About Turnitin
Introduction
Plagiarism has been on the rise in recent years because of the emergence and expansion of the Internet, and serves as a strong threat to academic integrity. Plagiarism can be defined as stealing or using the ideas, writings or images of another as one's own. It involves failure to acknowledge material copied from others or failure to acknowledge one's indebtedness to another for the gist of important thoughts in a formal statement, written or oral. Instructors need resources to assist them in accurately detecting plagiarism and preventing plagiarism before it occurs. Hence, Regent University has recently subscribed to Turnitin.com, an online collaborative learning tool for faculty, which supports members of the Regent academic community in their quest to uphold academic integrity.
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is a collaborative learning tool which was created in 1996 by a group of professors from the University of California Berkeley who were concerned with the rise of Internet plagiarism. Turnitin allows the student or educator to upload a paper into the Turnitin database, where software will then use algorithms to create "digital fingerprints" that can identify similar patterns in text. Then the paper is matched to billions of web pages, paper mill essays, and student papers submitted online. In an hour or less, Turnitin creates an "originality report" that highlights any passages from the paper that might not be authentic, and lists web sites and other resources with content that matches that in the paper.
Faculty can use Turnitin to:
Quickly and conveniently identify how much material in a student's paper is available on the Internet. Deter students who may otherwise be tempted to use sources inappropriately. Address the issue of proper citation of sources in a paper. Pick up tips for writing assignments that discourage plagiarism and encourage independent thought. Find handouts for students on plagiarism, proper citation, and writing and research skills.
Advantages of Turnitin
Turnitin helps to advance the academic reputation of Regent's courses, programs, and the university as a whole. Turnitin does not breach students' copyrights, because instructors cannot submit student papers without permission from the student. Turnitin does not breach students' confidentiality because the student's personal information and papers are not available to anyone without the student's and professor's consent.
