19% turnitin

I just submitted my essay and got a 'green' 19% Turnitin score (I forgot we could check the score before submitting).

11% of what was detected is highlighted as "Submitted by other students at *my university name*" because they are word-for-word what the professor for the module said in the lectures and videos. I only used my notes, and no external resources since that is what was asked of us. Confusingly, the other 8% of what was highlighted suggest plagiarism from articles and websites.

Majority of the 11% are just clusters of 1/2/3 words that have been highlighted but there is one phrase (12 words long) that has been highlighted. The entire title (essay question) has also been highlighted. It has also highlighted "but" "the" "in" of" "less than".

I am in my final year but haven't submitted using turnitin in a VERY long time, so forgot we could check it and adjust our work before submitting. I have never got a mark over 11% so I am especially terrified.

In this situation, will I be penalised for the Turnitin score? If so, by how much?

I asked on the module forum and my professor said that he will have to read the work first. I am so scared that I will be penalised, I am really happy with my essay and hoping to at least get 70%. I do not want this mishap to cost me a 1st.

Reply 1

Jaffacake1212

13

A 19% total plagiarism score? If entire paragraphs are being highlighted as plagiarised then you may have an issue, but as long as you're in the green then you're fine.

Ofc all unis are different, but my uni, for example, has a 25% plagiarism limit. It sounds quite high but Turnitin does highlight words like "in", "a" "but" etc because they're the most used words in any assignment so anyone reading your essay has to take that plagiarism score with a pinch of salt.

Also, the Turnitin score is a bit ridiculous, so at my uni we actually aren't allowed to check plagiarism scores before submitting and in all my 3 years I've been happy and never stressed about it.

I'm sure you'll be fine, if there is cause for concern you've already informed the lecturer so they're aware you faced some issues.

Good luck :smile:

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 2

random_matt

20

Turnitin similarity reports should ideally reflect the references and not much else. If students know the consequences of plagiarism and generally can write well academically, then they do not need a checker before they hand it in. Actually, I am glad no such mechanism exists.

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 3

gjd800

20

There will be no problem.

Original post by Anonymous

I just submitted my essay and got a 'green' 19% Turnitin score (I forgot we could check the score before submitting).

11% of what was detected is highlighted as "Submitted by other students at *my university name*" because they are word-for-word what the professor for the module said in the lectures and videos. I only used my notes, and no external resources since that is what was asked of us. Confusingly, the other 8% of what was highlighted suggest plagiarism from articles and websites.

Majority of the 11% are just clusters of 1/2/3 words that have been highlighted but there is one phrase (12 words long) that has been highlighted. The entire title (essay question) has also been highlighted. It has also highlighted "but" "the" "in" of" "less than".

I am in my final year but haven't submitted using turnitin in a VERY long time, so forgot we could check it and adjust our work before submitting. I have never got a mark over 11% so I am especially terrified.

In this situation, will I be penalised for the Turnitin score? If so, by how much?

I asked on the module forum and my professor said that he will have to read the work first. I am so scared that I will be penalised, I am really happy with my essay and hoping to at least get 70%. I do not want this mishap to cost me a 1st.

Hi there

Sorry to hear that you are stressed about this. Turnitin's system does tend to recognise particular words even though they were not plagiarised. I would not worry about this.

A 19% Turnitin score is quite normal, as long as you have referenced everything that you have used, you are fine. (If it helps, I have had submissions way above 19%, but I have not been marked down for it.)

I hope this helps, and good luck with the essay.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep

Original post by Anonymous

I just submitted my essay and got a 'green' 19% Turnitin score (I forgot we could check the score before submitting).

11% of what was detected is highlighted as "Submitted by other students at *my university name*" because they are word-for-word what the professor for the module said in the lectures and videos. I only used my notes, and no external resources since that is what was asked of us. Confusingly, the other 8% of what was highlighted suggest plagiarism from articles and websites.

Majority of the 11% are just clusters of 1/2/3 words that have been highlighted but there is one phrase (12 words long) that has been highlighted. The entire title (essay question) has also been highlighted. It has also highlighted "but" "the" "in" of" "less than".

I am in my final year but haven't submitted using turnitin in a VERY long time, so forgot we could check it and adjust our work before submitting. I have never got a mark over 11% so I am especially terrified.

