VeriCite, the UW’s previous plagiarism detection tool, was replaced with SimCheck by Turnitin in June 2020.* Like VeriCite, SimCheck is a web-based system that allows student papers to be submitted and checked for plagiarism. The system compares student papers with sources available on the Internet, select commercial article databases, and papers submitted at the UW.
SimCheck is now available through Canvas for instructors to set up plagiarism review on a per-assignment basis, and for students to submit assignments for review. Instructors planning to use SimCheck should inform students and explain how SimCheck works before requiring its use on a particular assignment.
SimCheck is not available outside of Canvas. SimCheck is intended to evaluate student assignments only, not pre-publication journal articles.
Helpful information:
- SimCheck Instructor how-tos
- SimCheck Student how-tos
- Guidelines for UW faculty developed by the University Registrar
- SimCheck video overview
- UW Libraries Plagiarism Prevention pages
- AI Writing Detection in SimCheck Similarity Reports
* VeriCite is being replaced because it was bought by Turnitin, which is releasing a new plagiarism detection tool called SimCheck. SimCheck offers a modern and improved interface and a better repository of documents against which assignments are checked.