UG responds to claims of misapplication of Turnitin similarity detection tool

The University of Guyana (UG) has issued a response to a recent letter to the editor, in which a former student criticised lecturers at the university for misapplying the Turnitin similarity detection programme.
The alum argued that many students at UG have been unfairly accused of plagiarism due to a misunderstanding of Turnitin’s real purpose and its potential to mislead in the assessment of academic integrity. The letter writer claimed that “numerous lecturers” have misinterpreted the Turnitin Similarity Report, confusing textual similarity with actual plagiarism.
However, in its statement, UG responded that many of the claims in the letter are generalisations that misrepresent the institution’s policies and practices. The university stated that there are comprehensive safeguards in place to ensure academic integrity, which include robust academic policies, a variety of integrity tools, and ongoing training for both students and staff. These safeguards, according to the university, are outlined in the Plagiarism Policy and the AI Policy, which govern the conduct of both students and faculty.
UG stated that it regrets the fact that neither the author of the letter nor the publication reached out to the university for clarification before publishing the letter. The university urged anyone with concerns or complaints to directly contact the institution to resolve matters fairly and efficiently.
“It is regrettable that neither the letter writer nor the newspaper followed a fair process by reaching out to the University before publishing such a problematic piece. While no system is 100 per cent accurate and can guarantee compliance by everyone, it is regrettable that the issue, which could have been a true individual breach of the University’s policies and practices, was amplified as a general problem,” the University said. UG emphasised that Turnitin is an integral part of the academic integrity framework and that the system is used globally to deter plagiarism. The university also noted that Turnitin’s role is to identify textual matches but not to determine plagiarism outright. According to UG, a high Turnitin similarity score does not automatically equate to academic misconduct, as similarity can stem from proper citation or extensive use of direct quotes.
The university highlighted that training on Turnitin and other academic integrity tools is conducted regularly through the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CoETAL), the Learning Resources Centres and the Education Online Support Services (EDOSS) Unit. Additionally, faculties hold orientations for students to ensure they understand the proper use of these tools, the UG release concluded.
Turnitin is described online as a software that identifies the matched material by checking the electronically submitted documents against its database of academic publications, internet, and previously submitted documents. Turnitin provides a “similarity index,” which does not mean plagiarism.