Plagiarism review tool migration project

Like most educational institutions, Wayne State uses a plagiarism review tool to scan assignments submitted via Canvas. Wayne State has used Unicheck for this process in the past and is transitioning to Turnitin Similarity during the fall 2024 semester.

This change is being made because Unicheck was acquired by Turnitin and the tool was retired. Wayne State has begun a new service contract with Turnitin for their tool Similarity.

Turnitin Similarity training

All faculty are invited to join a 60-minute virtual training session with Turnitin on Monday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. Registration is required for attendance and a recording will be made available after the session.

Training will cover key topics to enhance your use of Turnitin Similarity, including:

How to distinguish plagiarism from text similarity
How to interpret the Similarity Report
How to optimize key Turnitin settings in your Canvas course
Best practices and additional resources to help you get the most out of Turnitin

Timeline

Oct. 11: First data migration
- All historical Unicheck assignments, reports, and scores migrated to the Turnitin Similarity database for future scans
Oct. 18: Turnitin Similarity available in Canvas
- Faculty can begin editing current assignments to use Turnitin Similarity instead of Unicheck
- Faculty can begin choosing Turnitin Similarity for all new assignments
Oct. 25: Final data migration and tool migration
- Data created after Oct. 11 migrated to Turnitin Similarity database
- Unicheck reports no longer available

How to get help

Students and faculty can contact the following teams for technology support with this change. Faculty can reach out to the Office for Teaching & Learning for support with course design and development.

Customer	Support group	Phone number	Email
Students	C&IT Help Desk	313-577-4357	helpdesk@wayne.edu
Faculty	LMS admin support	313-577-9457	lmsadmin@wayne.edu

Student FAQ

Do I still have access to my self-check review reports in Unicheck?

No, student self-check reports will not be available after Friday, Oct. 25.
Can I do self-check reports in Turnitin Similarity?
Yes, there are two ways to do so.
- Assignment drafts: If an assignment allows resubmissions, you may be able to resubmit a paper several times before the assignment’s due date. In this situation, any second or subsequent submission will overwrite the original submission. You are allowed three resubmission attempts with a report. If resubmissions are not allowed, your first attempt will be final. If you wish to check a paper before the final due date, reach out to your instructor to inquire about allowing multiple drafts for the assignment; this is a setting that must be enabled by the instructor.
- Plagiarism check course: Students can use the non-term Canvas course Student Plagiarism Check to review their assignment before submitting it and without adding it to the Wayne State database for plagiarism review. This process will provide a plagiarism score and a similarly report that can be downloaded if desired. This allows plagiarism review for drafts without compromising review scores for future submissions of the same assignment.

Faculty FAQ

What happened to Unicheck?

Turnitin acquired it and will discontinue Unicheck. To continue utilizing a plagiarism tool, Wayne State purchased a contract with Turnitin for their tool Similarity.

Do faculty have to do anything before this change?

Yes, faculty need to go into their Canvas courses and edit any current or upcoming assignments to switch from Unicheck to Turnitin Similarity to retain plagiarism detection.

What will happen to current and upcoming Canvas assignments that are not edited to switch from Unicheck to Turnitin Similarity by Oct. 25?

Faculty must update their assignments' plagiarism review settings as a part of the migration from Unicheck to Turnitin. Once Unicheck is disabled on Oct. 25, Canvas will default to no plagiarism checking, even if Unicheck was previously enabled.

Are faculty required to change their current assignments to Turnitin Similarity?

Yes, faculty need to change current assignments to Turnitin. This change must be made before students submit assignments to continue plagiarism checks. Once Unicheck is removed from Canvas, the plagiarism review menu will default to none and will not switch to Turnitin automatically. Students will still be able to make submissions, but if Turnitin hasn’t been toggled on for the assignment, the plagiarism checks won’t occur.

Since our data will be migrated to Turnitin Similarity, is there a way to make Canvas automatically open previous assignment reports in Similarity after Unicheck goes away?

Past assignments created with Unicheck will not have a Turnitin Similarity report. The data migration ensures previous Unicheck submissions are added to the database so future submissions in Turnitin will still be compared to them and flag plagiarism as appropriate. It does not move reports or assignment submissions so they can be opened or viewed in Turnitin.

Will I have access to Unicheck reports after October 25, 2024?

No. Once Unicheck has been removed from Canvas, you will no longer have access to reports. Scores will still be visible on assignments, but if you need to retain reports, you will need to export them from Unicheck prior to Friday, Oct. 25.

Will training be available for faculty?

Yes, Wayne State has scheduled a one-hour virtual training session with Turnitin Similarity and meeting information will be shared via email soon. A video recording will be available after the session.