate their use
of evidence.
• An Originality Report is generated that outlines where
particular excerpts of text may have come from.
• There are a number of things to be aware of in interpreting
the Originality Report, such as the assessment requirements,
inclusion of bibliographic information, etc.
• Whilst a similarity percentage is generated, this should not be
considered in isolation. It’s important and more meaningful
to interpret the findings of the Originality Report in detail.
4. On this page you will see your Similarity Index (a
percentage and coloured bar) and possibly an option
to Resubmit (not always the case). Click on your
Similarity Index to access your Originality Report.
< 24% 25 – 49% 25 – 49% > 75%
The coloured bar indicates how much text has been matched. Don’t worry
about this too much – it’s more important to make sense of the report.
5. What do the percentages mean?
• Generally under 15% indicates good use of resources, over
25% (yellow, orange or red) could indicate difficulties.
• Depends on remit of assessment and your use of evidence.
Quotation and references
• You can exclude quotes and bibliography when viewing your
work.
Paraphrasing
• Can help to pick up bits of texts that are not far enough away
from original to help develop your writing style.
6. If not already active, click on the
Originality button to show the
Originality Report pane.
This pane allows you to view a
digest of where text has come, what
sources have been used and how
evidence has been incorporated into
an assessment.
Click on a Match to see its source and
incorporation.
7. The Match Breakdown helps to interpret
the Similarity Index. E.g. There is a fairly
large highlighted section here, but it is
properly referenced and clearly a quote.
8. To exclude bibliographic material or
quotations, click the filter icon at the
bottom right. You can then choose which
aspects you may wish to exclude. Then
click Apply Changes.
9. If there is a reference list this will now be
excluded from the Similarity Index.
10. You can save or print a copy of the
highlighted Originality Report by clicking
the printer icon.
