Guidance for students submitting work to Turnitin via Moodle

Preparation

Step 1 - locate the correct submission link

Turnitin Assignments are usually located in the Moodle space for that module and display with a distinctive icon. 

• Navigate to the relevant Moodle course and either: 

a. Scroll through the Moodle course and locate the submission link.  A red icon similar to the one below will appear beside any Turnitin submission points.

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b. OR, You can also view all Turnitin assignments on the course by navigating to the relevant course and then selecting the This course tab along the top of the screen. From there, click Assignments (Turnitin) from the drop-down menu.  Note that navigating to the assignment this way may mean that you miss out on important guidelines relating to the submission that may have been included on the home page of the course. It's always best to use method 'a' above.

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The page should then list all Turnitin assignments for the specific course, all of which can be selected by clicking on their titles:

Step 2 - note any instructions

Once you have located the submission link and clicked on it, the first section of the My Submissions page displays the details for that Assignment.

Note:

1. Title: check that are you submitting to the right link.

2. Summary: are there any instructions?

3. Key dates (the Post Date is the date you can expect marks and feedback to be released).

4. To upload, click 'Submit Paper'.

Step 3 - accept the Turnitin user agreement

If this is your first time using Turnitin you will be prompted to accept the Turnitin User Agreement. If you have used Turnitin before then you will not be prompted to accept the license agreement and you can skip to step 4.

Step 4 - make your submission

Occasionally you will be asked to enter text directly into Turnitin - but more often you will be asked to upload files.

1. To upload a file, first enter a submission title.

2. Then, in the File To Submit field, either drag-and-drop your file or click on the left-hand-side 'Add file' icon to attach a file; the file should display in the 'Files To Submit' field.

3. Check the box to confirm the submission is your own work.

4. When the file is attached click 'Add Submission', there will then be a few moments' wait while Turnitin synchronises data and uploads your work to its servers.

Note:  If submitting a PDF file, please create the file via Adobe software or Microsoft Word (using File-Save As, then selecting the PDF file type) to save a 'text' based PDF file.

(Files submitted using Apple Pages will NOT receive a similarity score).

Step 4 - check your submission

After clicking Add Submission, you are presented with a digital receipt.

1. Check your work is successfully uploaded - don't worry about formatting, since the receipt at this stage doesn't display it.

2. To close the receipt click the Close link.

Once your submission has been accepted you will return to the My Submissions tab where you will be able to see the details of your submission. You can view these at any time.

Step 5 - check you have quoted, paraphrased and referenced properly

Sometimes your Turnitin Assignments will be set to show you a Similarity Report for your work. This may take a few minutes to generate - if no Similarity score is showing after a while, press the 'Refresh Submissions' link.

You may also want to refer to the FAQ -  I have uploaded my work again (re-submitted), but no Similarity Report has been generated, why?

For more information on academic writing and using Turnitin as well as to check your own work for plagiarism before making a submission to your Moodle course page for assessment,  see  UCL's Turnitin Similarity Checker (Formerly known as the Plagiarism and Academic Writing course).

Interpreting a Turnitin Similarity Report

Please see Step 3 on the Guidance for students collecting marks and feedback from Turnitin wiki page.