Similarity Detection (Turnitin)

If you are enrolled in any of the PhD programmes listed below, from the third follow-up (included) the Doctoral School offers you the possibility of free access to the Turnitin similarity detection program to assess the content of your research, related to the doctoral thesis, and detect what similarities it presents. Also remember that if you deposit the thesis, it will be mandatory that you carry out this procedure prior to the deposit. You have more information on this link.

• Bioinformatics
• Catalan Language and Literature and Theatre Studies
• Chemistry
• Clinical and Health Psychology
• Cognitive Science and Language
• Communication and Journalism
• Comparative, Polítical and Social History
• Computer Science
• Environmental Science and Technology
• Gender Study: Cultures, Societies and Policies
• Human Security and Global Law
• Neurosciences
• Politics, Policies and International Relations
• Sociology
• Translation and Intercultural Studies

Below you will find a set of resources to help you learn more about this software:

• Video: How to access your account
• Video: How to access your reports
• PhD students User's guide

If you have questions regarding the software, please consult the Turnitin help pages. With regard to other questions, contact the Coordination of your PhD programme.

Turnitin Pilot Deployment FAQ

• How do I access Turnitin?
  To access Turnitin you need to do so with the UAB institutional email (it is the one that ends in @autonoma.cat). In case of doubts on how to activate this email address, please check this site.

• When can I access Turnitin?
  You will be able to access Turnitin when you have received an invitation email sent by the same program to your UAB institutional email. The subject of the email will be You have been enrolled ia a Turnitin class by your instructor, and the sender will be Turnitin No Reply <noreply@turnitin.com>.

• I have not received the invitation email, what do I do?
  If you need to access Turnitin and you have not received the invitation, let us know by sending an email to directora.doctorat@uab.cat.

• What documents can I validate with Turnitin?
  You can use the similarity detection program for everything related to your thesis and your research line.

• How long do I have access to Turnitin?
  Until the moment you make the deposit of the thesis.

• What is the UAB criterion to know if there is plagiarism in a thesis? Is it determined from a percentage X?
  As a general idea, the Turnitin program only detects similarities in your report, which is not the same as detecting the degree of originality of the thesis. To establish the degree of originality of the text, an interpretation of the report must be made, based not only on the % of similarity, but also considering the type of similarities found and whether the sources are from the same author or not.
  This percentage and the interpretation of the types of similarity will change significantly depending on the area of ​​knowledge of the thesis and depending on whether the results of the thesis are already published or not. For example, in experimental knowledge area theses it is normal to find similarities in the description of the methods used, since many times they are already established. Or naturally, if some publications have been derived from the thesis, it is normal that there are also similarities between the thesis and these works.
  For this reason, neither the Permanent Board nor the Doctoral School have established any percentage of similarity that defines whether or not a work is original. It is the thesis supervisor/academic tutor, in the thesis deposit acceptance report, who will decide whether, taking into account the percentage and type of similarity found, the thesis is validated as original. It will be the thesis supervisor/academic tutor who, in the text of his report, can justify, if he deems it necessary, his validation of the thesis as an original text.

• The problem is that various chapters or parts of my thesis are published (or are in the online repository), so the program detects a similarity level of 100% in these chapters. Is it considered plagiarism?
  This can happen and if, as in this case, the author of the published works corresponds to the author of the thesis, it is evident that the percentage of similarity due to these coincidences does not affect the originality of the manuscript.

• For the bibliography, the program considers that it also has a level of similarity of 100%. Is it considered plagiarism?
  For this situation it is foreseen that a filter can be applied that excludes the bibliography. The screenshot below shows how this filter can be activated: Go to the icon represented by a funnel, and activate the options to exclude bibliography and exclude citations. Activating this filter will also reduce the similarity percentage. You can also apply a filter by number of words or % of text, to avoid the similarities of combinations of words frequently used in your text.
  

• As far as my thesis is concerned, as a PhD student, how should I justify this level of similarity (similarities due to publication of articles, etc.)?
  In the affidavit document you must include the reasons for the similarities detected. And the thesis supervisor/academic tutor of the thesis is the one who will validate the originality of the manuscript and who, if he considers it appropriate, will justify and validate the degree of similarity in his report.