Introduction

What It Does

What It Doesn't Do

Ways to Use It

How to Get Started

Printable Checklist

What Turnitin Does Not Do

Turnitin does not distinguish between cited text and plagiarized text. For instance, an originality report will highlight words inside quotation marks -- words which are properly cited.

Turnitin does not catch plagiarized text that is not in its database, including most print sources, articles in databases other than ProQuest, and student papers never before submitted to Turnitin. For example, Turnitin may not catch text taken from EBSCOhost or dozens of other library databases.

Turnitin does not generally catch paraphrased text, nor does it recognize made-up facts or false citations.

Turnitin does not analyze students' writing styles.

above: Turnitin originality report with text highlighted and underlined in red, even though properly cited.