What Is the Turnitin Similarity Report? Everything It Shows
The similarity report is the document Turnitin produces after comparing your paper with its databases. It shows what percentage of your text matches other sources, which sources they are, and exactly where in your paper the matches appear. It used to be called the originality report.
Turnitin similarity report in 30 seconds
- What it is: a PDF or online report of every passage in your paper that matches another source.
- The headline number: your similarity score, the share of matching text.
- Who creates it: Turnitin, automatically, when you submit to a Turnitin assignment.
- How long: usually a few minutes.
- Other names: originality report, plagiarism report, Turnitin report.
What Turnitin compares your paper against
- Internet sources: current and archived web pages.
- Publications: journals, books and conference papers.
- Submitted works: papers previously submitted by students to Turnitin.
What is inside a similarity report
| Section | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Cover page | Submission ID, dates, file name, page and word count |
| Overall Similarity | The share of your text that matches sources |
| Filtered from the Report | What was excluded, such as the bibliography or quotes |
| Match Groups | Matches sorted into Not Cited or Quoted, Missing Quotations, Missing Citation, and Cited and Quoted |
| Top Sources | Each source, its type and its share of your paper |
| Integrity Flags | Hidden text or character tricks |
| Highlighted pages | Your full paper with each match coloured by source |
A complete similarity report sample
The first screenshot is the score page of a full 27-page Turnitin similarity report: 1% overall similarity, two internet sources. The second is the score page of the separate AI writing report for the same paper.
Screenshots shown for illustration. Your own reports arrive as full PDFs in your dashboard.
What the similarity report is not
- Not a plagiarism verdict. It reports matching text. Your instructor decides whether a match is a problem.
- Not an AI check. AI writing is measured in a separate report. See the Turnitin AI detection report.
- Not a grade. There is no universal pass mark.
- Not a guarantee. It cannot see sources outside Turnitin's databases.
Who sees it
Your instructor always does. You see it only if your instructor enables student viewing. If you want to see it before you submit, a pre-check returns the same report to you directly.
Next: how to read a Turnitin report and what the colours mean.
Frequently asked questions
Is the similarity report a plagiarism report?
No. It reports matching text. Deciding whether matching text is plagiarism is a human judgement.
What does Turnitin compare my paper against?
Internet pages, published works such as journals and books, and previously submitted student papers.
Does the similarity report include the AI score?
No. The AI writing report is a separate report with its own percentage.