Setting up your Turnitin integration
There are a few steps you must complete in Turnitin before you can set up Brightspace to use it. To assist you in understanding the workflow that is required outside Brightspace, review the high level steps below. For specific instructions on how to complete these steps, refer to the Turnitin help; specifically Configure your LTI integration in Turnitin.
- Log into the Turnitin website using your Turnitin account.
- In the Administrator view, do one of the following:
- If your integration appears to be configured, click the integration.
- If your integration is not configured, click the integration and complete the configuration process for the LTI API. Make note of the Shared Key.
- Make note of the information in the Shared Key (required) field, which are necessary to complete the setup in Brightspace.
- Save your configuration and return to Brightspace.
Enable Turnitin configuration variables
The following configuration variables have impact on using Turnitin with Brightspace. Some are necessary to use Turnitin, and others are required to use the extended features of Turnitin, such as exemptions, grademark, or the grammar checker.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.GrademarkAutoTransferDefault set to on.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.HasGrademark set to on.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.HasPlagiarismPrevention set to on.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.AccountID set to include the Turnitin account ID for the org unit with which you want to integrate.
Note: The account ID is available in the Account ID column of your Turnitin administrator screen.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestEmail set to a valid email address.
 | Note: If your implementation of TurnItIn uses a central user or process to receive emails through a central account, ensure that the email you use is mapped to the Instructor IMS role. |
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId used to improve the migration process from Turnitin V1 to Turnitin V2.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.SharedKey added to both Value fields for the org unit with which you want to integrate.
Note: The Shared Key was is available from the configuration settings on the Turnitin website as noted in the Setting up your Turnitin Integration procedure, above. When editing this field, you must enter the key twice to confirm the value in the masked field.
- d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.URL set to one of the following URLs for the org unit with which you want to integrate:
For more information, see 3rd Party configuration variables.
Note: If you do not have the add-on grading or grammar functionality on your Turnitin license, the variables for those features do not work, regardless of the setting. If you are switching from Legacy API to LTI, these configuration settings are automatically set for you.
To improve the migration process from version 1 to version 2 of Turnitin, the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId configuration variable accepts the input of a UserId for a user in Brightspace. This variable expects the input of a valid Brightspace UserId for a user with a valid email address. That email address is used when creating a new course / assignment within Turnitin. Therefore, when a Paper View Request is created for those new assignments, they are sent to the email address of that user.
D2L recommends enrolling that user in a cascading role to ensure that user has access to all available courses that may use Turnitin. This role does not require any specific permissions. Once you setup the new Turnitin variable, instructors can use new assignments or copied folders that use Turnitin version 2.
Set up IMS role mappings for Turnitin
In order for instructors and learners to use the Turnitin integration, you must map user roles to IMS roles.
- From the Admin Tools menu, click IMS Configuration.
- Map the Learner role to the Learner IMS role, and the Instructor role to the Instructor IMS role.
- Click Save.
After learner roles are mapped, their submissions are sent to Turnitin after being uploaded to an assignment. If you allow students to view their Originality Reports, they can click the icon links to Turnitin on the Submission History and View Feedback pages.
Note: Users with roles that are not mapped to the IMS Configuration Instructor Role receive a warning on the Turnitin tab when editing assignments. To change this language term to include additional information about who to contact if users get this error, in Admin Tools > Language Management, select US English and then search for txtTurnitinNotEnabledForRole. Enter the text you want users to see in the Custom Value field and click Save.
Troubleshooting: Learners are unable to click on Originality Percentage
Learners can select their originality report score to view a report on the Turnitin site if the assignment is configured to allow access. Incorrect IMS Mappings or assignment configurations can prevent users from accessing this information.
- From the Admin Tools menu, select IMS Configurations.
- Ensure the Brightspace learner role is mapped to the IMS learner role.
- Edit the assignment and select the Turnitin tab.
- Ensure that the checkbox to Allow learners to see Turnitin similarity scores in their submission folder is selected.
