Can Students Run Their Paper Through Turnitin Before Submitting? (What’s Actually Possible)
Why Most Students Can’t Run Turnitin on Their Own (and What Actually Works)
Most students cannot run an official Turnitin check on demand before submitting an assignment because Turnitin access and Similarity Report visibility are controlled by instructors and institutional settings, not students. Unless an instructor creates a draft or practice submission, or the institution has enabled Turnitin Draft Coach, there is no way for a student to self-check a paper inside Turnitin. This confusion often comes from differences between courses, schools, and tools rather than missing features. The safest pre-submission options are instructor-approved draft workflows, Draft Coach where available, and writing center support. Third-party pre-check tools are not Turnitin and can only provide risk awareness, not official scores or guarantees.
Short answer first (the honest one)
Having worked with folks over the years, I'll give you the answer that most people are trying to dodge:
No, most of the time you cannot run your paper through Turnitin on your own before submitting it.
If you're looking for a button that tells you what your “official Turnitin score” is at any time, then you're going to be disappointed. Not because you're missing a button, but because Turnitin access is under the control of the instructors and the institutions, not the students.
Once you get that, a lot of the rumors around this issue simply ring true.
1. Why so many students just can’t get that access to Turnitin
It isn’t a technical issue. It’s a permissions issue.
Turnitin is assembled around assignments that are designed by instructors. The generation of a Similarity Report, and whether you can view it, is all up to your instructor.
So that means:
● Some assignments only generate on the due date
● Some generate but don’t permit student viewing
● Some classes don’t enable Turnitin at all
I’ve seen plenty of students that say “I submitted correctly but saw nothing.” In almost every instance, the answer was simple: it was set up that way.
Turnitin explains this directly in its student documentation: students cannot run a self-check for similarity unless their paper is submitted to an instructor-created assignment or their institution has enabled Draft Coach, which is why access varies so widely between classes and schools.
Turnitin says it plainly on the student side: a student can’t self-check a paper unless the paper is submitted to an instructor generated assignment or the student’s institution has activated Draft Coach .
If your instructor never activated it, you can’t do it yourself.
2. “But someone told me they checked Turnitin before submitting”
This is the root of most of the confusion. Usually when somebody says this, someone is referring to one of three very distinct situations.
1) A draft or practice assignment setup by the instructor
Sometimes the instructor will set up a separate draft or practice submission for the class so that they can check it for similarity and fix any unresolved citations before the final deadline. This is the actual Turnitin, however, only exists because the instructor chose to make it available.
2) Turnitin Draft Coach
Draft Coach enables students to run similarity, citation, and grammar checks on the fly while drafting in Word or Google Docs.
However, Turnitin makes it explicit that Draft Coach is an institution-enabled tool: it must be activated by the school and cannot be turned on by individual students, which is why availability varies widely between universities and even departments.
Turnitin is very clear that Draft Coach is an institutional tool, not a universal student tool, and that the draft that is running similarity there is not kept in the repository.
If you don’t already see Draft Coach in your document tools, chances are you don’t have it available.
3) A misunderstanding
Sometimes a student will be told a site can provide an “official Turnitin report” with no clear context about assignments settings or institutional access. I recommend exercising caution in that scenario. Turnitin does not provide a self-check on-demand service for individual users.´
4. Before submission, when it is possible to check similarity
There are, and you can, legitimate avenues to get feedback before the final submission, but it's conditional, not a given.
Option 1: Ask for a draft or other practice submission (best option)
That's the way I most often suggest we keep things inside the course ecosystem.
A simple, reasonable request is usually more effective than you'd think:
Would it be possible to set up a draft/practice submission so we can check out our citations and paraphrasing before the final deadline?
It shows you're trying to do things responsibly, and not rushed for a number.
