Quiz to Turnitin tool

This guide gives detailed instructions on accessing and using the Quiz to Turnitin tool available in all LMS subjects and communities.

The Quiz to Turnitin tool allows teaching staff to submit eligible student responses from Canvas Classic Quizzes to Turnitin for similarity checking. Note that only Essay questions and File Upload quiz question types generate a Turnitin report, and File upload responses must use file types and content that can be processed by Turnitin.

A similarity score will indicate how much text in a submission matches sources available to Turnitin. The similarity score does not determine whether plagiarism or academic misconduct has occurred.

Step 1: Adding the Quiz to Turnitin tool to your subject

Navigate to the LMS subject containing the quiz or quizzes you want to check. The Quiz to Turnitin tool will not be automatically turned on for use within your subject menu, but all subject coordinators and instructors can activate it within any subject.

To access the Quiz to Turnitin tool:

  1. In your subject menu go to Settings > Navigation.
  2. In Navigation, scroll down to the hidden items area and locate the Quiz to Turnitin tool.
  3. Click and drag the Quiz to Turnitin tool to your preferred place in your active subject navigation menu.
  4. Once done,Click Save. The Quiz to Turnitin tool will not be visible to students.

Screenshot of Quiz to Turnitin tool under Navigation in Canvas subject settings. The Quiz to Turnitin tool is in the hidden section and is highlighted in a red box.

Step 2: Uploading quiz submissions to Turnitin

Once the Quiz to Turnitin tool has been activated in your subject, you will need to upload quiz submissions to Turnitin.

  1. Click on Quiz to Turnitin tool in your subject navigation menu. If this is your first time accessing the tool, select I Agree when prompted with the Turnitin end-user license agreement. A confirmation message will appear once you have accepted.

Screenshot of the Turnitin end-user license agreement that pops up in the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There are two buttons, a blue ‘I agree’ button and a grey ‘I disagree’ button.

  1. You will see a list of all quizzes within the subject. Go to the quiz you want to generate a Turnitin report for, and under Actions, click on the three-dot menu > Upload submissions. You can queue multiple quizzes for processing so the tool can process them in a batch. Once complete, a confirmation message will appear.

Screenshot of quizzes in the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There are 6 columns of data: Published status, Name, Question count, Type, Status, and Actions. Under Actions and the 3-dot menu, there is a red box highlighting the Upload submissions button.

  1. Once complete, a confirmation message will appear. Click OK to dismiss the message.

Screenshot of submission upload confirmation message. There is a purple OK button at the bottom of the screen to dismiss/acknowledge the message.

  1. Similarity reports are not generated immediately. The tool indicates when the next background processing jobs are scheduled.

Screenshot of processing job schedule in the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There are 3 steps: Step 1 is Upload to Turnitin. Step 2 is Request similarity reports from Turnitin. Step 3 is Fetch similarity reports from Turnitin.

  1. Under Status, you can view the progress of your upload. There are four statuses:
    1. Nothing to upload: The quiz has no Essay or File upload type questions for Turnitin reports to be generated from.
    2. Similarity available: The Turnitin report has finished generating. See below for how to retrieve these reports.
    3. Waiting to upload: The Turnitin report is being generated. Refer to the schedule located at the top of the tool to know when the next processing job is scheduled.
    4. Yet to upload: This quiz has yet to have its submissions uploaded to Turnitin.

Screenshot of the Quiz to Turnitin tool. In the Status column there are four statuses showing: Noting to upload, Similarity available, Waiting to upload, and Yet to upload.

Step 3: Retrieving your Turnitin reports

Once your Turnitin Similarity Reports have finished being generated, you will need to retrieve the reports.

  1. Return to the tool after the indicated processing time and check whether the Status field shows Similarity available.
  2. Under Actions, click on the three-dot menu > View reports from Turnitin.

Screenshot of quizzes on the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There is a red box highlighting the 'View reports from Turnitin' button under the 3-dot menu.

Selecting this button opens the reports page for the selected quiz. Responses are grouped by student. For each eligible response, the table displays the question details, report status and available similarity percentages.

Depending on the current tool interface, these may include:

  • Overall Match %
  • Internet Match %
  • Publication Match %
  • Submitted Works Match %

Turnitin refers to the overall percentage as the Similarity Score.

Screenshot of the Turnitin reports on the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There are 7 columns: Question ID/Type/Name, Report status, Overall Match %, Internet Match%, Publication Match %, Submitted Works Match %, and View reports.

  1. To view a detailed Similarity Report, under Actions, select View in Turnitin.

Screenshot of the Turnitin reports on the Quiz to Turnitin tool. There is a red highlighted box around the View in Turnitin option under View Reports.

  1. A prompt will appear asking if you would like to open the report in a new window; click Yes. If the report does not open, check that your browser allows pop-ups for Canvas LMS and Turnitin.

Screenshot of the Turnitin URL available message. The question in the message asks: ‘Do you want to launch the report URL received from Turnitin? The report will load in a new window. Please be patient as Turnitin takes a while to load the report.’ At the bottom of the screen, there is a blue Yes button and a grey No button.

  1. In Turnitin, you will see the individual student response. Here, you can review the Similarity Report, highlighting matching text and source information.

Screenshot of Turnitin Similarity Report in Turnitin. On the right, there is a overall similarity percentage, and a list of matches that Turnitin has found.

Students do not receive direct access to Similarity Reports generated through the Quiz to Turnitin tool. If you wish to share a report with a student, download the report and send it to them.

When interpreting a Similarity Report, remember that the Similarity Score identifies matching text; it does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred. Review the highlighted matches and their sources in context.

Support and resources

If you need further support with this tool, contact Teaching and Learning Innovation.

For more information about digital exams, see the digital exams guides.

This guide was last updated 16 Sep 2026.

Submit an LMS support request for further assistance or to report any errors or omissions in this guide.