Safe Assign
Safe Assign is a software program within Blackboard (requires UniKey login) which allows students and staff to check their drafts for any inadvertent instances of plagiarism.
Safe Assign can be a powerful tool in learning about appropriate paraphrasing techniques and skills as it highlights texts that are too similar to the originals used. It can also provide peace of mind that all the references you have used are appropriately recorded and included in the reference list.
Your unit of study coordinator may include Safe Assign as part of the Blackboard site for that particular UoS and encourage or require its use. If you wish to use it independently to check your assignments, you can find it in the Academic Honesty Site on Blackboard. After electronically submitting a draft, the program identifies ‘unoriginal content, including paraphrased or otherwise altered text’ and ‘generates convenient and easy-to-read reports, where all unoriginal material is highlighted and linked to its online or database sources’. Usually a checked version is returned within 24 hours.
Note that you may submit your work once for checking, and then your unit of study coordinator will need to clear student attempts in Blackboard before you can resubmit to Safe Assign.
It is a good idea to submit your text to Safe Assignments a few days before the submission date to allow for time to edit your work.