The Student Room Group

Will turnitin detect photographs used in alevel photography

I have submitted some photographs for my university course but am now really panicking that as I used them in my A-level course they will be detected as self-plagiarism. Is this the case?
Reply 1
I don’t think so. I once used an infographic from google I did reference it but it didn’t highlight the image or anything
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by JodieRhoden
I have submitted some photographs for my university course but am now really panicking that as I used them in my A-level course they will be detected as self-plagiarism. Is this the case?


Hi @JodieRhoden,

I'm not sure exactly how Turnitin works with regards to images, but I imagine it will depend on whether your college/sixth form used Turnitin to check their submissions. If so, it's possible that Turnitin will have the previously submitted work within their database. Ultimately, best practice is to cite any material you've used previously (i.e., a self-citation) in order to avoid any accusations of self-plagiarism: if in doubt, cite it.

My advice would be to speak be honest with your module tutors about the fact that you've submitted previously-used work from your A-level course in your submission. Depending on your university's academic misconduct policy - and the extent to which the images make up your assignment - there may be some penalties but they're likely to be much less severe if you're honest at this stage. If it's an honest mistake - and a first offence - it's unlikely that it will impact the continuation of your studies.

If you're nervous about approaching your tutors on your own, there may be support services within your university and/or your students union who can help. At Keele, for example, the advisors at the SU's ASK service (https://keelesu.com/advice/) can assist students with various elements of academic and university life, including academic misconduct concerns and issues. If your university/SU have a similar service, then the advisors should be able to help you to fully understand the university's academic misconduct policy, identify if you have committed an academic misconduct offence (or allay your fears), and assist you in next steps.

Hope that helps.

Amy Louise
PhD Candidate & Student Ambassador, Keele University
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by JodieRhoden
I have submitted some photographs for my university course but am now really panicking that as I used them in my A-level course they will be detected as self-plagiarism. Is this the case?

I would presume the A-level photography photographs are of your own so you should be fine unless it’s someone else’s you haven’t cited or referenced properly or explained the use of the image…
Reply 4
It doesn't usually pick up images, but the marking staff might want a source for them (I've marked loads of things where I've added a comment to the effect of 'where is this image from?'). Not a massive deal.
Reply 5
Original post by JodieRhoden
I have submitted some photographs for my university course but am now really panicking that as I used them in my A-level course they will be detected as self-plagiarism. Is this the case?

What happened In the end

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