Can Turnitin and the regulatory discourse of plagiarism detection operate as a change artefact for writing development?

This paper is based on a project funded by a small scale pedagogic research bid from the Write Now Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, designed to investigate student and tutor experiences of the implementation of Turnitin at Edge Hill University. Turnitin is described as plagiarism detection software and allows for similarities to be identified between submitted work and a range of databases including the internet, student work and other electronic sources including ‘billions of pages of web content’ (turnitin.com accessed 08.01.10). It is a tool that, it is argued, can support students and tutors in the development of writing for assessment by supporting student understanding of academic conventions and can also safeguard universities against issues relating to academic malpractice (Davis, 2007; Davis and Yeang, 2008). Described as ‘a powerful educational tool for teaching proper citation’ and a ‘formative tool creating opportunities for teachable moments’ (turnitin.com accessed 08.01.10), Turnitin is increasingly marketed as more than a punitive tool for plagiarism detection. However, the effectiveness of Turnitin as a deterrent that harnesses the ‘power’ of plagiarism detection is also evident.