Frequently Asked Questions about the iThenticate MPG service

These FAQs focus on how users of the Max Planck Society can use iThenticate. Further information on the service can be found in the iThenticate website’s FAQs.

Questions

Answers

Q: Who is allowed to register for an iThenticate account via this website?

A: Access to the iThenticate service has been licensed for staff members, guest scientists, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers affiliated with a Max Planck Institute. Registration requires users to be located within the MPG IP range and to provide a valid MPG email address.

Q: Which documents can I submit to iThenticate, and what licence do I grant to Turnitin, the service provider?

A: As stated in the usage terms, you must obtain the consent of all the document’s authors prior to using iThenticate. To save you time, the data protection officer of the Max Planck Society has provided a template letter to request permission from authors to submit a paper to iThenticate. This template is available in both German (docx|txt) and English (docx|txt).

In addition, please bear in mind that iThenticate is hosted by a third party, and that uploading documents to any external online service (such as iThenticate, Google, Zoom, etc.) requires you to grant the service provider a licence.

In the case of iThenticate, you grant Turnitin a ‘non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable licence to archive and otherwise use any paper you submit to the site in connection with its services’. However, you will retain full ownership of any intellectual property rights you hold in the uploaded content, and the provider will protect any personal information you provide. See the iThenticate Privacy Centre for more information.

If you have any further questions, please contact Turnitin via legal@turnitin.com.

Q: Is it possible to compare uploaded documents with each other?

A: Yes, the ‘Doc-to-Doc Comparison’ feature enables you to upload a primary document and compare it with a maximum of five additional documents. Please note that any documents uploaded to the ‘Doc-to-Doc Comparison’ will not be indexed and will not be searchable against any future submissions.

You can access this feature via the ‘Folders’ page. From the ‘Submit a document’ menu, select the ‘Doc-to-Doc Comparison’ link. Further details are available on the iThenticate help pages.

Q: How can I resubmit a document?

A: Currently, users from the MPG can only resubmit revised documents once. To upload a new version of your document, select the blue ‘Arrow Up’ button in the ‘Actions’ column. If further checks are required, simply upload the revised manuscript as a new document.

Q: How can I save/print a copy of the report generated by the software?

A: All reports are automatically saved by iThenticate. You can download or print them at any time. When you open a report, you will see the option to display the ‘Text-Only Report’ (see the button on the right). There, you will find download and print buttons.

Q: Who should I contact if I have any further questions?

A: If you encounter any issues when using the iThenticate web interface, we recommend logging in to the service and clicking on the ‘Help’ button located at the top of any page, which will allow you to contact the service provider.

To get in touch with the MPDL iThenticate team, please fill out the contact form.