Use Unicheck

Last updated on April 12, 2024

Tools: Unicheck and Canvas

Unicheck checks the originality of student work by comparing your students’ assignment submissions to text on the internet and in Unicheck’s databases. You can use Unicheck as a teaching tool to ensure academic integrity in your course in the same way you may have used SafeAssign in Blackboard. Unicheck is integrated with Canvas and can be easily activated on an assignment-by-assignment basis.

Best practices

• Encourage students to create original content by using unique assignment prompts that ask students to connect the subject matter to their personal lives/opinions/experiences.
• Support students by scaffolding assignments (for example, students submit a rough draft prior to the final draft) to reduce the likelihood of plagiarism.
• Consider the detailed Unicheck report, not just the percentage score.
• If a student’s assignment contains uncited/unsourced material, use it as an opportunity to discuss academic integrity, including how to correctly quote and cite sources.

Let’s walk through it together

Integrate Unicheck in an Assignment

1. Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub.
2. Click Canvas in the Teaching & Learning section.
3. Log in to your Canvas account.
4. Select the course you’d like to work in.
5. Click Modules on the course navigation menu at left.
6. Scroll to the Module you’d like to add an assignment to.
7. Click the + (Plus) button next to the name of the Module.
8. Select Assignment from the drop-down menu.
9. Click “[New Assignment].”
10. Type a title for your assignment in the Assignment Name box.
11. Click Add Item.
12. Click the name of the assignment you created in the module.
13. Click Edit.
14. Scroll down to the Submission Type setting.
15. Select Online from the drop-down menu.
16. Select Text Entry and/or File Uploads under Online Entry Options.
17. Scroll down to the Plagiarism Review setting.
18. Select Unicheck (MSU Denver) from the drop-down menu.
19. Select which settings you would like Unicheck to use when generating the plagiarism reports. Options include: 
    • Add Submissions to Institutional Library
    • Exclude quotes
    • Exclude references
    • Exclude sources
20. Choose when, if at all, you would like the reports to be made available to the students.
21. Complete all other fields in the assignment (title, description, etc.) as you would normally.
22. Click Save.

View Unicheck Reports on Submitted Assignments

1. Select Grades in the course navigation menu at left.
2. Hover your cursor over the name of the assignment.
3. Click the 3 dots that appear to the right of the assignment name.
4. Select SpeedGrader.
5. Browse student submissions in SpeedGrader.
6. Review the percentage scores provided by Unicheck, listed next to the file name on the right-hand panel.
   • Note: Higher scores reflect a greater similarity between the submitted assignment and other documents Unicheck compares them to.
7. Click on the percentage score in the right-hand panel to view a more detailed breakdown of the Unicheck report, which will open in a new window.