Turnitin is a Web-based service designed to help instructors identify and prevent instances of plagiarism. Students electronically submit papers and Turnitin compares the document to millions of pages of content located on the Internet, proprietary databases, and other previously submitted documents.

Turnitin at Purdue
Beginning Spring 2006, Turnitin is available through Blackboard Vista, Purdue's course management system. For more information on how to use Turnitin, view our documentation, online FAQs, or contact us at itap@purdue.edu.

How it works

• The student uploads a paper through the a Turnitin assignment in their Blackboard Vista class.
• Turnitin's software uses advanced pattern-matching technology to turn textual information into a "digital fingerprint" that is then compared to other "fingerprints" in the Turnitin content databases.
• The content databases contain millions books and journals and over 4.5 billion pages of current and archived Internet. The database updates and adds to the Internet archive at a rate of 40 million pages per day.
• The results are returned in the form of customized Originality Reports, in which any text matches found in Turnitin's databases are highlighted and linked to their source. These reports allow instructors to make the final determination of whether plagiarism has occurred.

Teaching and Learning Benefits
Turnitin provides efficient and effective plagiarism prevention and detection. It assists students in properly citing sources and avoiding plagiarism. Academic integrity is maintained while ensuring students gain strong research and writing skills. Students are given the opportunity to analyze and revise their work, correcting accidental or intentional errors of documentation.

Contact:
Please contact the ITaP Customer Service Center at 494-4000 or by sending email to itap@purdue.edu.