Turnitin Originality Launches to Uphold Academic Integrity in an Age of Online Instruction

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, UK - Leading learning technology provider Turnitin has today announced the launch of its new comprehensive academic integrity solution, Turnitin Originality, across the UK and Ireland. The release comes hot on the heels of new guidance from QAA to tackle the use of ‘essay mills’, as research from Swansea University suggests that as many as one in seven students globally could be involved in contract cheating.

Combining the text similarity checking functionality Turnitin is known for with new features to address emerging issues such as contract cheating, Turnitin Originality aims to teach students the value of original thinking skills.

Turnitin Originality uses comprehensive technology to help deter unoriginal work and support students in learning how to properly attribute ideas and concepts to others. When reviewing submissions, Turnitin Originality examines whether the work is similar to other known text, or if it has indications that it was not authored by the student. The aim is to support students back to honest endeavour before cheating habits become embedded, helping students to avoid putting themselves at risk of exposure. The tool can even help identify text manipulations used by the student in a bid to “beat” the system.

Cees Poortman, Regional VP, Europe, Middle East and Africa, commented: “The necessity for this combined solution is clear: as more schools and universities move to online instruction they must be even more thoughtful and holistic about their approach to academic integrity.

“Traditional text comparison tools—which Turnitin pioneered twenty years ago—can detect copy/paste plagiarism or student collusion, but do not equip institutions with the technologies needed to address academic integrity in the fullest sense.”

By using Turnitin Originality alongside feedback tools, particularly in online learning, instructors and administrators are given the capability of identifying the full range of potential misconduct and providing feedback in one tool so that instances of plagiarism or inauthentic authorship are teachable moments, not punitive ones.

Cees Poortman added: “Now, every institution is enabled to set the highest standards of academic integrity and give its students and instructors a unified solution to support those standards. Turnitin Originality gives educators more tools than ever before at their fingertips, to help them work with students to identify unoriginal content, uphold academic integrity and support the learning journey.”

Robin Crockett, Reader in Data Analysis & University Lead on Contract-Cheating, University of Northampton, observed: "The increases in numbers of essay-mills over recent years, and the increasingly cheap prices charged to students, means contract cheating is a bigger issue than ever for education institutions. Turnitin's Originality software is the best I've seen for quickly and efficiently revealing common tell-tale signs of ghost-writer involvement."

Turnitin focuses on providing a holistic suite of solutions to address the complete assessment cycle, from the submission of student work to grading. For example, Gradescope’s auto-grading feature makes it easier for instructors to quickly grade assignments and gain additional insights about student learning in any area of study, including economics, business, and STEM subjects.