Interpreting the Originality Report from Urkund (Ouriginal)
Once you have located the Originality report, you will see that the overview is set out in a visual, easy-to-read way. It is easy to gather the general information you need from the report as well as some very detailed elements.
Understanding the Originality Check Analysis report
- Access the report
- Navigating the overview
- Viewing findings
- Viewing sources
- Download a matched submission
- Viewing the entire document
- Download the report
Watch a video on interpreting the report developed by Ouriginal.
Keep this guide as a PDF reference guide:Ouriginal Analysis Report - Quick Start Guide
Access the report
See Getting started with the Dropbox - Originality Check, to set up an Originality Check, and access a report.
Then return to learn all about understanding the report.
Navigating the Overview
1. The three icons from left to right mean Reset report state, download as a PDF and Get Help/information about the page you are looking at.
2. A quick overview showing the matched text of the submission in orange.
3. The three separate areas of findings.
- Matching text - these are blocks of text where a match was found in a source
- Warnings - highlights any suspicious items in the submission
- Cross language - checks matching text in other languages
4. This is where you learn more about different aspects of the tool. A little like an FAQ page.
5. Similarity overview showing the receiver (Block Convenor or Instructor) average within that dropbox folder as well as the Similarity Score from that assignment.
6. Details of the submission file, and submitter and receiver details.
Viewing findings
Matching text
This shows any text in the submitted document (1) that matches other sources (2). The highlighted text provides additional information on the matched text.
- Blue for text in brackets and grey for text in quotes can help determine if the matched text is correctly referenced.
- Red for text missing in the submitted text, and yellow for modified text can help show how the submitted text has been modified from the source.
Text that is correctly referenced or not needed to be included can be removed from the matching (3).
To Navigate to the next match, use the Previous highlight and Next highlight in the navigation bar at the bottom of the window.
Highlight colours
- Blue = text in brackets
- Red = missing in the submitted text
- Yellow = modified in the submitted text
- Grey = text between quotes
Matching text in another language
This highlights any text that has been translated from another language. In the examples below, the highlighed text was translated from a document written in Dutch and Japanese respectively to English.
In the example below, the original source is at the bottom of the page and is labelled W which stands for Website. This means that the original source of the matching text is from a website.
Unusual characters
Unusual characters could mean that space characters have been replaced with invisible characters as an attempt to cheat the plagiarism control. Any unusual characters in a document will be highlighted by the WARNINGS purple icon.
This could include bad PDF formatting, suspiciously long words to downplay the word count or the use of special characters not noticeable by the reader.
1. The Purple icon will highlight any warnings (unusual use of characters) in the document.
2. Click on the Purple warning icon in the panel on the left for more information.
The left side of the screen shows the section of the submitted document that has been flagged for having unusual characters. The right part of the screen gives a detailed description of the analysis.
If you are in doubt, ask the student to submit a different version of their assessment. For example, a Word version instead of PDF version.
Viewing sources
1. This is where you find a list of all the original sources during the document analysis.
W - Website sources
SA - School Assignments
J - Journal and textbook sources
2. If you know of a website that should have been, but wasn't in the list of references for the document you are reviewing, you can add it to the list for Urkund to include for next time.
Just place the url (web address) in the section Are you missing a source from the list and click SEND.
3. To access the source, click on the three dots on the right and select Go to source. This will take you to the original source (as long as it is web/internet accessible).
Download a matched submission
These steps show how to download a matched assignment submission from Victoria University.
1. From the Findings tab where you can locate the source (bottom right of the screen), click on Profile in the top left of the window, then select Sign in.
2. Select Victoria University from the Institution dropdown list, then click Sign in via Institution and log in with your VU account.
3. After a successful login, you will be directed to the overview page. Go to Matching Text in the Findings section to return to the Student Assignment source.
You will now be able to click on the assignment name to download the matched assignment submission.
Viewing the entire document
The document in the report does not contain any formatting, images or tables. To view the original format in which the document was submitted in, you will need to view the submission in the dropbox.
1. The Orange blocks shows all the text in the document that matches a source.
2. If you place your cursor on one of the Orange boxes the colour changes to a darker shade of Orange.
3. Click on the Orange box to view more detailed information on the matching text. This view will show you;
Submitted Document column; which lists the matching text as it appears on the submitted document.
Matching text column; which highlights the matching text.
Alternative sources- Lists other sources where the matching text can be found.
4. You can also include Quotes and information in Brackets in the analysis report by simply turning on the toggle.
5. Any quotes in the submitted document will be highlighted in Grey while information in brackets will appear in Blue.
Download the report
You are able to download the originality report from Urkund by Ouriginal which may assist in discussions with students or for using with investigations.
At the top right of the screen in the Analysis Overview and in the Findings page, you have the download icon.
After you click on that icon, the report will automatically download to your computer where you are able to view the overview page and the entire report page by page.
Further Support
Visit the VU Collaborate Help site at https://vucollaboratehelp.vu.edu.au for up to date information and resources on blended learning or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Contact ITS Service Desk on (03) 9919 2777 or via self-service http://servicedesk.vu.edu.au for further technical support.