Turnitin Similarity: How Much Is Too Much

Turnitin is a plagiarism checking software with the primary goal of encouraging students to submit original work. It checks for any duplication of content or mistakes in citation with theses or dissertation papers. Getting a Turnitin Similarity Report helps teachers check if students have copied from any previous work.

As for students, running a Turnitin check on their papers is an assured way of improving their academic writing. Making sure that you get a low Turnitin similarity score also ensures that you get better grades.

However, with repeated topics for research for college students, there are some chances of similarities between existing reports and your submissions. Therefore it is very important to understand the actual Turnitin similarity score meaning and how this software should be used to your benefit.

Turnitin Similarity Score: How Much Is Too Much

Widely, it is accepted that any Turnitin percentage above 10% is too much. That said, the Turnitin acceptable percentage varies widely depending upon the type of paper and the university that you belong to.

If your Turnitin plagiarism percentage is too high, it means that you have simply copied and pasted most parts of your paper. This can discredit your work and also cost you your grades, putting your academic career at risk.

That said, most universities follow a curriculum that leads to repetition in the subjects or topics given to students for dissertation and theses. Even when students choose an original topic or subject, there are some technical terms and sentences that cannot be altered while writing a paper. So, it is common to have some Turnitin plagiarism percentage.

There are no specified standards as such when it comes to the Turnitin score. As mentioned before, it depends upon the nature of the paper or assignment.

For instance, in the case of an original doctoral dissertation, the reference must be less than 10%. In these papers, the review of literature includes some direct quotes from existing research papers or content that is put out by experts in the industry. Therefore, some plagiarism is bound to occur.

However, when it comes to a Master’s thesis, the similarity percentage can go up to 20% because a major portion of the paper depends on existing papers by authorities. In the case of essays or publication manuscripts, any score above 5%-7% is considered too much.

When Lower Turnitin Similarity Percentage Is Good

In other words, it is good to have a small amount of plagiarism in your paper. So, what is plagiarism similarity? It alerts the user about any content that may have been duplicated from existing documents. In case of dissertations and theses, some plagiarism shows that the document is well written. It is also an indication of external reference material from various sources and writers. When you are writing a lengthy dissertation or thesis, it is impossible to do so without using these sources. Therefore, it is good to fail some matching tests in order to get a low score on the Turnitin plagiarism checker.

There are some cases when one cannot avoid plagiarism. This includes names of government bodies, organizations and names of some books. In case these names are repeated, there is a chance of a higher plagiarism score, even though the content has not been duplicated or copied and pasted in to the document.

Turnitin Similarity Index What Is Acceptable

Acceptable Turnitin similarity index between 1%-10%.

While it is acceptable to have some plagiarism in your Turnitin similarity index, you must also understand what is an acceptable Turnitin score?

While 0% similarity is ideal, it is not always possible. Therefore, a score between 1%-10% is accepted widely. It is also a way to encourage writers to use as many external resources as possible to back up statements and arguments in their paper. As a result, any paper that is well researched is bound to have a low plagiarism score.

The acceptable Turnitin score varies from one university to the other as well. Some of them will allow up to 40% Turnitin similarity percentage to support good quality papers with a lot of research and external papers. However, some do not allow a score above 15% unless it is completely unavoidable.

There are several factors that determine the acceptable Turnitin score. Universities differ in their plagiarism policies. These policies also change to accommodate any testing procedures. Some universities seem to be stricter than the others because the referencing and citation rules adopted by them are fairly different from the rest.

Determining acceptable Turnitin similarity scores is also the prerogative of the supervisors and examiners along with the universities. They have the authority to decide if a given document is plagiarised or not even if the similarity score is higher. The can also determine how much of the paper is original and how much has been copied. As mentioned before, sometimes certain unavoidable names and phrases can lead to a higher plagiarism score even if the actual content is 100% original.

What Is A Good Turnitin Score

Any score between 1%-10% is considered a good Turnitin score. In most cases, even a Turnitin similarity percentage below 15% is considered good. However, there are no rules to this as the universities have the prerogative of determining how much plagiarism is allowed.

In case the assessment of your file and the guidelines state that the document is 100% original, then it is accepted without any questions. However, if this plagiarism report reads that the similarity is above 10%, then the paper will still be graded, provided the Turnitin acceptable range for your university is 0%-10%. The student will receive negative scores for the plagiarism percentage nevertheless.

However, the professor may permit an allowance of 5% depending upon the nature of the paper. In that case, even a 15% plagiarism percentage is good despite the university norms being different.

What Percent Similarity Is Bad On Turnitin

Any score above 30% is considered bad on Turnitin. However, the answer to the question Trunitin what is a good score varies from one institution to another. That said, a score above 49% is unacceptable in most colleges and universities.

