When attempting to view the source text of a matching student paper in the Turnitin Classic Similarity Report, you may encounter the following message:
Message: The original copy of this paper cannot be viewed because either it or the class or the assignment it was submitted to has been deleted.
Cause
This message appears in the Classic Similarity Report when the matched source paper, its assignment, or its parent class has been deleted from the instructor's Turnitin account.
Resolution
Select your role and scenario below to find out how to restore access to the source paper:
If you are the instructor who originally created the class or assignment that contained the deleted paper:
- Submit a ticket to Turnitin Technical Support.
- Provide the details of the affected assignment, student submission ID, or class name.
- Technical Support will restore the deleted source paper or assignment to your account so it can be viewed in the Classic Similarity Report again.
If the deleted paper was submitted to a class taught by a colleague within your institution:
- Contact your Turnitin account administrator.
- Ask your administrator to raise a support ticket with Turnitin Technical Support requesting that the paper be restored.
Requirement: For another instructor's restored paper to be visible in the Classic Similarity Report, your Turnitin account administrator must have the submission release feature enabled in account settings. For more details, view our guide on handling paper view requests.
Institutional privacy limitation: Instructors can only view matching source papers submitted within their own institution's account. Turnitin cannot release or restore paper sources belonging to a different institution.