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Canvas - How to Setup Turnitin Assignments
Turnitin is a third-party plagiarism detection service that’s integrated by default in all of our Canvas courses listed on the UW-Superior Class Schedule.
You don’t need to install the application or request it from an administrator. However, Turnitin is not a standalone tool, so it must be configured in each of your Canvas assignments if you wish to use it.
Appropriate Use Cases
Turnitin is designed to analyze "essays and long-form writing assignments".
Do not use Turnitin to analyze forms or short writing snippets, like question and answer submissions, discussion-length responses, and blurbs. Doing so will likely result in false-positives and an inaccurate similarity score.
How do I Configure Turnitin Review on Canvas Assignments?
You can activate Turnitin review on Online Submission Type assignments. This Canvas Instructor Guide provides more information about creating online assignments.
- Navigate to the assignment's configuration page.
- Set the submission type to Online.
- Under the Online Entry Options section, check Text Entry or File Uploads. Checking either box will show Plagiarism Review options farther down the page.
- In the Plagiarism Review section, choose Turnitin.
Once you’ve chosen Turnitin in the Plagiarism Review section, you can select from various options that adjust how Turnitin will act on students’ submissions. You can also save your Turnitin assignment configuration as your new default for future assignments that use Turnitin.
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Can Instructors and Staff Upload Items to Turnitin?
Please reach out to canvas@uwsuper.edu if you’d like to submit a specific document to Turnitin for review.
How do I Access and Review Turnitin Analysis Results?
Once students submit to your assignment, you can review the Turnitin analysis for their submission by grading it in the Canvas SpeedGrader.
- Open the assignment in Canvas.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page.
- Click SpeedGrader under the Related Items menu.
Once in SpeedGrader, you can cycle between your students’ submissions. On each submission to a Turnitin-reviewed Online Submission assignment you should see a Similarity Score flag to the right of the View dropdown selector. The Similarity Score flag will also be listed next to the Assessment grade entry box. The color of the similarity score flag is based on the amount of matching text Turnitin detected in the document.
To view detailed Turnitin analysis about the student’s submission—what Turnitin calls the Similarity Report—click the Similarity Score flag. This will open the Turnitin Feedback Studio in a new tab, showing the student’s submission, annotations, and a toolbar on the right side of your browser window.
New to Turnitin?
You can watch a Turnitin Feedback Studio Walkthrough video here: https://www.turnitin.com/videos/tfs-walkthrough.

How to Get Help Using Turnitin in Canvas
You can view and search additional documentation and support guides from the Turnitin Help Center. Some useful guides include:
- Accessing the Similarity Report
- Customizing the Similarity Report
- Excluding content from the Similarity Report
- Excluding Bibliography and Quotes
You can also access popular help articles by clicking the (?) icon in the top-right of the Turnitin Feedback Studio.