If student submissions within a Moodle Turnitin Plagiarism Plugin (PP) assignment are stuck in a QUEUED status, it means that Moodle has not yet pushed the files over to Turnitin.
The mechanism responsible for transferring these files is the Moodle Cron process—a background PHP script that runs scheduled tasks at regular intervals. A persistent QUEUED status indicates that the cron process has encountered an issue.
Main causes of queued submissions
When submissions remain queued, it is typically due to one of three reasons:
The task has not yet run: The system is simply waiting for the next scheduled interval.
The cron job has stopped working: The background script has stalled globally.
The process is blocked: A server-side restriction or connectivity failure is preventing the task from executing.
How to diagnose and resolve
Because these steps require server-level access, a Moodle Site Administrator must perform these checks.
Step 1: Verify the scheduled task status
First, confirm if the specific Turnitin task is running as scheduled.
- Navigate to: Site Administration > Server > Scheduled Tasks.
Locate the following task: Send Queued Files from the Turnitin Plagiarism Plugin.
Click on the Logs/File icon next to the task to verify the exact time it last executed.
Step 2: Test Turnitin connection API
If the task is running but files are still failing to transfer, check the underlying connection between your Moodle server and Turnitin.
- Navigate to: Site Administration > Plugins > Plagiarism > Turnitin Plagiarism plugin.
Click the Test Turnitin Connection link.
If this test fails, your network administrator must investigate your firewall or server environment for blocks preventing outbound traffic to Turnitin.
Step 3: Check global cron configurations
If the connection test passes but the task fails to trigger, the global Moodle cron may be misconfigured or disabled entirely.
Review setup documentation: For comprehensive instructions on setting up and maintaining the background script based on your environment, refer to Moodle's Cron Configuration guide.
đź“‹ Note on frequency: Moodle does not enforce a rigid default frequency setting for cron jobs. The execution interval should be configured by your IT team based on your institution's system size and student submission volume (typically every 1 to 5 minutes for optimal performance).