SafeAssign is built into Blackboard and compares submissions against its own database plus internet sources, while Turnitin uses a larger repository including a wider set of student papers and academic publications. Both report matched text rather than plagiarism, and a match percentage on its own proves nothing.
What Each Compares Against
- SafeAssign. Blackboard's institutional database, a global reference database, ProQuest ABI/Inform, and internet sources. Included with Blackboard, so many US institutions use it by default.
- Turnitin. A larger corpus: billions of web pages, a substantial publication database, and a very large repository of previously submitted student papers across institutions. Separately licensed.
The practical consequence: Turnitin is more likely to catch a paper reused from another institution, while SafeAssign is strong within your own institution's history.
Neither detects plagiarism. Both detect matching text. A correctly quoted and cited passage matches. A properly formatted reference list matches. Interpretation is a human judgement, and the number is where that judgement starts, not where it ends.
Reading a SafeAssign Report
SafeAssign shows an overall percentage and highlights matched passages with links to sources. The guidance Blackboard itself publishes is broadly:
- Under 15%: commonly ordinary quotation and phrasing
- 15-40%: substantial matched text; review each match
- Over 40%: a high proportion of the paper is not original text
These are indicative, not thresholds. Your instructor's judgement governs.
Reading a Turnitin Report
Turnitin's Similarity Report colour-codes bands and lets the instructor exclude quotations, the bibliography and small matches. Whether those exclusions are applied changes the number substantially — a paper at 28% with everything included can drop below 10% once quotes and references are excluded.
Turnitin also runs a separate AI writing indicator. It is a different measure from similarity and neither implies the other.
What Actually Constitutes a Problem
Not the percentage. Four patterns concern instructors:
- A long uninterrupted match with no quotation marks and no citation
- Matched text where the citation exists but quotation marks are missing — close paraphrase
- A match against a previously submitted student paper
- Matched text in the sections that should be entirely yours: analysis, discussion, conclusion
A 30% score made of correctly cited quotations is safer than a 7% score containing one uncited paragraph in your discussion.
Before You Submit
- Use the draft submission option if your course offers one.
- Quote anything you did not rewrite entirely, and cite everything you did.
- Rewrite structure, not just words — synonym substitution still matches, and reads as evasive.
- Check every reference exists, especially any suggested by an AI tool.
Frequently asked questions
Is SafeAssign as accurate as Turnitin?
They draw on different databases rather than differing in accuracy. Turnitin has a larger repository including student papers across many institutions and more academic publications, so it is more likely to catch work reused from elsewhere. SafeAssign is strong within your own institution’s submission history.
What SafeAssign percentage is too high?
There is no fixed threshold. Blackboard’s indicative guidance treats under 15 per cent as commonly ordinary quotation, 15 to 40 as warranting review of each match, and over 40 as a high proportion of unoriginal text. Your instructor’s judgement governs, and the composition of the matches matters more than the number.
Does a high match score mean I plagiarized?
No. Both tools report matched text, not plagiarism. Correctly quoted and cited passages match, and so do reference lists. A 30 per cent score built from proper quotations is less concerning than a 7 per cent score containing one uncited paragraph in your discussion.
Can I check my paper before submitting it?
Often yes. Many courses enable a draft submission option that produces a report without recording a final submission. If yours does not, ask your instructor, since most would rather you fixed citation problems before submission than after.
Want This Checked Before You Submit?
Our tutors review your draft against your own rubric and explain what to change and why — used by 45,000+ students across the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.