Assignments, Turnitin and fraud

On this page you find information regarding handing in assignments via Turnitin, suspected plagiarism and how to deal with (suspected) fraud.

Handing in assignments via Turnitin

1. To Submit a paper click 'Submit' next to the paper assignment. Please note: PDF is the only accepted file format.
2. The paper submission page will open. Enter a title for your paper.
3. Click on one of the submission buttons: 'Choose from this computer', 'Choose from Dropbox', or 'Choose from Google Drive', then select the file for submission.
4. After entering a title for your paper and selecting a file, click 'Upload' to upload your paper.
5. The paper you chose to submit will be in the preview section after upload. Look over all of the information and make sure that it is correct. To confirm the submission, click the 'Confirm' button

After the submission is confirmed, a digital receipt will be shown. A copy of the receipt will also be emailed to the student. To return the assignment inbox and view their submission, they have to click the Return to assignment list button.

Plagiarism and fraud

Turnitin is a tool to detect plagiarism (as well as self-plagiarism) - it is a computer programme that compares the uploaded text to a vast pool of other texts on the database. Turnitin checks to what extent the uploaded text matches word-to-word with other sources. It then provides a whole report which parts match with which sources. Important: a high percentage match does not necessarily imply plagiarism (15 percent is average for papers without plagiarism), nor does a low percentage exclude it - the lecturer needs to check it themselves.

If a lecturer suspects that a student has committed plagiarism, they have to report it to the Board of Examiners attaching the Turnitin report as part of the a proof. The lecturer is not to grade the assignment instead they should inform the student that they have suspected plagiarism and notified the Board of Examiners. The Board will make the decision and appropriate measures. Most common penalties include declaring the submission invalid. Depending on the individual case and type of assignment, students might receive the possibility of rewriting their work and handing it in again or writing a new assignment to be graded for a maximum grade of a 6. Read more on Leiden University regulations on plagiarism.