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Published in: Assessment & Feedback

Using Turnitin within Canvas – common queries from staff and students

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A Central University Turnitin Account has been created for Turnitin assignments created and submitted through Canvas. This allows classes, assignments and both staff and student users accounts to be created automatically in Turnitin without the need for any additional effort required by teaching/support staff. The integration also allows staff and students to create, submit and grade assignments as well as viewing plagiarism reports, grades and feedback without ever having to leave Canvas or login to Turnitin. 

Canvas support is available on a 24x7x365 basis.   Support for Turnitin queries is routed to the internal Digital Learning Solution System Support Team at Queen’s who are available during normal office hours.

Update March 2024: Please note that the guidance on this page relates to the LTI 1.1 Turnitin integration in Canvas. The Turnitin Canvas Plagiarism Framework (Turnitin CPF) Integration is now available for Canvas Assignments that require Similarity Reports. Staff can learn more about CPF benefits and view the CPF guide for staff. Guides on how to use Turnitin in Canvas are also available for students.

Common Turnitin Queries

Further information for students relating to the use of Turnitin within Canvas can be found in this guide. 

To keep informed of the latest status of services, please visit the Turnitin status page. 

Please Note 

It is important that you do not log in directly to the Turnitin website to submit your assignment – this may mean that your assignment is not able to be graded. If you are unable to submit your assignment using Turnitin within Canvas, please check the guidance below for further information, or submit a ticket with our Canvas Tier 1 support team using the ‘Help’ menu within Canvas. 

Using the Safari Browser 

When using the Safari browser to access Turnitin within Canvas, you may receive an error message that states: 

Due to inactivity, your session has expired. To continue using Turnitin, please fully close and re-enter this assignment. Refreshing your browser will not resolve this issue. 

If this occurs, it may be worth trying to clear your cache and cookies by following the ‘remove all’ instructions under ‘Remove stored cookies and data', then closing and re-opening the browser and checking if you can access the Turnitin assignment. 

If that doesn’t resolve the issue, you could try: 

  • Try a different browser such as Chrome 

Resubmitting an assignment after the due date has passed 

Turnitin does not allow re-submissions after the due date has passed. The latest submission made prior to the due date will be considered as your final submission.  

If you do need to resubmit an assignment, but the due date has now passed, please let us know by raising a ticket through the ‘Help’ menu in Canvas. This request will need to go to your instructor on the module for further consideration. Please note that your instructor may not be available over the University’s general holiday dates.

Getting Help 

If you require any support with Canvas or Turnitin within Canvas please submit a support ticket directly to Tier 1 Canvas Support via the Canvas help menu which will log the case.  The Tier 1 Canvas Support Team are available 24/7, 365 days a year for both staff & students.  

If internal support is required they will transfer the case to the Digital Learning Solution System Support Team (DLSSS) at Queen’s.

Further information for staff relating to the use of Turnitin within Canvas can be found in this guide. 

To keep informed of the latest status of services, please visit the Turnitin status page. 

Students trying to resubmit an assignment after the due date has passed 

Turnitin does not allow re-submissions after the due date has passed. The latest submission a student makes prior to the due date will be considered as their final submission. 

Some students may need to resubmit an assignment after the due date has passed. If a student has reported this, they will normally be advised that their request will be sent to their instructor for further consideration.    

If you decide to allow the student to resubmit their assignment, their previous submission will need to be removed. Further information can be found in this guide on How staff can remove a submission in a Canvas Turnitin Assignment.

Accessing the Similarity Reports in Speedgrader 

There is currently a known issue regarding Turnitin similarity reports not being available in Speedgrader. Instead, an exclamation mark and the message ‘Turnitin has not returned a score after 14 attempts to retrieve one’ is displayed. This has been escalated to both Turnitin support and Canvas support. 

In the meantime, Instructors should still be able to view the similarity report in the Turnitin assignment inbox by searching for the name of the student.  

Students who have submitted directly to Turnitin 

It is possible that some students will submit directly to the Turnitin website rather than using Turnitin within Canvas. This often occurs when a student is unable to submit in Canvas due to their personal browser/device privacy settings, Safari in particular has been known to cause this type of submission issue. If this occurs the submission and similarity report will not pass to Canvas and it will not be possible to grade or provide feedback on the submission using the Speedgrader. 

Getting Help 

If you require any support with Canvas or Turnitin within Canvas please submit a support ticket directly to Tier 1 Canvas Support via the Canvas help menu which will log the case.  The Tier 1 Canvas Support Team are available 24/7, 365 days a year for both staff & students.  

If internal support is required they will transfer the case to the Digital Learning Solution System Support Team (DLSSS) at Queen’s.  

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