How to deal with requests to view student papers

Table of Contents

Introduction

Turnitin checks the similarity of students’ work against web sources as well as student papers submitted at other universities that subscribe to Turnitin.

When a match is found to a paper submitted to another institution, the full source of the match is not available. However, teachers can make a request to the institution holding the paper to obtain access to the full paper.

1. What is a paper view request?

Turnitin enables academics to find matches of students’ submitted work to other students’ work (from within or outside LSE). When a match is found the LSE representative can only view part of the source. To view the full source the LSE representative can make a paper view request to the institution where a source was originally submitted. These requests are made through Turnitin who pass the request on to the relevant institution.

2. For work submitted at the LSE:

2.a. When can I make a paper view request?

Paper view requests to another institution should normally be made when the suspicion of plagiarism is high enough that the assessment in question needs to be investigated in accordance with the School’s Regulations on Assessment Offences: Plagiarism. Only summative work submitted to LSE can be considered under these regulations. Therefore, we would not normally make a paper view request where the work was a formative assessment. However, formative work submitted to LSE100 can be investigated in the same way as summative work.

Factors to consider before making a paper view request

Amount of overlap
If the papers are 100% the same, then normally you would not need to request to view a paper as it will simply be a direct copy. Work sharing a similarity above 90% is also likely to be a copy, with only slight changes, so again, it may not be necessary to request it. However, if there is a match between 50% and 90%, then it may be useful to request the student paper. Before you do so, it is also worth considering some other factors listed below.

How significant are the sections that match
If it is possible to determine whether the allegation can be treated as “major” or “minor” under the regulations, without access to the student paper, then “minor” cases will not normally require the student paper to proceed with the allegation. The student paper should be requested where the allegation is considered as “major” or where access to the student paper will help determine the severity of the allegation and there is a match between 50% and 90% as above.

The percentage of overlap is not necessarily an indication of how serious the allegation is and the way in which the matching text is used should be carefully considered. For example, where certain sections of the LSE assessment are entirely the same as the student paper while the rest are not, but those sections are very important (e.g. executive summary or conclusion), you may need to request the paper (or at least those specific sections).

Interview with the candidate

It might be possible to ascertain if the student attended the institution where the student paper was originally submitted by checking their student record (either SITS or the student file). Where this is the case, it may be easier to interview the candidate and ask them directly about any work they submitted to that previous institution as it could be a case of ‘self-plagiarism’. Whilst self-plagiarism is treated the same as plagiarism under the School’s regulations, it may be easier to prove the allegation without the need to request the paper. For example, the paper would not normally be needed where the student admits it is their own work they have plagiarised.

2.b. How can I make a paper view request?

You can make a request to view the original paper by selecting it from Match Overview.

Open

In the above example clicking on Match 7, will display the following pop-up window where the match is detected on the student submission. A paper view request is made, by clicking on the hyperlink institution name as shown below.

Open

To complete a request click on ‘send a request to view this paper’ button of the pop-up window that appears. It is at the institution’s discretion to decide if permission is granted or not to view the requested paper.

3. What does a paper view request email for work submitted at the LSE look like?

Turnitin will send the LSE representative a paper view request email which will contain the following information, highlighted in yellow below.

1. Name of the person requesting the paper and the name of their institution

2. Title of the paper being requested and name of the Moodle course it is in

3. % match found

4. Name of the requester’s course

5. Student information and the full text of the paper requested

4. On what basis should I decline or accept a paper view request?

The School advises LSE representatives to only release a student paper that has been submitted to LSE if it meets the following criteria:

• There is a match of at least 50%

• The work matches a summative LSE assessment or work submitted to LSE100

5. What is the procedure for declining/accepting paper view requests?

1. Check that the request is genuine

If the request has come from the email address TurnitinUK No Reply [noreply@turnitin.com], and the title is TurnitinUK Paper View Request, then it is genuine and can be treated as such. For more details about the content of such an email check ‘What does a paper view request email for work submitted at the LSE look like?’ above.

2. Check whether or not the LSE paper meets the criteria set above

Decline a paper view request

Accept a paper view request

If the request meets the criteria set out above, you must ensure the following before you reply to the email.

1. Remove all the information that identifies the student throughout the text of the student’s work.

2. Add the following Copyright Statement in your reply:

3. Check the content of the student’s text for any personal information that will need to be redacted:

• For example, personal reflections are more likely to contain personal data, which could identify the student.

• Assessed essays on a non-personal topic are unlikely to contain such information as would mathematical, statistical or econometric analyses.

• However, projects that include original research gathering data from individuals could also contain personal data which should not be shared outside the School.

Below is an example response, where the copyright statement has been inserted and all the student’s identifying information has been removed.

6. Should I inform the LSE student concerned?

Normally a paper can be released without requesting the student’s consent or informing them it has been released. However, you must ensure all references to personal or identification information have been removed as above.

You may want to let the student know that their paper is being shared if it contains significant amounts of original research.

7. Where can I find further advice about this guidance?

For further advice about this guidance please contact the Student Regulations Team:

• Martin Johnson (ext 7894; m.johnson@lse.ac.uk)

• Alena Eis (ssc.plagiarism@lse.ac.uk)

or Eden.Digital

• Athina Chatzigavriil (a.chatzigavriil@lse.ac.uk)