Why Use Turnitin
La Trobe University recommends that Turnitin is used as an educative tool which students can use to check their work for correct referencing. Staff can also use Turnitin to check student work for text matches for the purpose of detecting plagiarism.
Referencing skills need to be taught. The Academic Misconduct Policy states that ‘each Program, Department and/or School' is to give referencing guidelines to students, and that ‘students will be advised on effective methods of academic writing, particularly the requirements in quoting, summarising, and paraphrasing the sources they use' (p.4 of 9). Staff and students can find information about referencing on the Academic Integrity page. They can also seek advice from Language and Academic Skills (LAS) advisers in their Faculties about how to properly reference and use citations in assignments.
Staff should take any suspected plagiarism to their Head of School or proxy. Any action on plagiarism must be aligned with the Academic Misconduct Policy.