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When it comes to SEO and making a name for yourself or your brand, originality is key. Content must be fresh, original, and, most importantly, not copied from another source. Whether you’re creating a blog and website content in-house or outsourcing the work to someone else, a great plagiarism checker will allow you to make sure your content is exactly that.
One such plagiarism checker is Turnitin. With decades of proof-positive work, Turnitin is a multi-faceted anti-plagiarism tool used by colleges, universities, and content marketing firms worldwide.
That being said, there are dozens of other anti-plagiarism tools, all claiming to outperform the other. This begs the question: How does Turnitin stack up? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
- What is Turnitin?
- How Does Turnitin Work?
- Pros and Cons of Using Turnitin
- Turnitin Pros
- Multilingual
- Database Size
- Originality and Grammar Rating Reports
- Grading Tools
- Multiple Device Usage
- Customer Service
- Turnitin Cons
- Restrictions
- Price
- Turnitin Pros
- Should You Use Turnitin?
- FAQ
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an internet-based plagiarism prevention service used by hundreds of companies and most universities in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Founded in 1998, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) allows licensees to check documents against published website content and its expansive database to identify plagiarism.
In addition to identifying similarities with existing content sources, Turnitin also provides tools to help students/writers avoid plagiarism and refine their writing.
How Does Turnitin Work?
Like other plagiarism checkers, Turnitin scans for matches between submitted and existing texts using advanced database software. The accuracy of the software is determined by both the size of its database and the accuracy of its unique plagiarism algorithm.
When work is submitted, Turnitin uses each to run a comprehensive analysis to identify text matches between two or more sources. The task is usually completed within a few minutes.
Turnitin provides a similarity index and originality report for each submitted work. The similarity index shows how much of the submitted work matches other sources. This is indicated as a percentage.
On the other hand, the originality report provides greater detail, including the sources Turnitin has identified as a match. These can be books, journals, blogs, websites, or other work previously submitted through Turnitin.
Pros and Cons of Using Turnitin
In all honesty, using any plagiarism detection software is better than using none at all. Nonetheless, not all plagiarism checkers are created equal, and not one is perfect, regardless of what the ads or others may say. Like other plagiarism checkers, Turnitin has its own unique pros and cons. Let’s go over each.
Turnitin Pros
Several features combine to make Turnitin an excellent overall choice for anyone needing a plagiarism checker.
Multilingual
Unlike other anti-plagiarism software, Turnitin offers multilingual support for more than a dozen languages. Not only does this make Turnitin useful for international students, teachers, writers, and companies, but it also translates the text for users who speak different languages than the submitted texts.
Database Size
Many anti-plagiarism solutions fall short and often fail to catch instances of plagiarism. In most cases, this comes down to database size or lack thereof. Turnitin has a sizeable and ever-growing database comprised of over 70 billion websites, making it one of the largest detection databases in the business.
Originality and Grammar Rating Reports
Once work is submitted, Turnitin creates various reports, one of which is the Originality Report. When reading this report, you will see a percentage given to submitted work. The higher the percentage, the greater the likelihood of it being copied from original work.
In addition to this report, the Document Viewer function will allow you to see color-coded passages highlighting where instances of plagiarism may have taken place. It even allows you to view the original source.
There are other available functions and reports you can also turn on or off. The Grammar Checker is one of them. This feature generates reports on spelling and grammar mistakes, making Turnitin an even more useful tool.
Grading Tools
Turnitin also features GradeMark, which is a helpful tool for making comments and corrections on submitted work. With this feature, you can drag popular, commonly used comments or create your own tags, such as “Nice job!” or “Excellent point.” It even allows for freewriting in the margins, which is pretty cool.
Multiple Device Usage
In addition to a desktop version, Turnitin can also be used via an iPad or tablet. This makes it even more functional and great for today’s on-the-go writers, students, and professionals. Just download the Turnitin app, and you’re good to go.
Customer Service
If you ever have questions or run into a problem using Turnitin, you’ll find they do a fantastic job of responding to customer questions and needs. Thanks to their dedicated customer service desk, most responses are typically received in under an hour.
Turnitin Cons
Despite everything Turnitin offers, nothing is perfect, so it has a few drawbacks, albeit minor ones.
Restrictions
It may not be a big deal for some, but Turnitin has a 5,000-character limit when it comes to making comments. The voice comments feature, which is a unique addition a lot of users like, is also limited to three minutes. Again, this isn’t an issue for most, but it is limiting for those who like commenting, making suggestions, and giving feedback.
Price
Unlike Grammarly and some other plagiarism checkers, Turnitin isn’t free. In fact, its price isn’t even listed and is only made available by request.
Should You Use Turnitin?
Turnitin plagiarism software is a global leader known for providing one of the industry’s most accurate, user-friendly, and feature-packed plagiarism checkers. While it’s not the only plagiarism software out there, when compared to the Grammarly plagiarism checker, Plagiarism Checker X, Copyscape, and others, Turnitin stands out for its accuracy, reliability, and ease of use.