Most institutions and colleges utilize Turnitin, a popular plagiarism detection software. The software is designed to determine if a student has plagiarised an assignment.
Turnitin’s primary function is to identify instances of plagiarism; it does not track the use of Chat GPT. If you’re worried about Turnitin and using Chat GPT, the only thing that matters is whether or not Chat GPT’s response is plagiarised.
The creators of Chat GPT claim that their responses are not direct paraphrases of the input text. It analyses the data it was taught to use to make texts. And then it comes up with its unique way of responding.
Though the model may generate a response that is very similar to another source currently available, OpenAI claims it has no intention of plagiarising any text.
Many people on the internet have been using the popular plagiarism checker Turnitin to verify Chat GPT writings, and they have shared their findings.
The Plagiarism Expert software was used to check how well Chat GPT prevented plagiarism. The bot was tasked with producing a 500-word analysis of climate change’s effects.
Chat GPT’s response is just 45% similar based on this plagiarism analyzer. It’s okay, especially considering you didn’t have to write the essay. But even so, 45% of duplicate content is cause for concern.
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How Turnitin works
Turnitin detects instances of plagiarism in written assignments by comparing them to a large repository of previously submitted papers, online information, and more. A percentage of how closely the supplied text matches content in the Turnitin database is displayed in the software-generated similarity report.
Students often start using Turnitin when they submit their work to a teacher via a digital submission portal. The output is saved in Turnitin’s database and compared to other references. In the similarity report, the highlighted text that matches is found by using a software’s secret algorithm.
A percentage of how closely the submitted text resembles each source is displayed in the similarity report, along with links to those sources. The teacher can then check for similarities and mark any instances of plagiarism.
The “Originality Check” function in Turnitin allows the teacher to look for instances of plagiarism in a student’s work; this could be useful for preventing instances of self-plagiarism.
Turnitin is not a technology that may be used to identify instances of plagiarism by students. Instead, it is a resource that can help an educator determine if any instances of plagiarism have occurred.
Limitations of Turnitin
Turnitin has some limitations as a plagiarism detection tool. Some of the most notable limitations include the following:
- Limited Database: Turnitin’s database is limited to the content submitted to the software. It only checks against some of the content available online or in other databases.
- False Positives: Turnitin may flag text as plagiarized even when it was not. For example, if two students use the same source but cite it differently, Turnitin may flag both as plagiarism.
- Limited Detection of Paraphrasing: Turnitin is primarily designed to detect exact matches, so it may not always catch instances of paraphrasing or close paraphrasing.
- No Human Review: Turnitin is a software-based tool and does not include a human review of the results. Therefore, it is up to the instructor to interpret the results and decide on plagiarism.
- Limited Detection of Images and Multimedia: Turnitin is primarily designed to detect plagiarism in text-based documents. It cannot see plagiarism in images, videos, and other multimedia content.
- Limited Detection of Direct Quotations: Turnitin does not always detect direct quotations correctly. It may flag a direct quotation as plagiarism if it is not cited correctly.
- Limited Detection of Coding: Turnitin cannot detect plagiarism in coding.
- Limited Detection of Non-Textual Sources: Turnitin cannot detect plagiarism from non-textual sources such as presentations or lectures.
- Limited Detection of Foreign Languages: Turnitin cannot detect plagiarism in foreign languages, as it will not be able to match the submitted text to its database.
It’s important to note that Turnitin could be a better tool and is not a substitute for thorough and thoughtful evaluation of students’ work by instructors.
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Final Thoughts
ChatGPT is not a plagiarism checker, but rather a language model capable of producing writing that is eerily close to the human kind. Whether the text was created by ChatGPT or not, Turnitin can still find instances of plagiarism in a student’s submission. The use of ChatGPT or any other tool to generate written work and submitting it as original without proper citation and acknowledgment is considered academic dishonesty and can result in serious repercussions. It is critical to teach students about academic honesty and give them tools to recognise and avoid plagiarism.
Jessica is a Content Writer who loves to align her creativity and 24/7 flowing thoughts into words that are a treat to read and hear. Writing excites and energizes her from within and connects her to her real self. When not found writing, one can definitely search for her mind, body, and soul making those soothing mandalas and yes she knows a lot about trending technology news and much more.