iThenticate and Plagiarism

Overview

Before submitting your final MP project to DukeSpace, students are asked to asked to run an iThenticate scan on their Master’s Project. This should occur approximately one week prior to the due date to allow students time to make edits/changes, if necessary. Students should not scan their MP until they have a majority of their content finalized. Please note, that students should not wait until the end of the submission window due to the possibility that the MP could need edits and need to be rescanned. Both the student(s) and MP advisor(s) should review each page of the MP before deciding to revise and rescan. The threshold of errors is 11% or lower.

Group projects will choose one member of their group will run their MP through the iThenticate scan. Work with your team members on reviewing the results before contacting your MP advisor.

Instructions

  1. Go to Duke’s iThenticate login page.
  2. Log on with your NetID and password.
  3. On the right, click “Upload a File” and upload your MP in its current state (.doc, pdf, etc).
  4. Title the document- something like “MP1” and include your name or just initials.
  5. Wait a few minutes as the document uploads- the scan will be performed automatically.
  6. Once you see the Report is complete (with a % duplicity), click on the Report % box and view duplicated text.
  7. Click the high percentage match to quickly bring up the matching text in the scanned document and then hover over the match with the mouse and a “white > button” appears on the right, press this button to navigate to the Match Breakdown screen. Click “Exclude Sources” at the bottom and the Match Breakdown Screen will change slightly, boxes will appear next to the sources where the circles used to be, close to the yellow star. Check the box next to each source you want to exclude and then press the Red “Exclude [# of sources selected]” at the bottom. 
  8. Click the filter icon (small square, bottom right), which will open the Filters & Settings screen. Check “Exclude Quotes” and “Exclude Bibliography.” Set “Exclude matches that are less than” to 9 words.​​​​​​ For additional guidance, see: ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​iThenticate Quick Start Guide

In your document you will all see some duplicated text- do not panic! Duplicated text does not necessarily mean it’s plagiarized. Every scan will show a certain amount of duplicity (3-9%) depending on what you have in your document. The software is very sensitive and is picking up series of words that include non-copied words (and scientific names, etc.). It is also counting words in a non-continuous series.

  1. Scroll through and look over the colored text on the left. Make sure there are no long non-standard phrases (> 5-8 words in a row) that show as duplicate to other sources. If you are uncertain as to what type of duplicated text is a problem, see plagiarism resources below).
  2. Download a .pdf copy of this report by clicking on the Printer Icon on the bottom left — have it print to a .pdf file. Email the .pdf to your MP adviser.

If you find that your document contains copied text, go back to your original MP document, put it into your own words, and return the same way and scan the revised version. Once there is only a low level of duplicity, you can turn in a .pdf of this document to your MP adviser. There will be no penalty for those who find duplicate text in their first scans. However there could be serious repercussions if there is plagiarized material on your final copy online.

Some examples of duplicated text are OK —  standard phrases, scientific names, some very specific procedures, etc. If you have questions of what is acceptable ask us, or review plagiarism guides such as the library website: