Similarity Detection (Turnitin)

As of 29/1/2024, it will be mandatory to include the Turnitin similarity report of the thesis file when applying for the deposit. To get this report, before the online deposit, the doctoral student must visit the Virtual Campus Detecció de similituds (Turnitin) (access with your user ID personal user ID NIU@uab and UAB password). 

If you experience any technical issues, please contact ed.antiplagi@uab.cat.

Once you get your Turnitin report (including the percentage of similarities and the matching text highlighted in colours), you must attach it at the time of submitting the online deposit (document 44). You must also attach this affidavit document, where you can indicate, if any, the reasons for the similarities detected (document 45). Please read the frequently asked questions for more information about the possible interpretations of the resulting percentages.

Turnitin FAQ

• I don't remember how to log in...
  Please visit the Virtual Campus Detecció de similituds (Turnitin) (access with your user ID personal user ID NIU@uab and UAB password). 
• If I'm a thesis supervisor, how can I access?
  If you are a thesis supervisor, please contact directora.doctorat@uab.cat. 
• What documents can I validate with Turnitin?
  You can use the similarity detection programme to upload the draf and the final version of your thesis. If you want to replace the two files with new ones, edit the task, delete the files, and upload the new ones.

• 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?
  Generally speaking, the Turnitin programme 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, for theses in experimental knowledge areas, 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 School for Doctoral Studies 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/she deems it necessary, the 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 programme detects a high similarity level 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. 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.

• Does the programme consider bibliography and quotations?
  For this situation, a filter that automatically excludes bibliography and quotations has been applied.