Our institution secured access to the plagiarizing recognition software Turnitin for faculty members. This access is the implementation of a decision of the Synod of Rectors (82nd Synod of Rectors/15.10.2016 and 83rd Synod of Rectors/6/2/17), where the Greek Academic Libraries Association (SEAB) was assigned the process of supplying anti-plagiarism software for the Higher Institutions.
From 4/4/2023, the AI writing detection feature (AI = Artificial Intelligence) has been activated. This capability will assist instructors in identifying cases where artificial intelligence writing tools, such as ChatGPT, may have been used to compose any part of a work submitted for review by turnitin. The AI writing detection feature is automatically available, without the option to disable it, and will initially support ONLY the English language. The AI detection results will not be visible to students but only to instructors. As the AI detection is added as a separate section in the similarity report, the existing workflow within turnitin will remain unchanged.
The software update in 2023 came with access to the following services:
· Feedback Studio (allows grading and commenting on assignments by instructors within the Turnitin platform)
· Draft Coach (enables all account holders at Harokopio University to check their assignments for potential plagiarism and perform checks on reports and grammar (for the English language) through the Google Docs platform).
Turnitin is software used by over 15,000 educational institutions, involving 1.6 million instructors and 26 million students worldwide. The extensive Turnitin database, against which a student's work is compared, includes:
· 58+ billion websites
· 570+ million students papers
· 150+ million articles from academic books and publications in collaboration with major global publishers (CrossCheck, Gale, Emerald Journals, SAGE Reference, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, ABC CLIO, Ebsco Host, Wiley, etc.).
Thus, besides the internet, it detects potential plagiarism in student works submitted to the system as well as content from publishers that is not freely accessible. The Turnitin database includes open access repositories, and it indexes ESTIA, our institution's repository.
Turnitin serves as a tool for our academic community, aiming to prevent improper use of sources and promote ethical writing practices. Through this tool, the level of services provided by the Library will be upgraded, and the likelihood of plagiarism in grey literature (theses, dissertations, doctoral theses) will be assessed.
