Academic Integrity, Turnitin, and Gen AI

Markers do check Similarity Reports while grading assignments. However, at SCU the focus is on students using Turnitin as an editing tool, to improve how they have used sources in their writing before the marker sees their work. This means:

• submitting a good draft for similarity checking so the report contains useful information
• systemically checking every highlighted section in the report where you have used sources
• editing and fixing any problematic sections then re-submitting your assignment for grading.

Using the Similarity Report as an editing tool can help you to use sources effectively, practice academic integrity, and avoid losing ‘easy marks’.

To submit work to Turnitin:

1. Log onto MySCU and click into the relevant unit Blackboard learning site.
2. Look for the ‘Assessment’ heading in the left-hand menu. Click on ‘Assessment and Task Submission’ button. 
   On this screen click  ‘View/Complete’ for the relevant Turnitin drop-box.
3. Your name should auto fill. You need to fill in the ‘Submission Title’ field. (The title will only show on the Similarity Report.)
4. Scroll down and carefully read the Originality Declaration. By submitting your work through the drop box you are declaring that you have read and understood SCU policy about academic misconduct, and that you are submitting ‘entirely your own work’.
   Submitting your own work means drawing upon credible, current sources to generate your own answer to the question, argument, or solution.
   It also means:
• You have put in the effort expected
• You have mainly put sources into your own words (paraphrased)
• If you have used quotes they are correctly formatted and referenced
• You clearly show where your work ends and others’ work begins (usually via referencing).
5. Keep scrolling to the function buttons that allow you to upload a file. The ‘Choose from this Computer’ option is most resilient whether you are on campus or at home. Click on this button.
   Locate your file (e.g. a USB, in Documents or Desktop). Click the relevant folder or file, then click the ‘open’ button (bottom right corner)
   Click on the big blue ‘Upload’ button (bottom left corner.)
6. An icon will appear that shows a circle of dots and a message letting you know Turnitin is processing your submission.
7. The next screen gives you a chance to confirm you have uploaded the right file. Click on the ‘Confirm’ button at the bottom left corner of the screen.
8. A big green banner across the top of the next screen saying ‘Congratulations- your submission is complete!’ Once you see this banner you know the process of submitting your work for similarity checking was successful, and the process is complete.
9. To immediately access the Similarity Report scroll down the screen and click on the blue ‘Return to assignment list’ button at the bottom left of the screen.
   This will take you back to the Class Home Page where your Similarity Report will show as a percentage and coloured icon. It will take 2-5 minutes for the report to be available the first 3 times you submit through the drop box, and up to 24hours for any subsequent submissions.
   Click on either the percentage or coloured icon to open your Similarity Report in the online browser.

Links to videos

• An introduction to Turnitin at SCU
• How to submit assignments to Turnitin
• Five tips for using Turnitin
• Turnitin cannot detect plagiarism
• Understand your similarity score
• Professor Robin Stonecash, Former Executive Dean, Faculty of Business, Law and Arts, talks about the importance of academic integrity

At SCU the use of GenAI tools is permitted, within limits defined in the Assessment item by the Unit Assessor. For each Assessment item, your Unit Assessor will define whether the use of GenAI is permitted using one of the following categorisations:

For Purpose-Specific use (category 2), the Unit Assessor will also outline in writing the specific purposes for which GenAI use is permitted. 

If you use a GenAI tool in your assessment:

• Acknowledge this use.
• Save your drafts before integrating any GenAI-generated edits or other content, whether or not GenAI use is allowed.
  These drafts are a record of your use or non-use of GenAI in the event Turnitin returns a high GenAI percentage score for your work.
• Consult the Acknowledging and Referencing GenAI Use Quick Guide for more information.

Consult your Library guide for the referencing style for your units of study (see links below), and discuss with your Unit Assessor if you are not sure about how, or how much you can use GenAI in your studies.

• APA7
• Harvard
• AGLC

If you are allowed to use GenAI tools for your assessment, use the PAIR (Problem, AI tool, Interaction, Reflection) framework to build your skills with using GenAI:

• PAIR Framework

For detailed guidance on how to interact with GenAI tools, including how to best engineer prompts and how to use GenAI for research, see the SCU Library Guide:

• SCU Library Guide GenAI

Using GenAI to assist with your writing or other assessment tasks when the use of GenAI tools has been explicitly prohibited (in writing for each Assessment item), or without acknowledgment, may be considered a breach of academic integrity, and result in an academic integrity breach with penalties as described in the Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules, Section 3.