Instructors: How to Access the Turnitin Similarity Report Beta

How to access the similarity report beta for the first time?

FSU has been selected to participate in Turnitin's similarity report Beta. As a Turnitin user, you will now have access to both the classic and beta reports, with the ability to switch between them as needed. Here is how to access the new Beta similarity report and how to toggle between the two:

Navigate to the assignment inbox and select an assignment to open the similarity report.
A new window will open with a dialog asking you to try the beta.
Click on "Try the new report" to access the beta similarity report.

To switch back to the classic report, select the "Go to Classic View" button located in the header.

To switch back to beta from the classic report, select the "Go to Beta View" button in the same header area.

Interpreting the New Similarity Report:

The overall similarity percentage in the report shows how much of the text from a student's submission matches the sources from our database. It is typically calculated by dividing the number of matching words by the total number of words in the document. Submissions are usually compared against specific search targets or databases as per your settings, including active and archived internet information, journals, publications and previously submitted works.

The new similarity report provides 3 different ways to view instances of text similarity -

Match Groups: Grouping based on whether or not a similar text has been cited or quoted
Top Sources: Sources ranked in descending order by their total similarity percentage
All Sources: A list of all sources where text similarities have been detected

You may then select a source to emphasize its corresponding highlight on the submission through source cards.

Viewing Matches with Source Cards:

The top row indicates the top matching source ranking number (this number also appears next to the corresponding highlighted match in the document), the database type, and the match group criteria.
The second row contains the name of the top matching source and the percentage matched with the document.
The third row indicates the number of matching text blocks to that source and match group, as well as the total word count for all matches with the same criteria.

To view the source's full context, you may expand on the source card by selecting the source card from the right-side panel or the highlighted text from the document, as shown:

When there is more than one match to a single source within a match group, you can skip to each one in the document using the < and > arrows inside the source card.

When text is similar to more than one source, whichever source has the most matched words is prioritized in Match Groups. To see all the sources matched against a document, including overlapping sources, navigate to All Sources.

Refining the Report using Filters and Exclusions:

You may choose to hide/unhide matches that are irrelevant to you by using filters to customize your report.

To view filtering options, select the Filters button located next to the overall similarity.
Select a toggle next to the criteria to change the filter setting. All match criteria and databases are included by default unless otherwise specified in assignment settings. For example, to hide small text similarity matches, you may toggle the 'small matches' option OFF as shown to remove them from showing in the report.

Include in Similarity Report

These filters customize the criteria for matches found and displayed. Changing these filters may or may not affect the overall similarity percentage.

Bibliography - Hide or include any matches found in the bibliography, works cited, or list of references.
Quotes - Turning this toggle to "off" will hide matches with quotation marks.
Citations - Switching this toggle to “off” will hide matches with in-text citations.
Small Matches - Turn this filter to the "on" position to customize the minimum word count for matching text blocks to eliminate irrelevant matches. For example, if you only want to see matches of 12 words or more, enter the number 12 in the Fewer than __ words field.

Search database

These filters represent source types, which are indicated in each source card.

Internet - Turning this off will hide any matches to sources found on the internet, current and archived. We recommend leaving this in the “on” position since it’s the largest public database available.
Publications - Choose whether to compare the submission to third-party periodicals, journals, and publication content including many major professional journals, periodicals, and business publications.
Student papers - This filter allows you to hide or display matches found to submissions in Turnitin across institutions.

You can learn more or seek help from the Similarity Report Beta Help Center here.