Turnitin’s writing tools are now available outside Brightspace!
In Google Docs you can now use the Turnitin Draft Coach to check for
- Similarity – compared with other text online or in the Turnitin repository
- Citations – inline citations and references
- Grammar – sentence fragments, punctuation, etc. More than a standard Google Docs spellcheck.
Draft Coach is available only in Google Docs for all students, faculty, and staff. Below is a walkthrough video of how to use Draft Coach from our wonderful STAT team
How to open Draft Coach
Draft Coach is installed on the backend of our Google system so it is always available in Google Docs.
- Click the Extensions menu in Google Docs
- Hover over Turnitin Draft Coach to open another menu level
- Click on Turnitin Draft Coach
Turnitin Draft Coach will open as a vertical window on the right side of the screen.
Similarity
Similarity compares your text to text found in websites all over the internet and in papers submitted to the Turnitin repository. Turnitin will highlight which pieces of your text are similar and what the comparison text. You will be presented with a percentage score of the similarity between the two texts.
3 similarity checks are available for each document.
Citations
The citation checker will analyze how many in line citations and references are in the text and if they are matched up. In the example screenshot, the checker has identified that there are 2 references but 0 citations. Then in the Issues section it has listed references that have no in line citations for me to fix.
The checker will also indicate if it can recognize standard formats like APA, MLA, etc. Citation checks are unlimited.
Grammar
The Grammar check leaves spelling errors up to the Google Docs spellchecker but it will check for grammar issues such as
- Grammar
- Mechanics
- Structure
- Usage
The check will tell you what the issue is, why it is an issue, and identify where it is found in the text. Grammar checks are unlimited.
Draft Coach is really a perfect help for any writer on campus. You could even use it to check draft emails and mail them out directly from Google Docs! 😲 What a workflow!