About Turnitin
The Turnitin service licensed by Penn State is a suite of tools instructors can use to assess writing assignments. Tools include:
- OriginalityCheck – used to identify blocks of text found in other papers, and thus potential instances of plagiarism
- GradeMark – used to add comments and generate grading rubrics for assignments
Account Activation
All instructor and TA accounts must be listed under your official Penn State e-mail address Instructor and TA accounts listed under other email addresses may be locked out. See the Set E-mail page for details.
Turnitin accounts are available for three types of users:
- Instructors – Please see the Activate Faculty Account page for instructions.
- Students – Your instructor will provide access instructions which typically include a course code and password. If you do receive a course code and password, you can follow the instructions to upload papers with a code.
- TAs and Assistants – Teaching assistants are normally added to a master class so that the primary instructor can also access student assignments. The primary instructor will typically send you a TA section code and password. See more information on the TAs in Turnitin page.
- Trainers and Support Staff – Trainers and other support staff can receive instructor accounts on a case by case basis. Please contact IT Service Desk with information about your need to access Turnitin. Accounts need at least one business day to activate.
Once accounts are set up, users can log in via the Penn State Turnitin home page at http://turnitin.psu.edu/.
If a TA or instructor sees a Server Error message from turnitin.com or can no longer log in as an instructor, please contact the IT Support desk for immediate assistance. You may be asked for information about your course and instructor of record.
Overviews and Quickstart Guides
Here is some information about the Turnitin service at Penn State:
These Word files can help instructors get started using different Turnitin features: