This Page

  1. Permitted Uses and Testing
  2. Canvas and Turnitin (New Page)
  3. Activate Instructor Account
  4. Create a Class
  5. Class Password
  6. Create an Assignment
  7. Student Upload
  8. Add a TA to a Master Class (New Page)

Permitted Uses and Testing

The Penn State license for Turnitin allows instructors to upload and analyze the following types of documents into Turnitin.

  1. Student assignments into Turnitin relating to course work.
  2. Theses submitted for a degree or independent study or other academic credit.

Note: In both cases, it is recommended that students be notified beforehand that Turnitin will be used.

Not Permitted

Per the agreement with Turnitin, instructors and staff are not permitted to use Turnitin to:

  1. Scan their own papers before submitting them for publication or a grant.
  2. Scan admissions essays.

Testing

All papers uploaded into Turnitin are placed into the archive by default. If you are testing Turnitin Originality Report functionality, be sure that uploading documents into the archive will not adversely affect the original authors. You can also test the Originality Report in rough draft mode.

Additional Uses

Additional uses are permitted as relating to the main academic use. These include training and support accounts.

Contact the IT Service Desk to inquire about getting an account for different uses.

Activate Instructor Account

For Turnitin within Canvas see the Canvas page.

Turnitin is available to Penn State faculty members and instructors at most campuses, including the College of Medicine.

The first time you use Turnitin at Penn State, you will have to register your Penn State e-mail address to create an account. Individuals with faculty status or who are listed as instructors of record in the current semester will be granted instructor access.

  1. Log in to http://turnitin.psu.edu with your Penn State Access Account and ID.
  2. If you have instructor access, you will see the +Add Class button.
    Add Class button

If you are asked to enter a class id number and password, you only have student level access.

Accounts are normally limited to faculty, graduate assistants, and staff who are teaching a course. If you need instructor level access and your log in did not give you access, please contact the IT Service Desk with information about your course and the semester you will be teaching it.

Note on Account E-mail: For security reasons, all users of the Penn State Turnitin service are required to log in via http://turnitin.psu.edu with their Penn State Access Account and ID. This can only happen while your e-mail is set to your official Penn State e-mail address. Changing your Turnitin e-mail address could result in an interruption of service.

Other Academic Uses

Instructor level access to Turnitin can be given for additional academic uses beyond teaching a course such as for faculty training, faculty support, student work evaluation or testing. Please contact the IT Service Desk to request access.

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Create a Class

Once instructors have activated their account, they will need to create at least one course and one assignment for students.

  1. Log in to http://turnitin.psu.edu. You should be directed to an instructor dashboard with an Add Class link.
    Note: If you do not see this, then make sure that 1) your
    level is set to Instructor and not “Student” and 2) you received a Quickstart guide and followed the activation instructions.
  2. Click the “Add Class” button to begin.
    Add Class button
  3. Select a “Class type” from the menu.
    Note: Select “Master class” if you have multiple sections or need to add a T.A. Otherwise, you can select “Standard class.”
  4. For the “Class name” field, we recommend that you enter the name, section number and semester of your course so that your students will recognize it (e.g., English 202A.003 FA11 – Social Sciences Writing).

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Class Password

  1. Enter an “Enrollment password” for the class to assign a password for students.
    Note: If you want students to submit their own papers to the system, you will give them this password and the class ID so they can access the class and assignments you set up.
    .Create A New Class window
  2. Click Submit to finish creating the class. A pop-up window will appear with the class id number and password. We recommend saving it in your records. This is the information students will need to join your class.
    Note: If you need to find this information, see instructions for Class Enrollment Information.

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Create an Assignment

The assignment is where Turnitin submissions are placed.

  1. To create an assignment for the class, click on “Add Assignment” button.
    Add Assignment button
  2. On the next screen select “Paper Assignment, then click the “Next Step” button.
  3. On the New Assignment screen, enter a meaningful “assignment title,” then enter appropriate “Start date” and “Due date.
    Note: Additional options for configuring the assignment can be accessed by clicking “more options” button. To allow drafts to be scanned, select the option to NOT store the paper in a repository.
  4. Click the “Submit” button to create the assignment.

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Student Upload

Students are able to upload their papers into Turnitin assignments. All they need is:

Faculty instructions for finding a class ID and password are available at the Turnitin Website at the Class Enrollment page.

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