Delete a paper
Turnitin instructors can now request for a paper to be deleted in the Assignment inbox.
On request:
- The uploaded file will be deleted and no longer be accessible
- Any associated grading will be removed
- The Similarity Report will be deleted and the paper will no longer appear in future similarity matches
- After 30 days have passed, this process cannot be reversed by anyone.
Requesting a Permanent Deletion
To Delete a Paper from Turnitin first Login to Turnitin.
From the course list below select the course the Turnitin Assignment has been created in
Example: DEMO12345 - Turnitin Demonstration Course _29290_1
This will display all the Turnitin Assignments associated with this course.
Select View to view all the submissions in a Turnitin Assignment Inbox
In the Turnitin Assignment Inbox, click the tick box next to the name of a student and submission to select it.
On selecting the submission a yellow menu above the list of assignments with a Delete button will appear. Select Request permanent deletion
Once selected you will be presented with confirmation prompt
Permanent deletion request
You are about to send a request for this paper to be deleted permanently from Turnitin.
We will delete the uploaded file, any grading, and the Similarity Report as soon as we have approval from your Turnitin Administrator.
Administrators can recover papers up to 30 days after they have approved a deletion. After this date, the paper is impossible to recover by your administrator or by Turnitin.
Click “Continue”
Copy and paste the information in the Permanent deletion request prompt box for raising a ticket request in ASK.
Please select a “Reason for Deletion”
- Wrong Paper Submitted
- Remove Personal Data
- Didn’t know the paper would appear in Similarity matches
- Other
and click on “Continue”
Confirm the information and type “Delete” to confirm the deletion request.
Once the request has been made please contact the ICT Service Desk to confirm the deletion. In the ticket provide the information previously presented in the "Permanent deletion request"
Please note that the paper will not be deleted without a corresponding ASK ticket.
FAQs
I have made a mistake. Can I get the paper back?
Yes - Papers enter an 'unreachable' state for a period of 30 days. During the 30-day window, your Turnitin Administrator can recover the paper. Once recovered, it will appear as if the request had never been made in the first place.
When is the paper permanently deleted from Turnitin?
We give a grace window of 30 days in which administrators can recover a paper that may have been accidentally deleted. After 30 days have passed, the paper cannot be recovered under any circumstances by you or by Turnitin.
Can instructors request more than one paper deletion at a time?
Paper deletions can only be requested on a paper-by-paper basis. The feature was intentionally designed this way to reduce user concerns about people misusing the system, to encourage extra care to be taken with each deletion request to prevent mistakes, and to promote reviewing your Turnitin settings.
Couldn’t instructors delete papers previously?
Deleting from the inbox simply removes it from view. Instructors would then have to contact their Turnitin Administrator, who would contact Turnitin Support to fully remove a paper. The option to remove the paper only from view still exists, but is now more descriptive of what it does — ‘Remove from Inbox’.
What happens if a student resubmits to the assignment?
The most recent submission will always be the primary paper. If you make a deletion request on a paper that is then overwritten by a resubmission, the deletion request will be cancelled. Matches will only ever appear against the latest submission when generating a new Similarity Report. You will receive a message in your Messages inbox when your request has been cancelled.