Welcome to the Blackboard Mailbag, where we feature a commonly asked question that has been hitting our mailbox recently: blackboard@fordham.edu. You’ll find an archive of all of the previous questions and answers on our fordham.edu/blackboard website.
Note: Features may change with future updates.
Q: How can I check papers with SafeAssign directly?
SafeAssign can be used by instructors to investigate potential plagiarism by comparing submitted assignments against a set of academic papers to identify areas of overlap between the submitted assignment and existing works.
Instructors can also use SafeAssign as an educational tool to create opportunities to help students identify how to properly attribute sources rather than paraphrase.
In addition to enabling SafeAssign when creating an assessment, in a recent update Blackboard has now included the ability for instructors to directly submit a paper for processing.
To Directly Submit a Paper to SafeAssign
- From the Content page of a course, under Details & Actions, select View course & institution tools.
- Under Instructor tools, select SafeAssign.
- Choose how to submit your content:
- Upload file: Drag and drop a file or browse to a file on your device. Use a ZIP file to upload multiple resources at a time.
- Copy/paste text: Enter a title and paste your text into the Text box.
- Select upload options:
- Check for plagiarism: Processes the submission and generates the Originality Report. When turned off, the submission is processed but a report isn’t generated.
Turn this option off when you don’t require a report but want to compare all future student submissions against the uploaded resources. - Add to institutional database: When turned on, submissions are added to the institutional database.
- Share: When selected, others with appropriate grading privileges can access this submission from this course. If private, only you can access it from any course.
- Check for plagiarism: Processes the submission and generates the Originality Report. When turned off, the submission is processed but a report isn’t generated.
- Select Submit. You return to the SafeAssign page where you can monitor the processing. When complete, you can view the Originality Report.
View SafeAssign submissions for a course
From SafeAssign page, you can view all your SafeAssign submissions and any shared by other instructors. Filter and sort the list as needed. Select the SafeAssign Originality Report button to open the report for a submission.
More on SafeAssign Originality Report
For additional FAQs and resources about Blackboard, visit fordham.edu/blackboard, attend one of our workshops, or reach out to us with your availability and we will accommodate small groups and one-on-one sessions.
Have feedback or suggestions on features? Blackboard’s parent company Anthology hosts The Idea Exchange. This is a place specifically for Blackboard to track and manage enhancement requests. It allows for things like upvoting ideas and sharing development plans and statuses. You will need to create an account to access the Idea Exchange.