Viewing the Turnitin Similarity Report

Turnitin Feedback Studio is a tool that can be used to improve writing skills. Turnitin compares submitted work to an extensive database including web pages, journals, articles, and other student submissions. Access the Match Report within VU Collaborate, to view highlighted matched text, and source details.

Turnitin's new Similarity Report view

Check out Turnitin's new Similarity Report for clearer insights, faster feedback, and better outcomes.

Can I still use the classic view?
Yes, select the button at the top of the page, to switch between Classic View and Beta View.

Are reports available for students?
No, currently, the reports are only available for staff.

Want to learn more?

Explore the interactive demo, by Turnitin
Take the new self-guided tour (2-3 min read)
Overview of the new Similarity Report experience, by Turnitin

On this page:

Accessing Similarity Reports
Viewing the Similarity Reports
Support and Resources

Accessing Similarity Reports

In your unit space on the navbar, select Assessments, then Dropbox.
Dropboxes with Turnitin enabled will show an Originality Check icon (1), select the Dropbox name (2), to view the submissions list.
Student submissions will be listed with a submission status or similarity score for documents that can generate a report.
Select the Similarity Score (1) to access the report in Feedback Studio.

File requirements to generate a similarity report:

File size: Minimum of 20 words, less than 100MB and less than 800 pages.
File types: Microsoft Word (DOC and DOCX), Corel WordPerfect, HTML, Adobe PostScript, Plain text (TXT), Rich Text Format (RTF), Portable Document Format (PDF), OpenOffice (ODT), Hangul (HWP), PowerPoint (PPT) and, Google Docs via Google Drive.

See File Requirements, by Turnitin.

Submission status

In-Progress - indicates Turnitin is currently processing the assessment.
The first three submissions should be created within minutes submissions after this will take 24 hours to be created.
Enabled Turnitin after receiving submission?
Select the Submit file icon to generate a report.

Similarity score ranges:

Blue: No matching text
Green: One word to 24% matching text
Yellow: 25-49% matching text
Orange: 50-74% matching text
Red: 75-100% matching text

Similarity Score is the percentage of the submission content that matches to source content.

See Similarity score ranges, by Turnitin.

Enhanced Similarity Report

Note: currently this view is only available for staff.

Take some time to become familiar with the report.

Go to Classic/Beta view (1) to switch between views.

Similarity Report (2)

Overall Similarity (3) – indicates the percentage of words in the report matched to other sources (journals, websites, articles and other student's work).
Matched Groups (4) – highlights each match type by a different colour (a) not cited or quoted, (b) missing quotations, (c) missing citation and (d) cited and quoted.
Sources (5) – highlights each source by a different colour.
Filter (6) – select to exclude bibliography, quoted text, cited text and small matches.

Flags (7) – highlights (a) hidden text, and (b) replaced characters.

AI Writing (8) –highlights and provides a percentage score of text (a) likely AI-generated text, and (b) likely AI-generated text that was AI-paraphrased.

enhanced report view overview

Source: Enhanced Similarity Report, by Turnitin

Review Overview

Review the overview panel for a quick snapshot of the number of matches and percentage score by match type.

Not Cited or Quoted – may indicate plagiarism
- exclude common knowledge matches
- review to see if further action is required
Missing Quotations – cited matches with no quotation mark, review to see if paraphrasing or citation is required
- Academic writing, paraphrasing and more, Learning Hub
- Reference with integrity, Library Guides
Missing Citation – quoted matches with no citation, review to see if citation is required
- Reference with integrity, Library Guides
Cited and Quoted - review to see if the correct referencing style has been applied
- Reference with integrity, Library Guides

Review a Match

Click a match to view details in the source card. Information includes match ranking number, source type, match group type, match percentage, number of text blocks, number of matched words, matched text and source URL. Review the match, to determine if further action is required.

explore match card

Source: Enhanced Similarity Report, by Turnitin

What to learn more?

Explore the interactive demo, by Turnitin
Take the new self-guided tour (2-3 min read)
Overview of the new Similarity Report experience, by Turnitin
Visit New Similarity Report Resource Center, student and instructor resources by Turnitin

Classic Similarity Report

Feedback Studio displays the similarity report, with highlighted matches. Take some time to become familiar with the interface:

Navigate between pages, by expanding the thumbnail bar (1), and between submissions (2) via the arrows and dropdown list.
Access Turnitin help guides (3).
Explore the toolbar (4) - Layers, Feedback layer (if enabled), Similarity layer, Download & Submission Information, and AI.
View the word count (5) and resize (6) the submission view.

See Using Feedback Studio, Instructor guide, by Turnitin to discover more.

Expand to explore the Classic Report

Expand to explore the Classic Report

Viewing Similarity Matches

Similarity Layer

Match Overview

Select the Similarity Score (1) on the toolbar to display the Match Overview panel. Source matches will be listed in descending order of percentage match.

View source details and matches from the same source

Match Overview: select a source (1), then arrows (2), to navigate between matches from the same source.
On page: select a match number (3), then in the source box select arrows (4), to navigate between matches from the same source.

See Viewing Similarity Matches, instructor guide by Turnitin.

View Source Text

Select the title (1) in the source box to navigate to the source if available.
Select the book icon (2) to view the full source text in the side panel. Select the close icon (3) to close the panel.

See Viewing Similarity Matches, instructor guide by Turnitin.

View Match Breakdown and Exclude Sources

Select the View Match Breakdown arrow (1), to view additional source locations.
Optionally select Exclude Sources (2), tick to select (3), then Exclude (4).
Select the Return to Match Overview arrow (5) before the Match Breakdown header, to return to the match list.

Filters, Settings, and Exclusions

Select the Filter icon on the toolbar, to apply exclusion filters (matches, quotes, bibliography and more) see Excluding small matches and Excluding quotes and the bibliography, instructor guides by Turnitin.

File information

Select the Document Details icon on the toolbar, to view file meta-data information, see Viewing document details, instructor guide by Turnitin to learn more.

Turnitin Feedback Studio