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Canvas - How to Submit Files for Turnitin Analysis

Instructors and staff can use the Turnitin functionality integrated in our Canvas system to analyze files for plagiarism. This document explains how to request a Turnitin-enabled course, upload files for review, and view the Turnitin analysis results.
Important:
This process shouldn't be used in a scheduled course where students are enrolled. If you want to use Turnitin to analyze all students' submissions to an assignment, create an Online / File Uploads assignment and enable Plagiarism Review.
  1. Request a Turnitin Course
  2. Prepare Your File
  3. Submit Your File
  4. View Turnitin Analysis
  5. How to Use Turnitin Feedback Studio

Request a Turnitin Course

To get started with this workflow, you’ll need a Canvas course configured specifically for this process. Please email canvas@uwsuper.edu and request a Canvas course for Turnitin file analysis. You can also fill out our online request form.

Canvas admins will create a course and enroll you with both the Student and Teacher roles. This will allow you to:

  • Submit files to an assignment (using your Student role)
  • View the Turnitin analysis on that submitted file, via SpeedGrader (using the Teacher role)

Once Canvas admins set up your course, visit it and navigate to the Submit Files for Review Here assignment to begin.

Prepare Your File for Review

Turnitin is not compatible with all file types. It can be used to review Word documents, .RTF, or .TXT files. Turnitin is not compatible with PDFs.

If you need to analyze a PDF for plagiarism, or any other incompatible file type, copy and paste the portions of the file you’d like to analyze into a Word document and save it to your computer. Also, many PDF viewers can quickly convert a PDF to a Word document. For example, Adobe Acrobat can Export PDF files as Microsoft Word documents.

Turnitin will analyze all text in any submitted file. This process is quicker and more reliable if you remove any unnecessary text that is likely to match across applications, like form entry text.

Submit Your File for Turnitin Review

Now that you’ve prepared your document, you can submit it in the provided Canvas course.

  1. Open the Submit Files for Review Here assignment.
  2. Click the yellow Start Assignment button.
  3. In the “File Upload” tab, click the Upload File button, and then the Browse… button.
  4. Select the document you want to upload and click Open.
    You should now see the name of your file listed next to the Browse… button.
  5. In the “Comments” field, enter some basic information about the document for your future reference, and any other comments you’d like to include for record keeping.
  6. Agree to the End-User License Agreement by checking the checkbox below the “Comments” field.
  7. Click the Submit Assignment button.

Screenshot of Start Assignment Button Screenshot of Upload File Button Screenshot of Submit Assignment Button

Turnitin will begin analyzing each submission immediately but the analysis will take at least a few minutes. Plan to submit for analysis in advance of needing the results.

You can view Turnitin analysis results for a submission once SpeedGrader shows a percentage icon for that submission.

View Turninitin Analysis

You can review the Turnitin analysis for your submissions by grading it in the Canvas SpeedGrader.

  1. Open the assignment.
  2. Click SpeedGrader under the Related Items menu. (You can also access SpeedGrader from the Gradebook.)

Once in SpeedGrader, you should see a preview of a submitted assignment on the left and an informational panel on the right. Look for 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.

Screenshot of Similarity Score Flag Screenshot of File Selector

If you upload multiple files, they will all be associated with your account. Use the “Submission to view:” file selector at the top right of the screen to cycle between them.

To view detailed Turnitin analysis about the selected 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.

Screenshot of Turitin Feedback Studio

Need Help?

If you’re new to Turnitin, watch the Turnitin Feedback Studio Walkthrough video below, and take a guided tour: https://www.turnitin.com/videos/tfs-walkthrough.

How to Use Turnitin

You can view and search additional documentation and support guides from the Turnitin Help Center. Some useful guides include:

You can also access popular help articles by clicking the (?) icon in the top-right of the Turnitin Feedback Studio.



Keywords:
canvas Turnitin plagiarism manual kb 
Doc ID:
123906
Owned by:
Michael M. in UW Superior
Created:
2023-02-07
Updated:
2024-02-05
Sites:
UW Superior