Plagiarism is a heavily prejudiced act in the literary and digital sectors, and it is an act that university or college students must strive to avoid.
The internet has provided us with instant access to vast amounts of information from anywhere in the world. Original ideas are becoming increasingly scarce. Hence, the need for plagiarism detection tools and originality checkers for professional instructors and online classes.
Two popular online tools that help to tackle plagiarism nightmares are SafeAssign by Blackboard and Turnitin. Being familiar with both tools, as a writing help and dissertation team, it is necessary we distinguish between both programs.
What is SafeAssign?
SafeAssign is a plagiarism detection tool developed by Blackboard that identifies overlaps between assignments and existing works. This tool aims to detect unoriginal content in submitted papers and also help students, especially those in the university, appropriately cite materials instead of wrongly extracting or paraphrasing the content.
SafeAssign works by comparing a submitted paper to several databases to detect direct matches and possible paraphrases in the paper. The databases used to compare assignments submitted to the SafeAssign database include institutional reference archives, the internet, inform database, and global reference database.
Before submission, users are advised to use only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens when saving the work to be screened, as SafeAssign does not evaluate assignment submissions with special characters.
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an online plagiarism detection service employed in high schools, colleges, and universities to compare submitted works against the Turnitin database as well as with information on external sites.
The Turnitin software compares submitted papers to numerous databases using a proprietary algorithm to check for possible duplicate text. It has licensing arrangements with reliable academic proprietary databases. It also scans its databases.
SafeAssign vs. Turnitin – Which is Better?
SafeAssign and Turnitin are both used by students and staff in academic institutions to check for and prevent plagiarism. Submitted works are compared to online sites, online library databases, eBooks, newspapers, magazines, online journals, online reference sites, and previously submitted papers.
However, there are some differences between these two tools. Depending on your academic status, the type of paper to be screened, and the deadline, either tool can be the better option for you.
The primary difference is that SafeAssign is integrated with Blackboard, whereas with Turnitin, you need to visit their website for access. Some of the other differences are illustrated below.
| Feature | SafeAssign | Turnitin |
| Fee | Included in the blackboard annual cost. Free service option available. | Annual fee based on subscription and account type. |
| Spell Checker | Present | Absent |
| Delegated or Multiple Marking | Supported | Not supported |
| Group Assignments | Supported — one member can submit on behalf of the group. | Not supported. |
| Maximum Submittable File Size | 10MB | 20MB |
| Accepted File Type | DOCX, DOC, PDF, TXT, RTF, HTML, HTM and ODT | DOCX, DOC, PDF, TXT, RTF, HTML, HTM, PS, PPT, PPTX and WordPerfect |
| Submission from Cloud Storage Services | Direct submissions not supported. | Direct submission via Google Drive and Dropbox supported. |
| Databases Utilized | Global reference database, institutional document archives, internet, inform database. | Internet, past published papers, subscription-based publications, library databases, digital reference collections and homework assistance sites. |
These differences are not enough to conclude which tool is better as different assignments have different specific requirements. Only a professional writing help service is most informed in other areas of their functions. Such services create the most easy and original content.
False Positives On Plagiarism
One of the issues of concern regarding the use of SafeAssign blackboard and Turnitin to compare two papers is false positives. This is best explained in three bullet notes, using both programs as examples.
- When you get a positive result for an assessment when you should have gotten a negative result, the “error” is called a false positive. This is especially common with plagiarism checks.
- According to researchers, many of the instances of “non-originality” detected by Turnitin aren’t plagiarism, but rather the usage of course terminologies or the type of lack of originality one might expect to see in a freshman’s work. Turnitin doesn’t always identify the correct source of plagiarized items in lots of circumstances, according to the report.
- SafeAssign isn’t ideal either. The tool can deliver false positives, which are items that are non-plagiarized but are flagged as a duplicate by SafeAssign. Because SafeAssign cannot distinguish between cited and un-cited material, false positives may be returned. Appropriately referenced content, for example, might nevertheless be identified as a match, even if it isn’t considered plagiarized. SafeAssign highest match or originality report for low and medium risks is usually about 40%.
Types of False Positives in Turnitin Database and SafeAssign Database
The false positives identified by researchers are in both databases are:
- Paraphrases and quotations: in a case where a poorly paraphrased text was flagged for plagiarism, but there was an in-text document to indicate the source, it is counted as a false-positive result. The justification for this is that, as long as the source is cited, then it is a case of improper paraphrasing and not deliberate plagiarism. Quotations flagged for plagiarism are also regarded as false positives.