Option 2: Draft Coach using Turnitin (if available at your school)
If your school has activated Draft Coach, it's a wonderful tool to learn from. I think the tip is to use it wisely:
● Run it on a full draft, not a half page
● Actually fix what it catches
● Avoid running it in a panic loop
Draft Coach isn't there to give you the final jury's verdict
Option 3: Writing center or Library resources
My thoughts on both are that students can underestimate how helpful they can be. Writing centers in particular are often great at explaining which matches are expected and which ones you should be worried about, especially around the structure of paraphrased passages and citations.
5. What if you can’t use any school tools?
Deadlines get tight, instructors don’t respond in time, or the tools are just not there. When that happens, students turn to third-party pre-check tools.
Here’s my suggestion:
● Third party pre-check is not Turningitin
● It can’t emulate your instructor’s settings
● It can’t predict your final Similarity score
Its sole purpose is risk consciousness, pointing out blatant AI-heavy chunks, questionable paraphrase rhythms or suspicious citations before you submit.
If you choose this path, none of them matter but the hard non-negotiables – clear privacy terms, no repository storage, delete controls and no “guaranteed pass” claims.
My final take (from experience)
Most students asking this question aren’t trying to game the system. They’re trying to avoid surprises, misunderstandings, and last-minute panic.
Turnitin itself isn’t built for student self-auditing on demand. It’s built as a review tool within instructor-controlled workflows. Once you accept that, the goal shifts from “running Turnitin myself” to something much healthier: clean citations, real paraphrasing, and understanding what similarity actually means.
If you want the full context—how similarity scores work, why they change, and how to read them responsibly—I cover that in detail in my main guide, How to Check Your Turnitin Score Before Submitting (What’s Safe & What Isn’t).
That perspective will save you far more stress than chasing a number ever will.
FAQ — Based on Real Student Questions
Can students run their paper through Turnitin before submitting?
In most cases, no. Students cannot run an official Turnitin check on their own unless the paper is submitted to an instructor-created assignment or the institution has enabled Turnitin Draft Coach. Turnitin access and report visibility are controlled by instructors and institutional settings, not individual students.
Why can’t I see a Similarity Report after submitting my paper?
This usually happens because the assignment is set to generate Similarity Reports on the due date, or because your instructor has disabled student access to the report. In some classes, students are never allowed to view the report at all, even though the instructor can.
Can I check my Turnitin score without submitting my assignment?
No. Turnitin does not offer a self-check or on-demand service for students. A Similarity Report is only generated when a paper is submitted to an instructor-created assignment or reviewed through institution-enabled tools like Draft Coach.
Is Turnitin Draft Coach available to all students?
No. Turnitin Draft Coach is only available if your school has enabled it for its Turnitin account. Students cannot activate Draft Coach themselves, and availability can vary by institution or even by department.
If my friend can check Turnitin before submitting, why can’t I?
Because access depends on instructor and institutional settings. Your friend may have a draft or practice assignment, access to Draft Coach, or a different course setup. These options are not universally available to all students or all classes.
Are third-party Turnitin “pre-check” tools official?
No. Third-party tools are not Turnitin and cannot provide official Turnitin reports or predict your final Similarity score. At best, they can offer a rough risk preview to help identify obvious issues, such as weak paraphrasing or missing citations.
Is it cheating to check similarity before submitting?
No. Using school-approved draft workflows, Draft Coach, or writing center support is generally considered responsible academic practice. Problems usually arise only when students attempt to bypass institutional rules or submit work through unapproved channels.
What does “no repository” actually mean?
“No repository” means a submitted paper is not stored in Turnitin’s database for future comparisons. A Similarity Report can still be generated, but the paper does not become a future matching source. It does not mean the submission is invisible or undetectable.
Can my Similarity score change after the deadline?
Yes. In some workflows, Turnitin regenerates Similarity Reports after the due date to compare student submissions against each other for collusion detection. This can cause the percentage to change even if you didn’t modify your paper.
Is there a “safe” Turnitin similarity percentage?
No. There is no universal safe percentage. Different schools, departments, and assignments interpret Similarity Reports differently. The report is meant to guide revision and review, not serve as a pass/fail verdict.