Text matching

Using text matching software
SafeAssignment
Protocols
Support for students
Support for staff

Using text matching software

While this type of software can be used as a detection tool, it can also, more importantly, be used as an educative tool. Through the provision of student access to the software, students can learn more about the process of academic writing thereby improving their skills.

Using text recognition software promotes better learning through:

encouraging students to read their drafts before resubmitting, leading to self-evaluation and self-correction of their own papers
submitting more drafts leading to a better final product, resulting in better essay/report structure, and better overall quality of written academic work
encouraging students to evaluate their papers in terms of referencing
encouraging collaboration between students in interpreting and understanding the originality reports, and subsequently correcting their work
deterring last-minute assignment work [20].

SafeAssignment

Flinders has purchased electronic text matching software, called SafeAssignment, to assist in the education about, and maintenance of, academic integrity.

SafeAssignment works by comparing submitted documents against an Internet Archive of over 8 billion documents, scholastic and news databases with over 9 million articles and an intra-institutional archive of previously submitted papers. SafeAssignment then generates a report, where all matched text is highlighted and linked to its online or database sources.

It is important to note that the software does not detect plagiarism, it matches text. It is the responsibility of the academic staff member to interpret the report and determine whether matched text is plagiarism, or properly cited work.

SafeAssignment may be used in topics and is available to students for their own educational purposes though the Student Learning Centre.

Protocols for use of electronic text matching software

Academic staff can elect to use the software for the detection of plagiarism in accordance with our set of protocols for the use of electronic text matching software.

The purpose of the protocols is to ensure that students are fully informed about the use of electronic text matching software and the manner of its use.

Academic staff may use other methods of detection such as Google without following the protocols.

The responsibilities of staff in respect to the use of electronic text matching software are also outlined in the Policy on Academic Integrity and the Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Support for students

The following tools and resources are now available to students to support them in their use of SafeAssignment at Flinders University.

How to submit an assignment

An online tutorial for students has been developed to explain how to submit to SafeAssignment:

view animated tutorial (10 min)
view pdf (774KB)

Interpreting results

This document will help students understand how to interpret the text matching reports:

view pdf (17.7KB)

Workshops

There will be a number of face to face seminars for students during second semester to help student understand how to submit assignments and how to interpret the text matching reports. The sessions will be held in the Noel Stockdale room (Central Library).

Monday 4 August 14:00 - 15:00
Monday 11 August 13:00-14:00
Thursday 14 August 13:00-14:00

Help Desk

Students requiring help accessing and submitting their assignments to SafeAssignment can seek assistance at the FLO Student Help Desk located in the library. Their contact details are:
Website: http://www.lib.flinders.edu.au/flo/contact.shtml
Phone: (08) 8201 5378 or toll free 1800 200 292
Email: flo.student@flinders.edu.au

One on one help

Students who require help interpreting the text matching reports (and the document above does not provide the answer) can seek assistance at the Student Learning Centre located in the Student Centre.

If students are unsure whether or not their written work may too closely resemble their source material, they can also contact the Student Learning Centre if they wish to use SafeAssignment outside of their topics to assist in reducing unintentional plagiarism.

Support for staff

The following tools and resources are now available to staff to support them in their use of SafeAssignment at Flinders University:

Face to face workshops

In accordance with the protocols for the use of electronic text matching software, teaching staff who intend using SafeAssignment must be inducted into the use of the software and academic integrity issues via workshops conducted by the Staff Development and Training Unit. Please ensure you register to attend a workshop well in advance of when you plan to use SafeAssignment.

Online tutorial

This tutorial will provide you with an overview on how to add the Safe Assignment tool to your FLO topic and create a Safe Assignment.

view animated tutorial (10 min)
view pdf (2.34MB)

Help Desk and Faculty support

Students requiring help accessing and submitting their assignments to SafeAssignment can seek assistance via flo.help@flinders.edu.au or via their Faculty's flexible education staff.

Mailing List

Flinders University also have a SafeAssignment mailing list. Members will receive regular updates on developments with SafeAssignment and information on resources developed. Staff who attend the SDTU workshops will be automatically added to the mailing list.