Student Handbook 2026/27
16. Plagiarism and Referencing
16.3. How we use the information provided by Turnitin
Turnitin is a tool that supports academic integrity by identifying potential issues in submitted work, including similarities with existing sources. However, only academic staff are responsible for determining whether plagiarism or another form of academic misconduct has occurred.
Key Points on Interpretation
- Turnitin provides a Similarity Index and a Similarity Report for each submission, but it does not make judgements about plagiarism.
- Academic staff review the report in detail to determine whether any matches indicate poor academic practice or academic misconduct.
- There is no fixed percentage threshold that automatically indicates plagiarism. A high similarity score may be acceptable depending on the nature of the matches, and a low similarity score does not by itself demonstrate good academic practice.
Understanding Similarity Scores
Turnitin may highlight matches that are not indicative of plagiarism, such as:
- References and bibliographies
- Commonly used phrases
- Quotations
- Data tables
- Standard legal terminology
Academic staff review the nature of any matches before making a judgement. For this reason, the similarity score alone is not a reliable indicator of plagiarism.
Suspected Academic Misconduct
If academic misconduct is suspected, the matter will be investigated in accordance with the University's Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy. All relevant evidence will be considered before any decision is reached.
Please note that investigations may take time to ensure that all cases are considered fairly and thoroughly.
In some cases, the Similarity Report and associated evidence may be referred to the Head of School for review.