Paper deletion FAQs

In this guide:

• Can other integrations use self-service paper deletions?
• Why can't students request for a submission to be deleted?
• What happens to the submission once a request has been sent?
• The Turnitin admin has approved the request. What happens now?
• Can the deleted submission be retrieved?
• Can administrators disable the paper deletion functionality?
• Can we manually request deletions by contacting Turnitin support?
• Can instructors request more than one paper deletion at a time?
• An instructor removed a submission from the assignment inbox when they actually wanted it to be deleted from the repository. Can it be recovered?
• Are administrators/instructors notified about any changes to their request?
• What happens if the Turnitin admin rejects a request?
• Can this be used for GDPR requests?

Can other integrations use self-service paper deletions?

Due to the complex integration paths available, we can only support this workflow via Turnitin.com/Turnitinuk.com and LTI integrations at this time.

Why can't students request for a submission to be deleted?

The institution decides how to handle paper deletion requests based on their institutional policy. Rights of a submission may lie with the student or with the institution. The institution can determine how they would like to handle paper deletion requests made by students.

What happens to the submission once a request has been sent?

The submission will still be accessible in the LTI Inbox. An icon will be shown to indicate the paper is pending deletion.

Nothing will happen to the paper itself until the administrator has approved the request. If Turnitin finds any matches to the paper before you have approved the request, the submission will still show in Similarity Reports.

The Turnitin admin has approved the request. What happens now?

The submission will no longer appear in any new Similarity Reports.

The submission is removed from the LTI Inbox.

Any associated grading is deleted.

If you regenerate a Similarity Report for a submission where this submission matched, it will no longer appear within that report.

Can the deleted submission be retrieved?

No, deletions are permanent and cannot be recovered. If the instructor or student has access to the original file, it can be resubmitted manually to the assignment inbox.

Can administrators disable the paper deletion functionality?

You can disable the functionality at any time.

Can we manually request deletions by contacting Turnitin support?

Paper deletion requests are controlled by the administrator of an institution. You do not have to contact Turnitin Support for paper deletion requests.

Can instructors request more than one paper deletion at a time?

Paper deletions can only be requested on a submission-by-submission 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 prompt instructors to review their assignment settings.

An instructor removed a submission from the assignment inbox when they actually wanted it to be deleted from the repository. Can it be recovered?

Contact Turnitin support and they will be happy to help. Please provide class name, student's name and email, assignment title, instructor name and email, submission ID, etc. Once recovered to the inbox, the instructor can then make a permanent deletion request.

Are administrators/instructors notified about any changes to their request?

Administrators receive an in-product notification via the ‘Messages’ inbox in turnitin.com/turnitinuk.com for every request. Once a week, a wrap-up email will be sent to you detailing any pending requests that you may still need to action.

Instructors receive an in-product notification in their assignment inbox to confirm their request has been sent to the administrator, and another to inform them if it has been approved or rejected.

What happens if the Turnitin admin rejects a request?

If a request is rejected, instructors will receive an in-product message informing them. You can also send a reason to explain why you rejected the request as a part of this message. After a rejection, instructors are unable to make any further paper deletion requests for that specific submission.

Rejected requests are visible in the Paper Deletions tab by selecting Rejected from the 'NOW VIEWING' drop-down. This opens the Rejected Deletion Requests view.

If a request was rejected by mistake, administrators no longer need to contact support to rectify this. Find the paper request that was accidentally rejected in the Rejected Deletion Requests view, select it using the checkbox, and then select Delete Paper.

Can this be used for GDPR requests?

Because a user's personally identifiable information may be spread across multiple assignments, classes, and even accounts, proper precautions need to be taken for these types of requests. Please contact legal@turnitin.com with any questions.