iThenticate

iThenticate is a similarity checking tool that identifies matching text in documents. Staff and graduate researchers can check their own writing and writing they have co-authored for matches against an extensive database.

What is iThenticate?

iThenticate is a similarity checking tool that compares text in uploaded documents with existing web pages and academic content to identify matching text. It allows the comparison of submitted work to an extensive database of existing web pages, academic content and research literature. It can be used to identify weak writing practices and problematic matching text in documents.

It is important to note that while iThenticate can identify areas of writing that may match text from existing literature, further review and analysis is needed to ensure that writing is original and appropriately referenced before submission and/or publication.

What happens when you submit a document for analysis?

After uploading your document, a Similarity Report is then generated that identifies the matches that exist to other sources. This report can be shared with a supervisor or co-author from within iThenticate, if they have a University of Melbourne iThenticate account. Alternatively you can download, email, or print the similarity report to give to a person that does not have an iThenticate account or who is external to the University.

It is important to note that any document submitted to iThenticate for analysis will NOT be stored in the iThenticate repositories. Therefore, future uploads will not be matched against your document.

What is a similarity report?

The Similarity Report generated by iThenticate shows the percentage of similarity between the submitted document and the iThenticate comparison database of existing literature and highlights the sections of the text that match. This Similarity Report can be downloaded as a PDF.

Teaching and learning applications

iThenticate is available to researchers and graduate researchers at the University of Melbourne for their research produced in connection with the University of Melbourne. Users are permitted to use iThenticate to check their own writing and writing that they have co-authored.

iThenticate will not be able to be used by staff when marking or reviewing someone else’s writing. It is advised that iThenticate is used to check drafts and final versions of manuscripts prior to submission for publication. Graduate researchers are also advised to check their research writing drafts throughout the thesis writing process, especially before submitting for confirmation and final submission.

Access and licensing

The University of Melbourne offers a paid iThenticate license. When accessing, please do not click the sign up option and pay for a subscription. This is not required.

Staff

All University of Melbourne staff can log in to iThenticate using their University of Melbourne SSO (single sign-on) account. Note that the login screen and Terms and Conditions refer to Turnitin because the Turnitin company owns iThenticate.

Graduate researchers

All graduate researchers have had iThenticate accounts created for them and new graduate researchers have accounts created for them in weekly batches and will receive an activation email from noreply@ithenticate.com with login instructions. If you are a graduate researcher and have not yet received an activation email for an iThenticate account, please submit a request for assistance in ServiceNow via Student Service.

Support and resources

Please send your iThenticate query to Research Services or Student Services. For technical issues, please complete the support request form with Learning Environments.

A range of guides are available for staff and graduate researchers to help make most of the iThenticate tool:

University of Melbourne resources

Vendor guides