This post looks at the way Turnitin handles papers being downloaded from an assignment, in particular the differences you will see when anonymity is enabled on an assignment.
Turnitin introduced changes in this area just before Christmas but, in response to widespread criticism from HE institutions, made further modifications in mid-January. The way the process works now is definitely an improvement on earlier functionality, and hopefully the information provided below will continue to be accurate for the foreseeable future.
How to download papers from a Turnitin assignment: see our guide Downloading files from Turnitin.
Assignments where anonymity is not enabled
When you download the original files submitted by students, these will be saved in a zip file labelled turnitinuk_original_bulk_download.zip
Open the zip file and you will see that the filenames of the downloaded papers have been prefixed with Firstname_Lastname.
This enables you easily to match submitted work with the individual student.
Assignments where anonymity is enabled
When you download the original files submitted by students, these will be saved in a zip file labelled turnitinuk_original_bulk_download.zip
Open the zip file and you will see that the filenames of the downloaded papers have been prefixed with an 8-digit number – this corresponds to the Paper ID visible in the Turnitin Inbox.
Prior to December 2015, it was not possible to download papers from an anonymous assignment. Now you can download student papers, but anonymity is preserved.
Once the Post Date has passed – meaning that anonymity is removed – downloaded files will show the authors’ names.
