What Happens After You Submit to Turnitin? Report Generation, Access, and Revision Options

When you finally Click Submit on a Turnitin assignment, most students expect everything to ‘just happen in the background’ instantaneously. In my experience advising students for many years, that is not so. The truth is, there are several steps , that usually have to be completed , and knowing how it all works can ease a great deal of anxiety and confusion.

So, let’s take a look at what Turnitin actually does to your file, when and to whom reports will appear, and what you’re likely to be able to use them for.

See how to check your Turnitin score before submitting.

What Turnitin Does After You Submit

Once you submit to Turnitin, you don’t immediately receive a “score”; it creates a Similarity Report by combing through billions of web pages, subscription journal articles, and previously submitted papers to see how much of your submission matches these sources. The percent indicated is simply a percentage of text in your submission that matched an existing source, not a blanket accusation of plagiarism.

In most of our systems, after you submit a file, it will wait in a queue to be processed. Most students receive a Similarity Report on the first version of their paper within 15–20 minutes. However, there are exceptions: if you have submitted multiple versions, or if your instructor selected special options.

Why You Might Not See a Report Right Away

The first source of confusion is timing. Turnitin’s admin settings offer different report generation options:

● Some instructors choose immediate generation, meaning reports are produced as soon as you submit.

● Others choose generate on due date, meaning no similarity report is produced until the assignment deadline has passed.

● In more restrictive settings, similarity reports might only be visible after the instructor releases them.

So if you’ve submitted and see a “processing” icon, or nothing at all, it may simply be that this assignment is set to generate the report later, sometimes even after the due date or grading period.

See what you can and can’t see before submitting. 

Additionally, if you resubmit many times (for example in a draft mode), Turnitin may enforce a waiting period before a new report is generated to avoid constant reprocessing of the same paper. After several submissions, you may have to wait up to 24 hours for a new report.

Who Can See Your Similarity Report , And When

Your instructor is able (almost always) to see the similarity reports for the class. Whether or not you can see it as a student depends on the assignment settings your instructor chose at assignment creation.

Turnitin, in fact, says exactly this about "who can see reports:" The instructor's assignment settings determine whether or not the student reports are available for viewing, and if they are not set up for students to see, then the student simply won't see it, even if a report exists. Common "I submitted but I don't see anything" answer in the real world.

See how visibility and logs usually work.

In reality, there is much variation in how universities and learning management systems handle this. Some just have student reports automatically available. Others have them hidden. Check their instructions or ask your instructor.

Can the Report Change After the First Submissions?

 Yes, and perhaps more often than you expected.

If the instructor is permitting resubmissions or Turnitin is set to compare all assignments after the deadline, Turnitin may re-run or regenerate the similarity report. This means the initial percentage may be adjusted (generally to be slightly higher) later when the comparison is updated (e.g., to include other student submissions or a new database entry). It may seem odd, but because the similarity percentage is based on what Turnitin believes the matches to be at the time of reporting, it can change as the base of comparison expands.

Using Your Report Effectively (If You Can See It)

When you do gain access to a similarity report, it’s most useful not as a “final grade” but as feedback on patterns in your writing.

See a safe pre-submission workflow.

A similarity report highlights matching text — it does not make decisions about plagiarism itself. Even properly cited quotations and reference lists can contribute to your similarity percentage.

A healthy approach is to review the matched sections and ask:

● Are these matches in my references, quoted text, or common terminology?

● Is there any text that needs proper citation?

● Could any paraphrasing be made clearer or more original?

This interpretive process is far more educational than simply “lowering a number.”

What You Can Do After Seeing Your Report

Whether you can revise your paper after viewing a similarity report entirely depends on the assignment rules set by your instructor:

● Some instructors allow multiple resubmissions before the deadline. In those cases, you can revise based on what you learned from the report.

● Others lock submission after the deadline, so the first visible report is only for your feedback (and may not change your grade).

● Some systems even allow resubmissions but only show reports after the deadline or grading.

The key is: clarify expectations with your instructor before submission. Knowing whether you’ll see a report and whether you can act on it makes a big difference in how you plan your writing and review.

A Simple Reality Check

I often remind students: Turnitin is a tool, not a judge. The similarity percentage reflects text matches — and those matches can come from totally legitimate sources like references, properly quoted sections, or common academic phrases. High similarity doesn’t automatically equal misconduct, and low similarity doesn’t guarantee approval.

Seen this way, the post-submission experience becomes less about fear and more about learning — insight into how your text relates to other sources and how you can improve clarity, citation, and original expression.

Common Questions After You Submit

Why can’t I see my similarity report even after I submitted?

If your instructor didn’t enable student viewing or chose a setting that delays report generation until the due date or later, you won’t see the similarity report — but your instructor still can.

Can the similarity score change after submission?

Yes. Turnitin may regenerate reports after the due date or as more comparisons are added, and the similarity percentage can shift accordingly.

Does a similarity report prove plagiarism?

No. It highlights matching text so you or your instructor can review it — final decisions about academic integrity are human judgments.