Digital skills

How can I interpret Turnitin Similarity Report?

Turnitin Similarity Report provides an overall breakdown of similarity ('matching') between a submitted work and published content using text comparison tool. In particular, after you submitted your work (or draft) to Turnitin, it will check the content of your work against its database, which includes billions of current and archived web pages, the works students have submitted to Turnitin in the past, and thousands of journals, articles and publications. The Similarity Report then highlights where the matches are (with colour codes) and indicates how similar your writing is compared to the sources (as percentage of similarity). An example is shown in the below screenshot.

How can I use Turnitin Similarity Report to improve my assignment and writing skills?

It is perfectly natural for a paper to match against sources in the database. If you have used quotes in your work, there will be instances where there will be a match.  So if/where the content of your work is flagged to be matching with one or more sources, you need to review your writing to identify the potential problems, for instance:

• Did I use direct quote(s)?
• Did I just “copy-and-paste” the text from the source?
• Did I paraphrase properly?
• Are the matches parts of the bibliography or reference list?
• Are the matches names and titles of person(s), organisation(s) or law, etc?

Once you are aware of the potential problems, follow these advice to help improve the originality of your work:

• Use direct quotes sparingly and with double quotation marks (“…”), not single quotation marks ('...')
• Re-write or paraphrase the highlighted matched content, and don't forget to reference properly and correctly
• Exclude bibliography from the Similarity Report for better similarity index
• Submit your draft for feedback at least 1 week before the due date. Note that your first report will be available quickly, but subsequent reports may take at least 24 hours. Therefore, make sure you submit your work through Turnitin before the due date and allow sufficient time for revision if required. 
• Get assistance from your educator, these learning resources or book a consultation with a Learning & Teaching Advisor if needed
• Keep practising your paraphrasing and academic writing skills!