======= Date Modified 13 Mar 2012 15:41:27 =======
This morning I received an email from my department (I study in the UK) clearly stating that, according to the latest regulations, from end of March onwards, when a thesis is submitted for examination, two copies will have to be submitted in print and one should be uploaded on WebCT so it is examined with the Turnitin software for any traces of plagiarism. Then, the report from Turnitin will be accessed by the supervisor and the department via a special reference number. The printed copies of the thesis will not be sent to the examiners unless the system confirms the outcome of the Turnitin submission.

I am glad that this is going to happen, as I have heard of several cases of plagiarised theses before, or people who got a degree by copying-pasting other researchers' work. Is there a similar practice at your university?

Yes my uni has suggested that it will use such software but I am not sure it actually does. This came in while I was writing my thesis and caused me some concern at the time. Prior to the changing the regs to accomodate turnitin, I had actually done a check on my thesis just to be sure for myself that all was well. I know I had actually written the lot from scratch but I had heard of some people accidently cutting/pasting sections from journals, forgetting to remove them later! I guess I was paranoid lol. So I uploaded the document and as expected got a very acceptable result. However, following submission, if my thesis was submitted to turnitin again the result would be an almost identical match to my previous version :$ I obviously was happy to share my original results report with my uni, but was unsure how it would have looked, oops!

I would be very happy to use such checks as I have nothing to hide. I hope that plagiarism can be a thing of the past.

======= Date Modified 13 Mar 2012 18:57:56 =======
Well... the email says they are going to change the submission process, but the official university website on 'submission process of research theses' has not changed yet - it is a 'wait and see' situation I suppose. I am re-submitting my thesis in a year's time, so I have plenty of time to find out what to do in order to re-submit, and if such regulations apply to resubmissions, corrections and the like. I am not sure that the system works like that dunni73; the software can 'scan' the uploaded document even if the file is uploaded up to three times, but I do not think it actually saves the document in its database for further reference while searching for plagiarism. If that was the case, nobody would wish to upload their thesis online (since turnitin is effectively a cloud), due to personal copyright. It appears to me that some panic is about to be spread among research students. Some will attempt to scan the document with the software, JUST IN CASE, before they hand in, even though they know they have not actively plagiarised (that's not necessarily a bad idea - better safe than sorry, I suppose). Though, the greatest think in this story is that the 'thought' of having one's thesis scanned with such a software by their department will stop students plagiarising altogether, or at least, it will make them more concerned about plagiarism. However, at the end of the day, that turnitin business appears to me like a money making business (with the blessings of the universities and colleges) - but what is NOT a money making business in Academia? :p

i have heard that it will retain a copy, so if you upload it again it will recognise it, but I think there is some way of getting it to ignore your own work - but have not submitted anything to it yet so haven't investigated further.

Hi all, i am nearing submission. I have referenced all the sources cited. Still, want to make sure that I have not missed any such reference. My uni too uses Turnitin. Is it possible to scan through turnitin on our own? Can we ask in our own Uni or is there any other way to use it? Thanks. Swetch

Well... if you go on the turnitin website it gives you the option of scanning it individually too, but I am not sure I would bother after reading the previous posts. If we know our work and we know that we do not plagiarise, then we do not need some software report to tell us that. Well, if you wish to scan it for plagiarism anyway, now, that is something you should ask your supervisor about. He may be able to advise you.

Hi Marasp,

Thanks for yr response. As you said, we do not need to bother if we have not done so. I am not worried too much. But, it is obviously not a bad idea as well to be sure rather than feel sorry for any such unintentional mistake.
Swetch

Hi Marasp,

Just to add on to my earlier response: I am glad to find that my University has Turnitin installed encouraging students to have a check before submitting essays, thesis. I never tried that before. Just had a check this morning one of my chapter and relieved to see just 1% match :)
swetch

As threre was a lot of unavoidable overlap between the literature reviews or my thesis and my two predecessors, I have to admit I'm a little curious as to how my thesis would score in a Turnitin test now. :-)


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)