Enable Turnitin exemption for individual users
You can exempt individual users from having their assignments checked by Turnitin. By default, Turnitin exemption is turned off for your organization.
Do one of the following:
- In the Config Variable Browser, set the value of d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowExemption to on to enable Turnitin exemption of individual users for all courses in your organization.
- On the Config Variable Browser page for the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowExemption configuration variable, click Add Value and either enter or select an Org Unit ID. From the Value drop-down menu, select on. This enables Turnitin exemption of individual users for a specific course.
Configure Turnitin to update grade information in Brightspace
If an assignment has been evaluated using Turnitin's Online Grading® tool, that information can be sent to the Grade book in Brightspace.
- Complete evaluation of assignment submissions using Turnitin Online Grading.
- Return to the Assignments tool in Brightspace and select the assignment you evaluated using Online Grading.
- Click Evaluate beside a learner's submission, and locate the Turnitin Online Grading score.
- Click Use this score, and then Publish.
Setup Turnitin to bulk enable copied assignments
Organizations can set up Turnitin to bulk enable copied assignments without instructor intervention in each new course. It is possible to map the email you define in the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestEmail configuration variable or the User that you define in the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId configuration variable to the Instructor IMS role. Usually, the Instructor IMS role is mapped to all instructors; however, it is also possible to map a custom role to the Instructor IMS role. When the Instructor IMS role is set, assignments are automatically enabled after being copied.
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Note: Either the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestEmail or d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId configuration variables can be set as the defaults for your Turnitin setup; however, the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId config variable takes precidence over d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestEmail. |
In some cases, you may want to manually enable the copied assignments. To avoid Turnitin automatically enabling the copied assignments, do not add a value in the d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestEmail or d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.LTI.PaperViewRequestUserId configuration variables. When an instructor views the assignment that was not automatically enabled, an alert indicates that "This assignment would like to enable Turnitin", and provides the ability to enable Turnitin on the assignment.
Understanding date management in Turnitin
When using the Originality Reports in Turnitin, it is important that you understand the implications of your date settings on your assignment submission folders. Both D2L and Turnitin maintain their own set of Start and Due dates for assignment submissions, which can cause confusion as to how dates work.
When a folder is initially created, instructors can include dates for the submission folder in D2L; however, when an instructor later creates a Turnitin assignment, D2L gives the instruction the option to provide the D2L dates or let Turnitin default to their own dates. D2L is not required to send dates, but since Turnitin relies on them, it is important that something is provided instead of a null value. Even with this recommendation, though, there are scenarios where D2L has no dates to provide. In some cases, assignment submission folders do not require dates, and many administrators prefer that there are no dates. Due to the technical requirements of Turnitin; however, D2L must help manage the dates if none are provided. The following table describes how D2L handles the defaults when no dates are provided by the instructor.
| D2L start date set |
D2L end date set |
Turnitin start date value |
Turnitin end date value |
|---|
| No |
No |
Current date |
1 week plus 24 hours |
| Yes |
No |
D2L start date |
2 weeks from the start date plus 24 hours |
| No |
Yes |
Current date |
D2L end date plus 24 hours |
| Yes |
Yes |
D2L Start date |
D2L end date plus 24 hours |
These defaults ensure that Turnitin users do not encounter errors when attempting to create Turnitin-enabled folders as a result of the missing date values. Additionally, 24 hours is often appended on the due date to accommodate the queue-based system of Turnitin. This buffer ensures that assignments that are submitted very close to the due date (but not late) are not penalized because they were caught in a queue.
There may also be scenarios where the due dates do not provide sufficient time, for example, if an instructor sets up assignment submission folders in September with the expectation that the students will not submit assignments until November. In that case, the following logic applies:
D2L checks the Assignment Submission due date. If an assignment due date exists, the due date is assigned to Turnitin as the default
If no due date exists, D2L looks to the course end date. If a course end date exists, the course end date is assigned to Turnitin as the default
If no end date exists for the course, the default is set to 6 months.
Additional information
For additional information, visit the Turnitin User Guides and Support site.