15. Plagiarism and Referencing

15.3. How we use the information provided by Turnitin

Turnitin is a tool that supports academic integrity by identifying potential issues in submitted work. However, only academic staff are responsible for determining whether plagiarism has occurred.

Key Points on Interpretation

  • Turnitin provides a similarity index and an originality report, but it does not make judgments about plagiarism.
  • Academic staff will review the originality report in detail to assess whether any matches indicate misconduct.
  • There is no fixed percentage threshold that automatically indicates plagiarism. Even a high similarity score may be acceptable depending on the nature of the matches.

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

These matches are typically discounted during academic review, so the initial percentage score alone is not a reliable indicator of plagiarism.

Suspected Plagiarism

If plagiarism is suspected:

  • The originality report may be referred to the Head of School/Institute.
  • In serious cases, it may be escalated to an Academic Misconduct Panel for formal investigation.