- Bibliography: contents in a bibliography flagged for potential plagiarism are also regarded as false positives because a bibliography is basically a list of sources used, whether referenced or not.
- Fractured language: if only smaller phrases or clauses are flagged for plagiarism in a sentence, it is regarded as a false-positive result. For example, in the statement “cardiovascular diseases are now common, as many of the risk factors affect the average person, especially obesity and arthritis.” If the disjointed wordings “cardiovascular diseases are now common” and “obesity and arthritis” are flagged as potentially plagiarized, it is a false positive.
- Common language: common statements or terms such as book titles, cliches, and idiomatic expressions are not regarded as potentially plagiarized languages. Therefore, if SafeAssign or Turnitin flags such language for plagiarism, it is counted as a false positive.
These false positives indicate that both SafeAssign and Turnitin are not infallible, even if they are trusted tools for plagiarism detection.
Turnitin Vs. Safeassign – Which Reports More False Positives
When you say “SafeAssign says I plagiarized”, sometimes it could be false positives. But which of the tools produce the more false positives?
A study carried out at Texas Tech University found that Turnitin flagged more potentially plagiarized works than SafeAssign. From this study, it was also found that Turnitin had more reports for false positives too.
Hence, the higher plagiarisms found. When they dug further into the statistics, they discovered that many of the sentences identified by Turnitin and SafeAssign—mostly Turnitin—weren’t actually plagiarism. According to them, there were instances where specific words appeared for genuine reasons.
- How Long Does it Take Safeassign to Check a Paper?
Or you may wonder how long does safeassign keep papers? SafeAssign typically takes 15-30 minutes to scan a submitted report and produce its originality report. In cases where the traffic is high and many papers are being uploaded, it might take hours to scan a paper for an originality check. During busy periods of the semester, the delay might be up to 13 hours.
- Does SafeAssign check Turnitin and Vice-versa?
SafeAssign and Turnitin store scanned papers on different databases; hence, SafeAssign cannot check Turnitin. So, if you upload a paper in Turnitin, it will not be detected by SafeAssign and vice versa. Only an expert knows this.
Avoid Plagiarism With Professional Writers By Your Side
It is noble to carry out assignments and projects with the intention of being 100% original. But you can’t be 100% on your own unless you seek thesis help and dissertation guidance, and this is one of the services we provide. So, whether you decide to use SafeAssign or Turnitin for originality check, our dissertation experts ensure that there are no instances of possible duplication and confirm that paraphrasing cannot be detected. That way, you are guaranteed top grades at the most affordable prices.
Does SafeAssign Check Previously Submitted Work?
In case you are displeased with our services or didn’t get what you wanted, our money refund policy stipulates how you can get your money back. Be sure that we will not withhold any of your hard-earned dollars whenever you have a valid reason for a refund.
What Does SafeAssign Check For?
SafeAssign primarily checks for plagiarism. It is used by educators to find out students that cheat or copy-and-paste information from other sources. It is also used by students to learn how to cite works properly and is a great research paper help tool.
Which is Better: Turnitin Vs SafeAssign?
From the differences, a high school or college student will find SafeAssign more suitable to use since the spellchecker is of great help. SafeAssign is also relatively cheap compared to Turnitin, considering the free service available. For assignments that are more complex, such as research works for the university and postgraduate students, Turnitin is the better choice.
This is because complex reports and assignments are expected to be of very high quality, and they are usually judged using professional standards. For plagiarism detection, Turnitin is generally better, especially for instructors that have to go through numerous submitted assignments.
How Accurate is SafeAssign?
Because SafeAssign is a trusted tool that can compare two papers using multiple databases, it is said to be very accurate in detecting plagiarism – a 92-97% accuracy according to studies. A non-plagiarized work should ideally have a plagiarism score of 0%. However, the acceptable range for SafeAssign plagiarism score is 0-15%.
Does Turnitin Detect Paraphrasing?
Turnitin is software developed to detect plagiarism. However, a poorly paraphrased text can be detected by Turnitin. If the paraphrasing is well done, and few or no identical wordings are used, Turnitin will not detect it.
Can You Submit a Paper to Turnitin Twice?
You cannot submit a paper twice to a typical plagiarism detection software like Turnitin. This is because the next submission would be flagged for plagiarism against the previously submitted file. However, if the assignment setting allows it, you can resubmit as many times as you want to before the deadline.
Does Turnitin Check Pictures?
Turnitin does not check pictures with texts that cannot be detected by its algorithm. This means that if you cannot highlight a text from a picture, Turnitin will not flag the text for plagiarism, even if it is a duplicated text.
