Turnitin Policy

The University maintains a site licence for Turnitin and provides access for staff members.

Policy for use

Use of Turnitin at the University of Cambridge is not mandatory.  The University encourages all Faculties and Departments to make use of the software, although the method of use will vary depending on the subject area and course; some courses will screen all work, while some may undertake random checks or only screen individual pieces of work if concerns are raised.  Any piece of assessed work - both formative and summative assessment - may be submitted to the software for similarity review.  Where the software may indicate a breach of academic integrity, further investigation will be undertaken in line with University policy; see our pages on Investigation of Academic Misconduct for further details.  

Terms and Conditions

Access to the University's Turnitin licence is subject to the following Terms and Conditions, which must be accepted by individuals before access is granted:  

  1. Turnitin UK may only be used for the screening of student work in relation to a course of study at the University of Cambridge; it may not be used for screening commercial or published work.  
  2. Sufficient guidance about good academic practice in all types of assessment is provided to students on the relevant course of study.
  3. Students have been, or will be, notified of the intended use and process for Turnitin UK on the relevant course. 
  4. The limitations of using Turnitin UK are understood, and the resulting similarity reports will be carefully reviewed and utilised appropriately. 
  5. Actions taken in response to Turnitin UK similarity reports will be in line with University policy for the Investigation of Academic Misconduct.
  6. Records will be kept on the use of Turnitin UK and actions taken in response; these records will be made available to the Office of Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals (OSCCA) for use in any subsequent review action or to help evaluate the impact of the software. 
  7. Material submitted directly to Turnitin UK will use only examination numbers, or another number created for that purpose; student names will not be used, including in the filename. 

 

Users will be required to agree to these Terms and Conditions either on request for a direct-access account, or when setting up a Moodle Turnitin Assignment.

These Terms and Conditions were agreed by the General Board's Education Committee in June 2021 and overwrite any previous T&Cs.