Writing Support
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Contents
Using Turnitin
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is an online software that helps support the development of your skills in preparing written assignments.
How does Turnitin work?
Institutions license Turnitin on an annual basis. Students are granted Turnitin accounts and can submit papers only after an instructor sets up a class and register them as students to that class.
Usage of Turnitin
All graduate students have access to Turnitin through Moodle during the time they are enrolled in their respective graduate program to aid them prepare their academic written assignments. Students are encouraged to regularly use Turnitin to improve their research and writing skills.
Originality Check
Originality Check compares the text of the submitted paper to a vast database of 24+ billion pages of digital content (including archived Internet content that is no longer available), over 250 million papers in the student archive, and 120,000+ professional, academic and commercial journals and publications. The software is regularly updated. The Originality Check provides both the instructor and student with a comprehensive view and deeper insight into the student’s writing.
Originality Report
The Originality Report provides a summary of matching or similar areas of text found in a submitted paper. Similarity is given as a percentage number. The higher the percentage, the greater the amount of text in the submission that came up as matching against information in Turnitin’s repositories. The percentage range runs from 0% to 100%. The percentage is generated by the amount of similar or matching text compared to the number of words in the submission in total.
Note:
Originality Reports are typically completed within 10-15 minutes for the first submission, but may take longer if there is heavy usage or very large submissions. Originality Reports for any resubmission will require an additional 24 hours to generate.
What does the Similarity Index mean?
The color of the report icon is linked to the percentage range and is based on the amount of matching text found by the repository comparison.
Warning:
These indices in no way reflect Turnitin’s assessment of whether a paper contains plagiarized material or improperly used material. The Originality Report provides instructors with a tool to more easily locate matching or similar text within the text of a submitted work. The determination and adjudication of proper citation and plagiarism are left solely to the instructor and institution to which the work was submitted.
GSM students should carefully read the information about interpreting the Turnitin Similarity Reports on the URL below before submitting their Research Project.
English Proofreading and Editing Service Providers
APU does not provide English proofreading and editing services. However, students who want to improve their writing on their own may refer to the list of service providers below.
The services of each provider may be utilized by accessing the respective links below. Researchers affiliated with APU are eligible for a discount when utilizing said services.
Notes:
- 1. The aforementioned services are provided solely by external service providers, not APU. Each service provider offers a variety of services at different prices. Please be sure to read through their website carefully prior to utilizing the services.
- 2. The featured links provide access to the websites of the corresponding service provider. The websites are mainly in Japanese. However, certain providers do offer services in English. Please contact each service provider directly to inquire.
- 3. Please contact the service providers directly for inquiries regarding the content and costs of services provided. The Research Office is unable to attend to such inquiries.
- 4. Researchers who wish to utilize these services using their Grant-in-Aid funding and/or other research grants should consult with the Research Office in advance.
Editage
Editage, the flagship brand of Cactus Communications, has provided researchers around the world with English editing, translation, publication support and academic communication education services since 2002. The company has branch offices in Japan, US, UK, China, South Korea, and India, and has covered every academic subject area. Their teams of editors and translators are one of the world’s largest and engaged in supporting researchers in publishing and disseminating their outstanding research findings to the world.
Enago
Enago is a global leader in providing scientific and academic editing services to researchers. They help researchers in more than 125 countries publish their papers in high-impact factor journals. They edit 80 to 100 papers of Japanese universities, academic societies and research institutions every day. Their most attractive offering is that two native English editors proofread your paper to ensure quality at reasonable prices starting at 4.5 yen per word. There are additional discounts offered to APU so that you can use the most reasonable editing service in the industry at even lower prices. They also provide translation and other publication support services that improve your chances of publication success.
Note:
The information on the special discount is only available on the Japanese website.
Forte
Forte specializes in providing high-quality editing services to doctors, researchers, scientists and engineers. All of their editors are native speakers of English, have strong academic backgrounds, and have years of experience in their respective fields.
- - Abstracts (up to 600 words) can be edited in as little as 4 hours.
- - 20% discount as part of Forte's Student Support Program
- - You can request the same editor to ensure consistency
FAQ regarding Plagiarism and Formatting
Referencing/Styling:
APA style is the standard style recognized by the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies. However, it is ultimately best to consult with your supervisor, as standards may vary per field/major. GSM students should follow the formatting guidelines available on the "AY2014 Curriculum: Research Projects" page for appropriate styling of their Thesis/Report/Case.
Yes. You should follow the appropriate referencing style of your field/major no matter if you are writing a Thesis/Report/Case/Article or even a simple class assignment.
Plagiarism / Citation:
Mistakes happen. If you find that you have mistakenly overlooked a few citations in your Thesis/Report, please make sure that they are corrected by final submission for binding in the APU library.
However, intentional plagiarism or general ignorance of citations will result in strict academic penalty. Be sure to carefully check your Thesis/Report/Case for these types of serious errors. It is also strongly recommended to have your work reviewed by another person before submission.
There are methods of citing sources that do not have all necessary information available.
It is best to cite the original source, but in this case, you must obtain this source for your own referencing. Never reference a source that you have not actually read. If you are not able to obtain the original source, there are other ways of citing a source within a source. APA reference from Simon Frasier University: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/cite-write/citation-style-guides/apa
Sources like Wikipedia, blogs, etc. are not the most reliable sources, as there is no guarantee the information provided is correct. Check the sources listed on the Wikipedia / webpage to access the facts directly. It is best not to use an unreliable source, so keep trying to find other sources that are more reliable. It is still possible to cite from Wikipedia, etc., but students are strongly encouraged to find better resources for their information.
No. As long as you have appropriately cited your source, you will not be under any penalty for mistakes found in your referenced material.
The rule of thumb is that if it is a fact that is generally known, it does not need to be cited (i.e. Obama is the 44th president of the U.S., Japan is located in Asia). However, it is always best to write as if your audience is not familiar in your field. Even some facts you may be quite familiar with may be unknown to the average reader. When in doubt, make sure to cite.
No. What you cite should reflect the actual type of material you viewed at the time you composed your Thesis/Report/Case.
General:
You should follow the style recommended by your supervisor or an expert in your field. However, if you use citation software you can change the styling of your paper with just a click of a button. All students are encouraged to use citation software to aid in the appropriate styling of your paper.
Some examples of citation software are:
- Endnote (paid software)
- RefWorks (paid subscription)
- Zotero (free)
Microsoft Word also has a styling function, but you need to re-enter all references for each new document. The software examples above will normally keep a library of your sources that you can access for various documents/papers.
No. There is no need to copyright your Thesis/Report/Case. Normally, the publisher will copyright any Journal articles they publish (though the copyright will belong to the publisher).
