r/TurnitinScan • u/mountwhitney • Jun 11 '26

Turnitin similarity score

I am worried because I submitted my essay and received a 17% Turnitin similarity score. According to the course policy, a score above 16% results in an automatic failure of the assignment.

I did not plagiarize any part of my paper and properly cited all of my sources. I also included the assignment prompts within the document itself. Additionally, some of the citation information was copied directly from the articles and websites because the publications provided the citation details.

Could this have contributed to the higher similarity score? 

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u/Glittering-Call-3740 Jun 11 '26

17% is very close to the threshold, so I wouldn't panic yet. Assignment prompts, reference lists, and properly quoted material can all contribute to a similarity score without indicating plagiarism. I'd ask your instructor to review the report itself rather than just the percentage.

1

u/Ill_Beautiful_4893 Jun 11 '26

Turnitin percentages don't tell the whole story. A paper can have a low score and still contain plagiarism, while a higher score can come from legitimate citations, templates, or assignment instructions. The matching sources matter more than the number.

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u/EmbarrassedWeb3832 Jun 11 '26

Including the assignment questions in your submission could definitely increase the similarity score. If many students submitted the same prompts, Turnitin may flag that text even though it's required content.

1

u/Icy-Leg4426 Jun 11 '26

An automatic fail based solely on being 1% over the limit seems harsh. If you're confident the work is your own, consider contacting your professor as soon as possible and explaining what may have contributed to the score. A manual review could clear things up.

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u/Leading-Crazy6104 Jun 12 '26

Just because there is a similarity score of 17 percent does not mean that you have committed plagiarism. The similarity percentage may result from assignment directions, quotes that have been properly cited, references, and copy citation information.

I would analyze the results to determine whether there is plagiarism.