A Similarity Report shows textual matches or similarities between your assignment submitted to Turnitin and a range of online sources including Turnitin’s own bank of previously submitted work. Turnitin's online sources include: web pages, essay mills, online journals, articles and publications. The scan is generated once you have submitted your assignment to Turnitin.
Most original student assignments will contain some text matches. There is no ideal percentage to aim for as percentages are dependent on the subject and requirements of the assignment. This ‘at a glance’ guide should not be used as a measure of plagiarism as even a 1% score could potentially indicate plagiarism.
This function allows you to filter out certain matches
The Similarity Score is the percentage of text in the assignment submitted to Turnitin that matches or is similar to online sources. A score of 0% indicates that no matches have been found whilst a score of, 100% means that all the text is matching. Note that matching text is likely to include correctly referenced and quoted text as well as text which has not been referenced at all.
The Similarity Report can only be viewed after you have submitted your assignment and if the assignment has been set up by your department to allow you to see the associated Similarity Report.
To view your Similarity Report on an assignment you have submitted (whether it has been marked on not):
Turnitin does not check for plagiarism in a submitted assignment. The software cannot tell whether a submitted assignment has been plagiarised, it can only state how much text has been matched or is similar to external and other sources.
The Similarity Report is useful for checking that online sources in an assignment have been properly cited and referenced as well as for deterring plagiarism and encouraging good academic practice.
To establish whether unfair means have occurred, the Similarity Report must be interpreted by an appropriate member of staff in your department.
See Turnitin’s Help pages for more information on viewing and interpreting the similarity report. Turnitin also have a useful interactive demo where you can try the Feedback Studio and find out more.