How Is the Thesis Similarity Check Performed?
Graduation applications are completed within 5 business days after the online application is submitted. This process includes both a review of the graduation publication requirements and a similarity check (Similarity Report for Your Thesis Submitted to the Committee). You can track your application status and similarity rate through the system. If there is an issue with your similarity rate or your publications, you will be contacted via email.
If your graduation application has been approved and you have received a confirmation email, this means there is no issue with your similarity report.
The only thing our students need to do regarding similarity is to upload a PDF version of their thesis to the Turnitin system after following the guidelines below. Theses that do not comply with the following requirements cannot undergo a similarity check.
Pre-Upload Checklist
- Theses must be submitted in PDF format and uploaded exactly once for each of the two statuses—"Thesis Submitted to the Committee" and "Thesis Accepted at the Defense Exam"—in the relevant section of the system corresponding to the appropriate graduation term, on the specified dates. Unless there is a situation that requires the thesis to be re-uploaded, it should not be re-uploaded. Do not upload a thesis if you are unsure. Uploaded files cannot be deleted.
- The PDF file name must be in the format: "Student First Name Last Name - Department - Thesis Status."
- For theses in Turkish, the section before the Summary; for theses in English, the section before the Abstract; References; the section on publications derived from the thesis must be removed.
- For large theses, images (figures) must be removed. This applies to theses larger than 100 MB.
- For the thesis to be evaluated by the advisor and jury members as free of plagiarism, the similarity rate indicated in the report generated by the Plagiarism Detection Program must not exceed 15% if the evaluation is “excluding citations,” the similarity rate must not exceed 15%; if the evaluation is conducted “including citations,” it must not exceed 20%. The rate of use from a single source must not exceed 2%. Full responsibility for the similarity rate lies with the student and their advisor. Theses that do not meet these similarity rate requirements will not be accepted for the thesis defense. When calculating the similarity rate, any publications the student has authored related to the thesis are excluded.
PDF name example:
- For the initial plagiarism check: "First Name Last Name - Computer Engineering - Thesis Presented to the Committee"
- For the final plagiarism check: "First and Last Name - Mathematics - Thesis Accepted at the Defense Exam"
For the guide on creating a Turnitin user account and uploading your thesis, click here.
You will need the "Class Number" and "Class Registration Key" when creating your account; these can be found in the emails titled "YTU, Institute of Natural Sciences: Regarding Your Graduation Application" and "YTU, Institute of Natural Sciences: Your Graduation Application Has Been Approved by Your Advisor."
Question: I cannot view the assignment for the relevant semester in the Turnitin system.
If you already have an account in the Turnitin system and need to upload an assignment to a newly opened class, you can access the class where your assignment is located by going to the “Enroll in a Class” section.
Question: How many times and when should plagiarism checks be performed?
Plagiarism checks are performed twice: once at the beginning and once at the end of the term. For information on when these checks should be performed, please review the Flowcharts and the Graduation Calendar.
Question: How can I find out if my thesis’s plagiarism rate is within the acceptable range?
If your thesis’s plagiarism rate is within the acceptable range, you will not receive a separate notification email or message. You can also view your similarity percentage and report through your account.
Question: When should I re-upload my thesis to the system?
If your thesis’s total similarity rate is 20% or higher, or if the use of a single source exceeds 2%, please make the necessary corrections to your thesis and re-upload it. If the institute has indicated that changes need to be made to your thesis, please re-upload it. Otherwise, do not re-upload it under any circumstances.
Question: After the plagiarism check, do I need to obtain the report and submit it anywhere?
No, there is no action required from our students at this stage. The plagiarism check is conducted by our institute, and the report is submitted to the relevant official. However, before your advisor confirms on the system that the similarity rate with other sources in your thesis is within the relevant limits, you may be asked to provide your plagiarism report. In this case, you can present the similarity report—which you can also view via Turnitin—to your advisor.
Question: Can I edit or use the report I view in the system?
No, the valid report is generated by the Institute. The section viewed by the student is for informational purposes only.
Question: What should I do if there is similarity with publications I produced as part of my thesis?
If, during the review of your similarity report, it is determined that your use of a single source exceeds 2% or the total similarity rate exceeds 20%, the Institute will verify whether these sources are publications produced from your thesis and remove them from the sources.