Assessment Guide: Submitting to Turnitin
How to submit your summary and essay
Submission is ONLY online. No paper copies are to be submitted. You must submit to the correct link on Blackboard
You should write your assignment using Microsoft Word or similar word processing software. It must be saved as either a Word type
(.doc or .docx) or PDF. If you use a word processing program other than Word, your last step before submission should be to "SAVE
AS" and select the Word ".doc" file type. Then check it to make sure it looks correct.
In Blackboard go to Assessments, then go to The Assessment that is a Writing Based Assignment. Your course outline should
indicate which one it is.
example
Inside that folder you will see the submission link:
For most students who will submit before the deadline passes they will see the link shown above. However as soon at the deadline
passes one of 2 things may happen: 1) Late submissions will still be accepted to the same submission link (eg your Summary) or 2:
that link will automatically disappear and a new one will appear called "Essay: Late or with Extension". Even if you are only 2
seconds late your essay will go into the Late basket and will receive a Late Penalty unless you have an approved extension.
Faculty of Science and IT, School of Psychology Copyright, 2016
You will be taken through a few steps to get your document into the Turnitin system. It is VERY important that you upload the
correct file.
Once you click on the View/Complete link in Blackboard it will take you to Turnitin. If you have not yet submitted anything it will
look like this. You can click the SUBMIT button or see the INFO about the assignment.
After you click the SUBMIT button you will see this
Blackboard will pass to Turnitin your Names. Because of the way Blackboard links with Turnitin you do not need to add a coversheet
or anything else as it is always attached to your information (name and student number). You now need to add a submission title.
This is NOT the title of your essay or summary but just something that keeps your submissions organised. Because you can submit
again and again, you may want to number your submissions. I strongly recommend you name your 1st ones DRAFT so markers
know it is not your final version. Name your last and final version FINAL.
Faculty of Science and IT, School of Psychology Copyright, 2016
Turnitin will show you a basic view of your file. This is NOT always how your file will look when marked but just a quick view of
for you to see it is the correct file. If your file has pictures or graphs this preview may not show them. You will click the CONFIRM
if it is the right file to continue the submission process. NOTE Turnitin counts words differently than WORD. Go by your WORD
based word count not the Turnitin one.
The 1st time you submit your assignment the Similarity score will be available in just a few minutes. AND you can now see the
Submit button has changed to a RESUBMIT. Click on the % number below the word Similarity and it will show you the
sections Turnitin thinks may be plagiarised. You should always check this but just because something is highlighted in Turnitin does
not mean your marker will see it as plagiarism. Markers will use academic judgment. Just because it does not show up as plagiarised
does not mean your marker won't identify something as plagiarised or shows collusion. Basically between Turnitin and the skills your
markers have, we will pick up almost all cases of plagiarism and collusion. The penalties range from some deductions in points for
minor things, a score of 0 for the assignment or in extreme cases "expulsion from University".
Faculty of Science and IT, School of Psychology Copyright, 2016
Here is a sample of a document that was uploaded to TurnitinYou can see this student did NOT write his own summary but
copied sections from various sources. This would be considered Academic Misconduct.
How to view your feedback on your Marked assignment
Once your work has been graded, the marks and comments are released approximately 3 weeks after the submission due date.
1) go into the Assessment and into where you submitted the essay to the Turnitin Link. Click on the link "View/Complete". You
will notice that the Submit button is no longer available for you but the View button is.
If you click the View button it will open the Grademark version of your assignment. You will see your grade at the top right, your
Turnitin Similarity score next to that and your essay in the large window with small comment bubbles. You can click on each of
these bubbles to see what they say or you can show all comments. You can also download that so you can print it.
Faculty of Science and IT, School of Psychology Copyright, 2016
2) a second way to access your comments is to go into your My Grades section and using the same method you used for a Quiz, click
on your grade and then keep going deeper until you have the comments.
Late Penalties:
Before the deadline passes = no penalty
On the day of the deadline (from 12:00 AM through to 11:59 PM) = no penalty
The following are the University Standard Late Penalties which we use
1 Day late (from 12:00 AM through to 11:59 PM) of the calendar day after the due date = 10 points off (note this is not 10% of your
grade but 10 points. For example if your grade was 63 it would be reduced by 10 points to 53%
2 days late = 20 points off
3 days late = 30 points off
4 days late = 40 points off
5 days late = 50 points off
More than 5 days late = 100 points off (ie a mark of 0 and it may not receive any comments).
Students may not submit an assignment more than 5 days late without an approved extension
ALL extensions must go through the UNI Online Adverse Circumstances system
Word Count Penalties:
Below or up to the word limit = no penalty
Up to 10% over the word limit = no penalty (eg if the word limit is 1000 words then you can safely go up to 1000 + 100 = 1100)
10.0001% to 15% over the word limit = 5 points off
15.0001% to 20% over the word limit = 10 points off
20.0001% to 30% over the word limit = 20 points off
30.0001% to 30% over the word limit = 30 points off
Faculty of Science and IT, School of Psychology Copyright, 2016