There are some reasons why students have a high plagiarism score:

• Not following crediting norms: There are some original words like quotes that are commonly used in a paper. These words must be presented within quotation marks along with a citation that leads to the source of the original text. Failing to do this, leads to a high similarity score.
• Paraphrasing the text too closely: Even when you borrow ideas from existing text, you need to cite the source. This holds good even if the text is paraphrased. Plagiarism is not limited to rewriting existing text as is.
• Using statistics from existing papers: Charts, tables, and statistics belong to individuals who created them originally. It is necessary to credit the creator in your text to avoid a high similarity score.
• Using any visual aid without credits: Any photographs, illustrations or other visuals included in your paper must be credited appropriately. If you are targeting Turnitin percentage allowed, it is advised that you also credit yourself for any original visuals that you may have created for your paper.
• Using third-party essay-writing services: While many students make use of third-party writing services, not all of them choose reliable options. You need to make sure that when you buy papers or contract the writing to a third party, they guarantee that you will be able to get low Turnitin similarity scores.
• Adding an existing bibliography or reference list: This is a commonly found academic misconduct when students rush their assignments. Most often, students are required to use external references in order to make their papers more substantial. In this case, a reference list is a must. It must also be formatted appropriately to avoid any similarities or matches.

How To Check Turnitin Score

The next step is to understand how to check the Turnitin percentage of plagiarism. Turnitin is an online tool that is accessible to most students. Students need to purchase the software based on their requirements. The price for this software starts at $18.95.

Once the software has been purchased, all you have to do is follow a few simple steps to check your assignments for plagiarism:

• Create your Turnitin account and log in.
• On the top right corner, click on ‘Assignments’
• Then click on ‘Add’
• You will be directed to an Add Assignment Form.
• Here you need to add the title of the paper, the dates, and then choose the ‘Single Uploaded File Only’ option.
• Then, below the Turnitin service, choose the ‘Use Turnitin’ Option.
• This leads you to the several property selection options offered by Turnitin.
• Choose the appropriate properties which allow you to set the delivery date for the Turnitin Similarity Report, the documents that you want your file to be checked against, and a host of other options. If you want the result instantly, choose the ‘Immediately’ option under the Generate Originality Reports section. This will give you a report within 20 minutes.
• Then, click on ‘Post’ and you will receive your Similarity Report in your account. In case teachers wish to allow students to see the report, they need to choose the property accordingly while submitting the paper.

When learning about how to check similarity on Turnitin, it is necessary to note that the tool can be used only once for each assignment. If you have submitted a draft of the paper or assignment, you need to create a new assignment to check the final draft on Turnitin.

In case the university has a contract with Turnitin, it is usually accessible only by faculty. In this case, whenever an assignment has been checked by this plagiarism tool, the student receives a note on the assignment.

How To Reduce Similarity On Turnitin

The last concern for students is how to lower Turnitin Score. There are some simple measures that you can take to ensure that you do not get any negative marks on your paper because of plagiarism:

• Paraphrase all your content:

  Once you have found the information that you need for your paper, make sure you read it thoroughly. Following that rewrite or paraphrase the text in your own words. It is important to note that you should not write more than two words in the same order as they appear in the original text. However, when there are certain phrases that need to be presented as they are, it is best to use them within quotation marks. You can use the help of our writing service, just write to us “I need help with my homework” and our expert will help you!

• Make sure you cite all the sources:
  

  The best way to prevent any plagiarism is to provide the right citations. Universities have specific guidelines when it comes to citation. You may have to follow an APA, MLA, or Chicago format according to these guidelines. When you cite your sources, you must also remember that citing any paraphrased material is very different from citing quotes used in the text.

  You also need to add page numbers for hard copies of your documents or a paragraph number for any web content that you are creating. If you are unsure of the formatting guidelines, it is a good idea to hire an expert. Failing to follow the citation guidelines can also lead to negative marks.

• Make use of quotation marks correctly:

  Whenever you are quoting anything directly from an existing document, you must use quotation marks. The content that you include within the quotation marks must also be reviewed carefully. You need to make sure that you do not misquote any expert or writer in your work. If you choose to paraphrase, do it effectively so that it does not look like you have misquoted any paper.

• Make sure you reference your sources:

  The best option to get a good Turnitin plagiarism percent is to add a page with a list of reference pages and cited works at the end of your paper. You also need to ensure that your paper meets the formatting guidelines provided by your college or university.

When it comes to plagiarism and similarity scores, it is necessary to understand the difference. Similarity refers to any matching content that may have been detected by the scanner. Therefore, a Turnitin report is known as a similarity index. Most of these tools used to check dissertation papers or assignments are capable of detecting similarity and not plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the act defined by your teacher or instructor. They can decide whether you have plagiarised your content or not based on these similarity reports. As mentioned above, even a high similarity score does not mean that the content is plagiarised. Therefore, if you are accused of plagiarism when you are certain that the content is original, you may discuss it with your teacher to avoid losing grades.