SafeAssign Plagiarism Checker Review

SafeAssign is a plagiarism detection tool built into Blackboard, a learning management system (LMS) used by many colleges and universities.

Debuting in 2007, SafeAssign remained a part of Blackboard’s offerings even after the company merged with Anthology in 2021. Although a tool with such a long history can be a sign of its value, it also leads to the question: Is it still your best option?

Many other options have entered the market since SafeAssign’s introduction, so should it still be one of the go-to plagiarism checkers for learning and education? Or are you better off using one of its competitors? 

We take a closer look in our in-depth SafeAssign plagiarism checker review.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

• SafeAssign’s plagiarism checker works by comparing student work against academic and online databases and identifying any similarities.
• Instructors may use SafeAssign because it's built into the Blackboard Learn LMS, helps to keep grading fair and consistent, promotes academic integrity, supports good citation practices, and encourages originality in student work.
• Some of SafeAssign’s main features include: its institutional database, DirectSubmit, grading features, Originality Reports, support for multiple file types, URL Adder tool, and it allows for multiple attempts (depending on settings implemented by the instructor).
• SafeAssign has limitations, such as a lack of an AI detection feature, no support for files over 10MB, it can only be used with BlackBoard, and a lack of flexible pricing options.

How Does the SafeAssign Plagiarism Checker Work?

SafeAssign works by comparing student submissions against various content databases, checking for any similarities, and generating a report based on its findings.

If you want to break it down even further, SafeAssign’s plagiarism detection process looks like this:

1. Students submit their assignment to a SafeAssign-enabled course (it needs to be turned on by instructors)
2. A unique text-matching algorithm compares the work against multiple content sources, including:
   
   1. Institutional archives, full of papers previously submitted by students at the same institution
   2. A Global Reference Database, which has voluntarily submitted student work from other institutions using Blackboard (15 million+ papers)
   3. The ProQuest ABI/Inform Journal Database, covering publication titles, documents, and topical categories from the 1970s to today
   4. Public internet content using SafeAssign’s internal search indexes
3. The tool generates an Originality Report, showing the text’s overall plagiarism risk and text matching score, highlights, and sources for any flagged text.

What makes SafeAssign stand out from other options is its proprietary algorithm. It can detect both exact and inexact matches between assignments and potential source material, which can be key to identifying different types of plagiarism in student work.

Learn more about plagiarism detection in our guide on how plagiarism detection works.

Why Use SafeAssign’s Plagiarism Checker?

Teachers and instructors use SafeAssign’s plagiarism checker for all kinds of reasons:

• Convenient LMS integration. SafeAssign is built right into Blackboard, making it convenient for those who already use the LMS.
• Keeps grading fair and consistent. By using the same tool consistently, instructors can ensure they’re measuring plagiarism by the same standard across student work.
• Promotes academic integrity. Knowing that their papers are being scanned for plagiarism may help keep students honest and in line with school honor codes.
• Supports good citation practices. The Originality Report can help students learn when and how to use citations properly.
• Encourages originality in student work. Plagiarism scans encourage students to come up with their own ideas.

Learn more about how to support students to avoid plagiarism.

What are Some Key SafeAssign Features?

As a learning tool, a SafeAssign check offers a bunch of helpful features for instructors.

Institutional database

Schools can use an institutional database of student-submitted papers to help instructors discourage students from plagiarizing each other, which means no more “borrowing” or selling old papers. 

If it has already been scanned into the database, even a paper from last semester will get flagged.

DirectSubmit

With DirectSubmit, instructors can check papers for plagiarism and upload them to the institutional database outside of SafeAssign-enabled assignments. 

This means it’s great for creating a private content library of likely-to-be-copied work.

Integrates with grading tools

When papers aren’t uploaded through DirectSubmit, SafeAssign integrates with Blackboard Grade Center, making it easy for instructors to grade work, leave comments, and view Originality Reports all in one place.

Originality Reports

After student work is analyzed for plagiarism, SafeAssign generates an Originality Report with three key areas:

• Report Summary, featuring an overall plagiarism risk and text similarity score.
• Submission, which shows the submitted text and highlights any potentially plagiarized areas.
• Matched Sources, each with a number corresponding to a highlighted section of text. Instructors can click on the sources of matched text to view them in new windows.

Originality Reports also show other information about the assignment, including word count and submission date.

Support for multiple file types

SafeAssign supports many of the most popular file types, including .docx, .doc, .ppt, .pdf, and .html. 

URL Adder tool

Instructors using the Original Course View in Blackboard Learn courses can use the URL Adder tool to suggest additional webpages for SafeAssign to reference in its plagiarism checks. Any URLs added through here can then become available to all students and institutions through SafeAssign.

Allows for multiple attempts

SafeAssign treats multiple attempts on the same test by the same student as separate submissions. It doesn’t compare the newest one against the oldest one or anything, preventing it from flagging students for self-plagiarism. However, multiple attempts must be enabled by the instructor for this to be an available option to students.

How to Use SafeAssign in Assignments, Step-by-Step

One of the best things about both SafeAssign’s benefits and features is that it’s fairly easy to take advantage of them. Here, we’re going to break down how to set up a SafeAssign check for assignments in both the Original and Ultra Course Views.

