What is Turnitin and How Does It Work?
Quick answer: Turnitin is plagiarism-detection software used by most UK universities. When you submit work, it compares the text against a huge database of web pages, publications and student papers, and returns a ‘similarity report’ highlighting matching passages and an overall similarity percentage.
What Turnitin does
Turnitin scans your submission and highlights text that matches its database, giving each source a colour and an overall similarity score. It also offers an AI-writing indicator on some accounts.
What the similarity score means
A high score isn’t automatically plagiarism — correctly quoted and referenced material, and common phrases, all add to it. What matters is whether matched text is properly cited. There is no universal ‘safe’ percentage; universities judge it in context.
How to use the report
- Check each highlighted match.
- Ensure quotes are in quotation marks and cited.
- Rewrite any uncited close paraphrasing in your own words.
- Ignore matches to your own reference list and common phrases.
Turnitin and AI detection
Some Turnitin accounts flag suspected AI-generated text. These indicators are not infallible, but universities increasingly use them — original, human-written work with a clear paper trail is the safest approach.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Turnitin score?
There is no universal figure — universities interpret it in context. Focus on whether matched text is properly quoted and cited, not on a target number.
Does Turnitin detect paraphrasing?
It can flag close paraphrasing that keeps the source’s wording or structure. Genuine paraphrasing in your own words, properly cited, is fine.
Does a high similarity score mean I’ve plagiarised?
Not necessarily — quotes, references and common phrases inflate it. It only signals text to review.
Can Turnitin detect AI writing?
Some accounts include an AI-writing indicator, but it is not infallible. Original, human-written work is the safest approach.
Does Turnitin store my work?
Universities can add submissions to Turnitin’s database, which is why resubmitting old work can flag as self-plagiarism.