Graduate instructors are not allowed to use their Turnitin instructor or TA accounts to scan their own work regardless of whether it is for a course, publication or a grant application. See more information about Turnitin usage for more details.

If TA is also the Instructor of Record

Note: An instructor of record is typically listed in the Penn State Academic schedule.

If a “TA” is an instructor of record for a Penn State course section, then he or she may access Turnitin as an instructor or can activate Turnitin in Canvas.

If TA is NOT an Instructor of Record

If the above option is not available (e.g. because the TA is a student grader), then the instructor of record has the following options.

  1. Use Turnitin within Canvas and ensure all TAs have the role of Teacher. This is the only option for multiple TAs in one section.
  2. To add TAs outside of Canvas the instructor of record should contact the IT Service Desk with the TA names and Access Account User IDs. Please allow one business day for requests to be processed.

Also note that these accounts may be deactivated after the end of the semester.

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.

Master Class

If an instructor uses Turnitin outside Canvas, then once an instructor receives confirmation that a TA has instructor level access, that person will need to be added to a section within a master course. See the TAs and Master Class page for details.

If an instructor uses Turnitin inside Canvas, then the instructor can just add each TA as an editor. No master courses should be used with Canvas. Converting a standard Turnitin course to a master course when using Canvas will break the connection between Turnitin and Canvas.

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