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Unicheck – Plagiarism Detection Unicheck is a tool built into EduCat that allows you to detect suspected plagiarism. A similarity report is generated that shows percent matches and compares text to sources (both online and other student submissions). The report is modifiable to include or exclude citations and quotations. Unicheck can be used on Assignments, Discussion Forums, and Workshops. Keep in mind, there is NO magic number regarding matching percentage. 1. To Create an Assignment using
Unicheck, log into EduCat. Click into your course, and
Turn Editing On.
This example is for Assignments, but you can also use Unicheck
with Discussion Forums and Workshops.
2. Scroll to the section where you
want the assignment to be displayed. Click on Add an
activity or resource.
Or click on Edit Settings on an
existing assignment.
3. Choose Assignment from the
list, then Click Add.
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4. Fill in the requested information (fields marked
with a are required). Give
the assignment a name and, if
desired, a description (decide if you want the description to
display on the course page by checking the box).
5. Make the setting selections
you wish for Availability, Submission Type, Groups,
and others; then Click on the Rotating Triangle to view
the expanded menu for selecting the Unicheck
plagiarism plugin settings.
6. As the settings indicate you MUST have the Submission
Settings set to Require students to click submit
button = Yes. This forces a student to submit the
assignment (which is NOT the default, so you may have to give further instruction to students), but
does indicate to Unicheck that the assignment is ready to be evaluated. Scroll up to the Submission Settings, Click on the Rotating
Triangle to change the setting to Yes.
7. Back to the Unicheck plagiarism plugin settings, choose the appropriate settings desired. It is recommended you use the following
settings (you may edit as desired): Choose Yes to enable
Unicheck Choose Yes to check
already delivered assignment submissions if
you are editing the settings and already have
submissions Choose Yes to add
submission to the
Institutional Library (this builds up our NMU specific repository)
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Choose Internet+Library to have the submissions
compared to both our NMU repository and Unicheck’s
internet sources You can exclude sources
with matches less than a desired percent or words
Choose No to Exclude references and Citations
(you can manipulate this later in the report)
Choose Yes to show
similarity scores to students
Choose Yes to show similarity reports to
students – you can use this as a learning experience for students to see their results and learn
from mistakes Choose No to notify students via email
If you are using zipped files, change the maximum number of files to your desired amount.
8. Once you have selected the desired settings, Click Save
and return to course.
This creates the link for students to submit their assignment and have Unicheck scan for plagiarism.
Unicheck accepts files from 30 to 125,000 words (over 450 pages) and up to 70MB. Accepted file types include:
.pdf .pages
Google docs from Google Drive .htm, .html
.xls .ppt, .pptx
.doc, .docx, .dotx, .dot .csv
.txt, .rft
.zip and more.
The next steps are to View and Interpret the Similarity Report.
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9. To view and intrepret the report once students have
completed the assignment, click on the assignment link.
The submission button for students triggers Unicheck to
evaluate the submission. So assignments will be checked
as they are submitted (not as drafts).
10. On the grading summary,
choose to either View all submissions or Grade.
Grade will allow you to see each student’s submission
individually, while viewing all the submissions will allow you
to see the whole class results. This example shows the View
all Submissions option.
11. Scroll down to the student
submissions and over to the right, you can see the
percentage of suspected match and a button for reviewing the
full report.
12. Once you click on Report, a
color-coded report with options
for matches, quotes, and exclusions will then show. The
title of the document submitted, student name, and time/date
submitted will be displayed. The percent matched will also be
presented.
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13. If you click on highlighted text
you can compare the source to the text. The report will indicate
the match source – Internet (the Unicheck repository of online and
database sources) or Library (the NMU specific repository of
previously submitted student work). You may also see a family of sources that match the text if that
text is on more than one internet site. Alternately, you may click on a source and see the text that is suspected of matching in darker
highlighting.
14. To get more detail on the source, Click on the source
address in the right hand panel. You can Compare (a side by side
window will open), View Source (the matching website will open
in a new tab), or Exclude (not count this source in the matching
percentage).
15. If the submitted text matches in
the NMU Library to another student submission, the details
will be hidden for privacy reason.
There are steps that Unicheck administrators can take if it is
necessary to get more details, but a match is usually enough
information.
16. To manipulate the report you
can use the Exclusions or Quotes tabs. You can exclude
specific passages (for example, a common repeated block of text,
group submissions, drafts, etc.) or not count quotes in the
matching percentage.
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17. If you Click on the Exclusions tab you can review the sections
and sources excluded. You may also choose to Include the
source again.
18. The report also allows for comments, additonal options, and
a map that provides more information.
19. You can provide students feedback right within the report.
Click on Comments in the upper right corner. You will then be
prompted to enter comments for that specific section. Close
comments when done.
20. Also in the upper right corner
you have Options. You may review exclusions, download the
original file, export the report, view details, get guides and other
options.
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21. The MiniMap on the left side gives you a page-by-page color-
coded percentage break down of the suspected plagiarism. The
key at the bottom includes Matches (Orange), Quotes
(Blue), References (Purple), and Replacements (Red).
Replacements are text modifications that are similar
characters but in a different language, white text, special
symbols or fonts, or layered text.
REMEMBER: Unicheck is one tool that can be used to assist instructors in identifying potential plagiarism. It is a text matching tool. Matching text
in the Unicheck repository (that does not go behind pay walls) and the NMU Library. Student work MUST be examined carefully before
determining whether plagiarism has occurred. The is NO magic number or specific threshold for a ‘plagiarized’ submission – each must be reviewed,
regardless of the score.