An Improvement to Similarity Scoring

The way the originality report is calculated in Turnitin will be changing slightly. We have received the following email from Turnitin:

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Hi,

At Turnitin, we appreciate the importance of the Originality Report, and we are constantly seeking to deliver more reliable matches and a comprehensive Originality Report to our users.

What’s changing?

Starting in March, when bibliographic material is excluded from an Originality Report, we will recalculate the Similarity Score based on the remaining content only. This update will provide you with a more accurate score.

What does this mean?

As an example, this means that by opting to exclude a bibliography that constitutes 10% of a paper, we will now generate a report according to 90% of that paper, rather than calculating reports out of 100%.

How will this affect my assignments?

For assignments that have not yet passed their due date, all reports will automatically regenerate in line with the improvement. Rest assured that reports for closed assignments will not be updated. If you have open assignments, we advise logging in to check regenerated reports, as this update may cause a slight increase to a paper’s Similarity Score.

How can I ensure that all Originality Reports are aligned with this improvement?

If you’d prefer that all existing reports are aligned with our update (specifically for papers submitted to current assignments), you can simply opt to regenerate reports from the Document Viewer.

If I extend the due date for a closed assignment, will this affect current Originality Reports?

By extending a closed assignment’s due date – therefore reopening the assignment – all reports in the assignment will regenerate to align with our update.

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This update is not controlled by UCL and will be implemented by Turnitin outside of our control. However if you do have any concerns you’d like us to pass along to Turnitin then please let us know and we can do this for you.