Flags

Turnitin’s algorithms look deeply at a document for any inconsistencies that would set it apart from a normal submission. If we notice something strange, we Flag it for you to review.

A flag is not necessarily an indicator of a problem. However, we'd recommend you focus your attention there for further review.

The Flags Panel | Replaced characters | Hidden Text

The Flags Panel

Select Flags at the top of the report to open the Flags panel

In the Insight panel, you'll find a quick overview of any integrity insights we've found in a document. Depending on your Turnitin license, it can include Similarity, Flags, and Document Details. Viewing more information is as easy as selecting the one you're interested in learning more about.

An overview of any Flags that have been found in a document are shown in the Flags section of the Insight Panel. Simply select the Flag to view more information about it.

Replaced Characters

Some characters in different alphabets can look similar enough that to the naked eye, it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell them apart.

Turnitin automatically swaps these characters out when scanning a submission so they will not affect the Similarity Report. However, by replacing characters, the intent is to try and interrupt a similarity match.

Example

There are few situations in which swapping characters would be necessary. When you find replaced characters in a document, you should focus your attention here for a more in-depth review. Try downloading the original file and confirm our findings.
Τhere are few sitսatiοns iո which swapping characters wοսld be ոecessary. When yοս find replaced characters iո a dοcսment, yοս shοսld fοcսs yοսr attentiοn here fοr a mοre iո-depth review. Τry dοwոlοading the οrigiոal file and cοոfirm οսr findings.

Greek: 18

Τhere are few sitսatiοns iո which swapping characters wοսld be ոecessary. When yοս find replaced characters iո a dοcսment, yοս shοսld fοcսs yοսr attentiοn here fοr a mοre iո-depth review. Τry dοwոlοading the οrigiոal file and cοոfirm οսr findings.

Armenian: 16 characters

Τhere are few sitսatiοns iո which swapping characters wοսld be ոecessary. When yοս find replaced characters iո a dοcսment, yοս shοսld fοcսs yοսr attentiοn here fοr a mοre iո-depth review. Τry dοwոlοading the οrigiոal file and cοոfirm οսr findings.

Armenian: 16 Greek: 18

Hidden text

Paper mills and authors looking to hinder similarity matching abuse text manipulation techniques by trying to pass plagiarized content off as genuine. These techniques are commonly found on YouTube and social media platforms as ways of ‘cheating Turnitin’.

For example, hidden quotation marks could influence the amount of quoted material recognized in a document. When a user excludes well-referenced matches using the Exclude Quotes functionality, in a manipulated document this would also hide plagiarized content.

Or, a user may set the color of a block to text to white rendering it invisible on the white background of the paper. This can be to manipulate the word count or break up plagiarized text with hidden characters.