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Getting Started with SafeAssign

What is SafeAssign?

SafeAssign is a plagiarism prevention service offered by Blackboard. This service helps instructors prevent plagiarism by detecting unoriginal content in student papers. It also helps students identify how to properly attribute sources rather than paraphrase. SafeAssign is both a deterrent and an educational tool.

SafeAssign is based on a text matching algorithm capable of detecting exact and inexact matching between a submitted paper and source materials. Submitted papers are compared against several databases:

  • Internet
  • ProQuest ABI/Inform database
  • Institutional document archives - an archive of papers submitted by Purdue students.
  • Global Reference Database - an archive of papers voluntarily submitted by students from Blackboard client institutions to help prevent cross-institutional plagiarism.

SafeAssign at Purdue

SafeAssign is available through Blackboard and can be used in two ways. Instructors can set up SafeAssignments in their courses and let students submit papers direcly. Second, instructors may upload papers directly, without student involvement through the Direct Submit feature. For more information on how to use SafeAssign, contact us at itap@purdue.edu.

How it works

  • A paper is submitted through Blackboard using the SafeAssign tool.
  • SafeAssign checks the submitted paper against several databases.
  • After the matching process is complete, an originality report is generated detailing the results of the matching process.

Teaching and Learning Benefits

SafeAssign provides efficient and effective plagiarism prevention and detection. It encourages original writing from students and proper attribution practices while maintaining academic integrity and ensuring students gain strong researching and writing skills. Students are given opportunities to analyze and revise their work, correcting accidental or intentional errors of documentation with the intention of preventing further cases of plagiarism.