Configure an assignment
Open the settings
- Turn editing on in the Moodle course.
- Add a new assignment or select Edit settings for an existing assignment.
- Expand ScholarScan plagiarism plugin settings.
- Configure the options and save the assignment.
Assignment options
| Setting | Purpose | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Enable ScholarScan | Sends supported submissions for scanning. | Enable only where students have been informed of the process. |
| Exclude Bibliography | Attempts to omit reference-list text from the similarity result. | Usually appropriate for essays and reports. Review matches if document structure is unusual. |
| Exclude Quotes | Attempts to omit recognized quotations. | Useful when correctly quoted source use is expected. |
| Submission indexing | Controls whether submissions become comparison sources. | Select Index all submissions for an institutional prior-submission database; follow local policy. |
| Generate Similarity Reports | Selects immediate or due-date-oriented processing. | Immediately is the most predictable option. Due-date workflows depend on the institutional deployment. |
| Allow students to view Similarity Reports | Lets each student open their own latest report. | Decide whether access supports drafting or is released only after assessment. |
| Automatically email completed reports to students | Asks the ScholarScan portal to email the submission owner. | Requires portal SMTP. Enable student access too if the email should include a working full-report link. |
| Process draft submissions | Allows saved drafts to be scanned before final submission. | Enable only when draft feedback is intended; it may generate more scans. |
| Institutional database | Compares with indexed submissions in the same tenant. | Recommended where policy permits. |
| Institutional references | Compares with active institution reference documents. | Reference content is managed in the ScholarScan portal. |
| Lecturer files | Compares with lecturer-local reference documents. | Ask an administrator to upload or activate the required files. |
| Online sources | Requests configured online-source checks. | Availability depends on a provider integration in the deployment. |
| AI writing indicators | Adds a linguistic AI-writing review signal. | Use only with human review and clear institutional guidance. |
| Suggest grade from lecturer files | Calculates a suggestion from the closest lecturer-file match. | It does not write to the Moodle gradebook and must be reviewed manually. |
Recommended baseline
For a standard final essay, a practical starting point is:
- ScholarScan enabled.
- Bibliography and quotation exclusions enabled.
- Immediate report generation.
- Institutional database and institutional references enabled.
- Draft processing disabled unless formative feedback is intended.
- Student access and email chosen according to the assessment design.
- AI indicators enabled only under an approved review process.
Reports and logs link
When editing an existing assignment, lecturers with grading permission can use Reports and logs to open the assignment's ScholarScan mappings and recheck controls.