Practical issues for academics using the Turnitin plagiarism detection software
Abstract
The Turnitin plagiarism detection system allows individual student assignments to be uploaded and matched for similarity with content on the web, all other assignments uploaded by institutions using the system and certain journals. An online report is produced for each submission identifying the sources of those similarities and the percentage match. There is a significant benefit in using Turnitin to identify possible cases of plagiarism. This paper highlights some issues that might be raised in employing Turnitin and suggests some approaches that academics might utilise to allow efficient use of Turnitin.
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Turnitin's data practices raise structural concerns about retention of student writing in commercial databases.
“Jones (2008), in an early analysis of Turnitin's data practices, identified structural concerns about the retention of student writing in commercial databases”
From Harms and Ethical Risks of AI Detection Tools in Education: False Positives, Bias, Surveillance, and Student Rights (2026) · cites this paper as Jones (2008)
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References 7 · Cited by 29
- Authors
- Jones, K. O.
- Affiliations
- Liverpool John Moores University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jones, Karl O.
- ORCID
- Jones, Karl O.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies and Workshop for PhD Students in Computing - CompSysTech '08
- Publisher
- ACM Press
- Published
- 2008
- Pages
- IV.1
- ISSN
- 1313-8936 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1989682595
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 3
- Type
- conference abstract
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies (CompSysTech) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Academic integrity and plagiarism
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Educational Technology and E-Learning
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Keywords
- Turnitin, plagiarism detection software, academic integrity, student assignments, similarity matching
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