Using Turnitin Formatively: Student Voices and the Path to Academic Integrity

This article was written by Dr Chelle Oldham, University Academic Integrity Co-Lead.

At The Open University (OU), we are committed to supporting students in developing strong academic writing and assessment skills rooted in integrity and independent thinking. One of the tools that can help with this journey is Turnitin — a widely used text-matching software. Our recent survey of OU students revealed a range of experiences, understandings, and uncertainties around Turnitin. This blog unpacks what students told us, addresses misconceptions, and explores how Turnitin can be used formatively — not just as a detection tool, but as a learning resource.

What Did Students Say?

Our survey asked four key questions about Turnitin use and understanding. Here’s what we found:

• Familiarity with Terms: Students were asked if they understood terms like “Turnitin,” “collusion,” “academic integrity” and “plagiarism.” Responses showed varying levels of awareness, but most students demonstrated that they had heard of these terms.
• Use of Turnitin Before Deadlines: A little more than half of the students who answered this question had not submitted any assessment to Turnitin before the summative deadline. Those who hadn’t cited reasons such as mistrust of the Turnitin system, lack of knowledge, modules not having a draft option available, or time constraints.
• Usefulness of the Report: 84% of the student who had submitted a draft to Turnitin, found the originality report useful and easy to understand.
• Preferred Support Channels: 45% of students would prefer written guidance; the remainder of students would prefer to ask for support from their own tutor or in a tutorial.

What is Turnitin, Really?

Turnitin is more than just a plagiarism detector. It compares your writing against a huge database and produces an originality report showing sources of the matched text. It doesn’t judge or accuse — it provides feedback to help students refine their work.
Learn more here: Library.

Turnitin as a Formative Tool

Turnitin can assist students before they submit their final assessment. The draft Turnitin link is located on the Assessment Tab of modules where the module team have designated assessments appropriate for students to use Turnitin. They can check citations and references as well as looking for patterns that may show more sophisticated paraphrasing is required. Usually a student who has managed to successfully understand the module materials will be able to paraphrase effectively using the 3-step paraphrasing rule:

Further help can be found here: computing guide

FAQ & Addressing Common Concerns

"I didn't think it applied to coding or maths." If your module includes written content, Turnitin still applies.
"I didn't have time to use it." Submitting even just a small section of a draft early allows time to learn and revise.
"I haven't plagiarised." Turnitin checks matched text and doesn't look for plagiarism. This means it can help you identify areas you might have forgotten to revise, such as adding citations or making sure your reference list reflects your in-text citations.
"I don't know how to use it." Help is available. There are many links to support you in this article, with more available through the library website and your module VLE.

What can the OU do to Help?

We are working on having a Turnitin draft option on every assessment and module where it is academically relevant to do so.
We have provided some written guidance to students. We are also working on 15 short videos that will help students to learn how to use Turnitin and how to interpret the Turnitin Similarity Report they receive.
Additionally, the library has resources to support you. Help and Support from the OU Library

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Your Learning, Your Voice

Turnitin is a learning tool, not a trap. Using it formatively can help you grow into a confident academic writer.
We would like to thank all students who shared their feedback on Turnitin. As outlined above, it is helping us to make sure we meet your needs.

List of links from this article
Library resources
Computing guide
Written guidance
Turnitin Similarity Report
Help and Support from the OU Library