In this situation, will I be penalised for the Turnitin score? If so, by how much?

I asked on the module forum and my professor said that he will have to read the work first. I am so scared that I will be penalised, I am really happy with my essay and hoping to at least get 70%. I do not want this mishap to cost me a 1st.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that turn-it-in has been stressing you out but I want you to know that you are not alone in your stress.

A 19% score is completely normal and as others have said as long as there aren't entire sentences or paragraphs coming up highlighted as plagiarism then you should be good to go. Words such as 'the and 'therefore' will always show as plagiarised and will up your score unnecessarily so I really wouldn't worry too much. As long as you know that you have referenced everything it should be fine.

Try not to stress too much about the score and best of luck with your assignment!

Mary
London South Bank University Student Rep (3rd-year Children's Nursing)

Reply 6

spaceman99

1

Original post by Anonymous #1

I just submitted my essay and got a 'green' 19% Turnitin score (I forgot we could check the score before submitting).

11% of what was detected is highlighted as "Submitted by other students at *my university name*" because they are word-for-word what the professor for the module said in the lectures and videos. I only used my notes, and no external resources since that is what was asked of us. Confusingly, the other 8% of what was highlighted suggest plagiarism from articles and websites.

Majority of the 11% are just clusters of 1/2/3 words that have been highlighted but there is one phrase (12 words long) that has been highlighted. The entire title (essay question) has also been highlighted. It has also highlighted "but" "the" "in" of" "less than".

I am in my final year but haven't submitted using turnitin in a VERY long time, so forgot we could check it and adjust our work before submitting. I have never got a mark over 11% so I am especially terrified.

In this situation, will I be penalised for the Turnitin score? If so, by how much?

I asked on the module forum and my professor said that he will have to read the work first. I am so scared that I will be penalised, I am really happy with my essay and hoping to at least get 70%. I do not want this mishap to cost me a 1st.

It really depends on the chunks of texts that was flagged as plagiarism. Regardless of the outcome, as long as you can explain that it wasn't deliberate, I'm sure you'll be fine

Reply 7

gjd800

20

Original post by spaceman99

It really depends on the chunks of texts that was flagged as plagiarism. Regardless of the outcome, as long as you can explain that it wasn't deliberate, I'm sure you'll be fine

In genuine cases of plagiarism, it doesn't matter if it was deliberate or not, so that's flat wrong. This is especially true in final year assessments where no leeway is given at all.

But nothing the OP has said even remotely suggests plagiarism, it is a simple similarity rating. Completely normal in 95% of cases.

(edited 5 months ago)

Original post by Anonymous #1

I just submitted my essay and got a 'green' 19% Turnitin score (I forgot we could check the score before submitting).

11% of what was detected is highlighted as "Submitted by other students at *my university name*" because they are word-for-word what the professor for the module said in the lectures and videos. I only used my notes, and no external resources since that is what was asked of us. Confusingly, the other 8% of what was highlighted suggest plagiarism from articles and websites.

Majority of the 11% are just clusters of 1/2/3 words that have been highlighted but there is one phrase (12 words long) that has been highlighted. The entire title (essay question) has also been highlighted. It has also highlighted "but" "the" "in" of" "less than".

I am in my final year but haven't submitted using turnitin in a VERY long time, so forgot we could check it and adjust our work before submitting. I have never got a mark over 11% so I am especially terrified.

In this situation, will I be penalised for the Turnitin score? If so, by how much?

I asked on the module forum and my professor said that he will have to read the work first. I am so scared that I will be penalised, I am really happy with my essay and hoping to at least get 70%. I do not want this mishap to cost me a 1st.

Hi anonymous,

I wouldn't worry about having a turnitin score of 19%, especially if it is mostly just one or two words that are highlighted. I also wouldn't worry about the title being plagiarised as this can sometimes happen if people at your university have done the same task before.

I would check with your university but most of them have around 25% as a limit so you should be fine. If you have correctly referenced anything that is highlighted you will be fine. It was also a green score so this should be okay.

I have also submitted essays which have a higher turnitin score than this before and it was fine :smile:

Hope this helps,
Lucy- SHU student ambassador.