Turnitin

Overview

Students in grades 9-12 use Turnitin for all essays and projects.
Students are sent a Turnitin invite to their Enlightium Academy student email address. Please look for this email and follow the directions below to set up your free account.
If you have not received the Turnitin invite, please notify your teacher by sending them a direct message in Ignitia.
If you need further assistance, please email turnitin@enlightiumacademy.com.
Every essay should also have proper MLA formatting.

Setting up your Turnitin Account

To set up your Turnitin account, use the following instructions:

Open the email sent by Turnitin and click “Create Your Account”.
The link to set up an account will only be valid within the first 24 hours of sending. If you need the invitation sent again, please reach out to your teacher.
You will be redirected to the Turnitin website. Please provide your email address and last name.
Please note that each student will need a different email address; multiple students cannot use the same email for their Turnitin accounts.
Note: If the email link brings you to the login page, rather than the "Account Setup" page, follow these three steps before continuing:
Click the "Forgot Password" button.
Enter your last name and email. An automatic email will be sent to your email with a link to reset the password (even though you haven't created one yet).
Click the "here" link to create your password.
You will then be directed back to the Turnitin website to create your password.
Once you enter your password, this screen will appear. Click the “Log in Now” link.
Enter the email address and the password you created.
Once you log in, fill out the additional information to finish setting up your account.
Click the “I Agree – Continue” Button.
You will then see the list of courses you are assigned to, along with your instructor’s name. Please verify that you have been entered into the correct courses. If one is missing or incorrect, please let your instructor know by sending them a direct message in Ignitia.

Submitting Assignments in Turnitin

Once you have successfully set up your Turnitin account, you can start submitting your assignments. Please read through the following steps for specifics:

On the homepage of Turnitin, click the course for which you want to submit an assignment.
There will be a list of all the assignments for this selected course; if the assignment is not listed, please let your teacher know. There is a revision assignment for every regular assignment. Click the “Submit” button for the assignment you want to submit.
On the first screen, fill in the "Submission Title" the name and number of the unit you are in, the assignment number, and the assignment name (ex. Unit:1. Language Structure, Assignment: 2. Forming Noun Plurals).
Choose a document from your computer, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Be sure to click “Upload” at the bottom.
On the next page, verify that the information on the left of the document preview is correct, then click “Confirm”.
Finally, on the third screen, you can click “Return to assignment list”.
Please note:
1. When you are submitting work, please make sure you always do the following:
  1. Copy and paste the submission ID number into the writer’s box in Ignitia (do not paste the number in the Help box in Ignitia or email the number to a teacher).
  2. Click “Turn It In.”
2. There is no need to upload any file into Ignitia before you submit work for grading. Only the submission ID number is needed.
3. Without submitting your paper to Turnitin as well as Ignitia, your work is not fully submitted for grading.

Viewing your Overall Grade and Instructor Feedback

See this page for instructions on viewing feedback.

Interpreting the Similarity Report

The similarity report is the percentage of your paper that is taken directly from other sources.
The similarity report is not a direct indicator of plagiarism. The similarity report will flag quotes that use quotation marks and are properly cited. If you have 15% or less of your paper in quotes and those sections use quotation marks and are properly cited, your work is not plagiarized.
The similarity report should NOT exceed 25%. If it does, then you need to rewrite flagged sections or talk to your teacher about it.
An essay should not be more than 15% quotes. 15%-20% is the nationally accepted amount of quotes before an essay is generally considered to not be your own work (plagiarism). Essays must be 85% in your own writing.
- This includes quotes that are in quotation marks and properly cited.
See this guide on how to refine your similarity score.

Troubleshooting

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do students have to submit to Turnitin?
- Turnitin is a tool Enlightium Academy has chosen to use to ensure academic honesty, as well as to provide thorough feedback on essays. With it, instructors are able to assist students in becoming excellent writers by the time they graduate from Enlightium.
I never received a Turnitin invite. What should I do?
- First, please check your spam folder in your email. Sometimes the email ends up getting "lost" in there. If you do not see it in your spam folder, please message your teacher in Ignitia to resend the invite.
- If you again don’t receive the invite, email turnitin@enlightiumacademy.com.
The Turnitin invite went straight to the login page, but I don’t have a password to log in.
- Click forgot the password, then fill out your last name and email, then follow the steps to create your password.
Turnitin says that I need a Class ID and Enrollment Key to get into a class. Where do I get these?
- Turnitin can add students to their classes through either Class ID and Enrollment Key, or email invite. We choose to use email invites instead of the former. If you did not get an email invite or it expired, please reach out to your teacher.
Why do I need to submit something to both Ignitia and Turnitin?
- Turnitin will check your paper for plagiarism and will be the place where your teacher provides feedback. Your teacher also needs the submission ID in Ignitia both to be able to find your paper easily and know it is ready to grade.
Does the similarity report tell how much the paper plagiarized?
- No. The similarity report does not directly report plagiarism. It only shows similarity to other sources, which may or may not be an indicator of plagiarism.
- The similarity report includes content that is in quotes and properly cited. Teachers will be able to see whether any similarity is an actual indicator of plagiarism, or merely identical wording to an outside source that is cited properly.
Some of my projects need to be submitted in Ignitia, and others need to be submitted in Turnitin. How do I know which is which?
- Your assignment in Ignitia will tell you if the assignment needs to be submitted to Turnitin.
- Your Turnitin class will have a full list of the projects that you will need to submit there throughout the semester. If there is a project in Ignitia that isn’t also in Turnitin, you will submit that project to Ignitia only.
Can I plagiarize unintentionally?
- Yes. Even unintentional plagiarism is plagiarism. If you have plagiarized unintentionally, your teacher will inform you that they have plagiarized, and you can explain the situation to your teacher.
Is plagiarism only when someone copies and pastes text?
- No. When a student uses similar wording to a source but does not make it significantly different enough, they commit synonym plagiarism. For what Turnitin calls “Find-Replace” plagiarism, see this article.
Is it still plagiarism if I don’t do it on a project?
- Yes. Using an outside source inappropriately on any assignment is plagiarism. This is even the case on short answer or multiple choice questions.

Contact

Your point of contact if you are having issues with Turnitin is your teacher. Please contact them using Ignitia.
If your teacher is unable to help, please email turnitin@enlightiumacademy.com.