i got 51% similarity in turnitin will i get expelled

this was my first assignment in uni and i had to do 500 words on specific topic and the other essay would be reflection and i got baffling 51% similarity in the 500 worded essay and all of it was red with 1% in all sorts of site .Could it be because i did not do enough referencing i just put in 2 sites as refrence and i am never done referencing before

Reply 1

gjd800

20

Not necessarily but 51% even in a short piece is concerning and would warrant a closer look.

It could just be that you've used the same references or quotations and other people, stuff like that. it's not always an indicator of malpractice.

Reply 2

CAB18022

15

Original post by Anonymous

this was my first assignment in uni and i had to do 500 words on specific topic and the other essay would be reflection and i got baffling 51% similarity in the 500 worded essay and all of it was red with 1% in all sorts of site .Could it be because i did not do enough referencing i just put in 2 sites as refrence and i am never done referencing before

I'm taking that this is likely a formative assessment, if that is the case then the Uni would advice on how to avoid doing so in summative assessments. If it's a summative assessment, considering you seem likely you are in first year, I would expect them to be lenient if they decide to impose anything punitive. Be sure to talk to the Student Union, academic staff etc. just to be on the safe side :smile:

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by gjd800

Not necessarily but 51% even in a short piece is concerning and would warrant a closer look.

It could just be that you've used the same references or quotations and other people, stuff like that. it's not always an indicator of malpractice.

yah probably could be i just hope i don’t get in trouble or smth i’ve requested a dropin with my acad adv

Reply 4

De Montfort University

Official Rep

16

Original post by Anonymous

this was my first assignment in uni and i had to do 500 words on specific topic and the other essay would be reflection and i got baffling 51% similarity in the 500 worded essay and all of it was red with 1% in all sorts of site .Could it be because i did not do enough referencing i just put in 2 sites as refrence and i am never done referencing before

Hey there,

I believe it might be because you are not paraphrasing when referencing. Please, have a look on the following web page for more information: https://libguides.ucd.ie/academicintegrity/paraphrasing

P.S. Having only 2 references is quite a small amount even for 500 words essay. :biggrin:

Let me know if you have any questions,
Ilya :wink:

Original post by Anonymous

this was my first assignment in uni and i had to do 500 words on specific topic and the other essay would be reflection and i got baffling 51% similarity in the 500 worded essay and all of it was red with 1% in all sorts of site .Could it be because i did not do enough referencing i just put in 2 sites as refrence and i am never done referencing before

Hey,

You likely won't get expelled so I wouldn't worry - but they may question you about it. Since it's your first time referencing, they'll probably be more lenient towards you.

As others have said, make sure that in future essays you're referencing all of your sources of information and not quoting them word for word. Instead, make sure to paraphrase (i.e. rewriting what others have said differently - so instead of saying "[author] found that A is stronger than B because of C" you could say "previous research has implied that, because of C, A may be better than B; these findings can be supported by [author]" so that you're not directly copying them and then won't get flagged for plagiarism).

A super basic example of how to include referencing throughout when introducing ideas is this:
Some research has previously suggested that [idea]. For example [author] implies that... Alternatively, [author] suggested [alternative idea].

Also make sure that you're work isn't coming completely from your lecture slides, but from your own unique ideas/research :smile:

Sorry for the dodgy examples but hope this helps to make it a bit clearer :biggrin:

Best of luck with your future work!!
Natalie
University of Kent Student Rep (2nd year PhD Psychology)

(edited 5 months ago)

Original post by Anonymous

this was my first assignment in uni and i had to do 500 words on specific topic and the other essay would be reflection and i got baffling 51% similarity in the 500 worded essay and all of it was red with 1% in all sorts of site .Could it be because i did not do enough referencing i just put in 2 sites as refrence and i am never done referencing before

Hi!

TurnItIn is notoriously very tough when it comes the checking for plagiarism. It always highlights my numbered bullet points and the names of people I'm referencing so don't be too worried as your lecturers will know how it can pick up on strange things sometimes.

That being said 51% is a little high. As long as you email the lecturer though and explain what's happened and ask for help on how to fix it for the future I'm sure it'll be fine. It may be that your referencing was off, when using a quote, summarizing a theory or idea, or mentioning information from anywhere you have to reference. I know when i first started university I thought you only needed to put down a reference if you are directly quoting an idea which is sadly not the case (that'd be a lot easier :smile:

). If you are doing Harvard referencing style (or any other) I'd recommend looking around on google for how-to guides which might help you figure out what went wrong or at Heriot-Watt our library staff have put together a whole list of resources for us students to help us reference correctly - this might also be the case for your university?

Just be open and honest with your university and ask for help. It'll all work out in the end!

- Jessica
2nd year Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)

i got 51% similarity in turnitin will i get expelled

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