How to set up SafeAssign (Ultra Course View)

1. Add or edit an assessment from the Gradebook page of the course.
2. Click the little icon beside “Assignment Settings” to open a panel.
3. Look for “Originality Report”, then click on “Enable SafeAssign.”
4. Choose if students can view their reports, if multiple submissions/attempts are allowed, and/or whether to exclude the assignment from the Institutional and Global References Databases.
5. Click “Save.”
6. Select any other assignment settings, then save and post the assignment.

Although the Original Course View does things a little differently, the process is just as straightforward.

How to set up SafeAssign (Original Course View)

1. Click “Submission Details” on the “Create Assignment” page.
2. Choose “Check submissions for plagiarism using SafeAssign.”
3. Select to let students check out their Originality Reports and/or prevent submissions from being included in the Institutional or Global Reference Databases.
4. Fill out any other relevant details in the “Create Assignment” page.
5. Hit “Submit.”

Overall, enabling SafeAssign on assignments just takes a few clicks, regardless of the Course View.

How to Get the Most Out of SafeAssign

To get the most out of SafeAssign, it’s important to read and analyze its Originality Reports carefully. This is especially true of its plagiarism risk score, as its assessment here should be read as just that: a risk.

No plagiarism checker is 100% accurate.

However, Originality.ai’s Plagiarism Checker has exceptional accuracy with up to 99.5%.

Similar to AI detectors, false positives are possible with any tool, so it’s essential to do a little more digging to determine if something has truly been plagiarized.

For example, instructors can take a closer look at flagged text and its matching source to verify whether it has indeed been plagiarized. 

They could then follow up with students to ask about their writing process and understanding of plagiarism to help uncover the source of the score.

Limitations of the SafeAssign Plagiarism Checker

In addition to false positives, some of SafeAssign’s limitations include:

• No AI detection. With almost 20% of teens thinking it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT to write essays, according to 2025 Pew Research findings, using a plagiarism checker with AI detection capabilities has become increasingly important.
  
  • Note: Anthology did run a beta test with AI detection software in 2023 to review whether to incorporate AI detection into its platform, but it decided to take a different approach and didn’t integrate AI detection into its LMS system.
• Files must be less than 10MB to be processed. If an assignment is larger, it won’t analyze it for plagiarism.
• Can only be used with Blackboard. Schools that use a different LMS can’t access or use SafeAssign, so it’s not accessible to everyone. If an instructor uses something like Moodle, for example, they’d need to use a Moodle plugin like Originality.ai for plagiarism detection.
• No flexible pricing. SafeAssign comes with Blackboard, so schools that use the LMS are paying for it whether instructors use it or not. Tools like Originality.ai’s Plagiarism Checker, on the other hand, offer both pay–as-you-go and subscription-based pricing, which may be a better fit for some institutions’, instructors’, or students’ needs.

Now that we’ve covered how SafeAssign works, its benefits, features, how to use it, and its limitations, we’re left with one question:

Is it worth using?

Should You Use SafeAssign?

If an institution already uses Blackboard as its LMS, then yes, it makes sense for instructors to take advantage of SafeAssign’s plagiarism detector. 

However, with student use of generative AI tools for schoolwork jumping from 53% to 88% from 2024 to 2025 alone, teachers should at least consider adding an AI detection tool to their assignment review process.

Or, find a tool that does both.

With Originality.ai, instructors can check assignments for both plagiarism and AI detection all in the same place. Plus, with a Moodle Plugin, educators can incorporate both plagiarism and AI checks directly into their Moodle LMS. Not to mention that Originality.ai offers an Academic AI detection model built for educators.

So, although reviewing scores is still recommended, with Originality.ai, instructors can feel confident they’re using industry-leading tools. Check out these AI detection accuracy studies to learn more.

Read more plagiarism checker reviews:

• Can Blackboard Detect AI Cheating and Plagiarism?
• Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Review
• Copyscape Plagiarism Checker Review
• Merlin Plagiarism Checker Review
• StudyMoose Plagiarism Checker Review

Frequently Asked Questions: SafeAssign Checker

Still curious? Here are some of the top FAQs about SafeAssign.

Is there a way to check SafeAssign before submitting?

Yes. If an instructor allows multiple attempts on a SafeAssign-enabled assignment, students can view the Originality Report for each one. Otherwise, students may want to scan text through a different tool like Originality.ai’s Plagiarism Checker to check for plagiarism.

What does SafeAssign check for?

SafeAssign checks student work for potential plagiarism through the Blackboard LMS. It compares their text against a variety of academic and online content databases to identify any similarities and determine the likelihood of it containing any plagiarized work.

Is ChatGPT detectable on SafeAssign, and does SafeAssign detect AI?

No, ChatGPT isn’t detectable on SafeAssign. SafeAssign doesn’t detect any kind of AI-generated content, including output from ChatGPT. Instructors must use a tool like Originality.ai’s AI Checker to assess work for AI content.

Is Anthology Blackboard’s SafeAssign free?

SafeAssign isn’t free. It’s part of the Anthology Blackboard LMS system, which offers solutions for educational institutions. For more information, Anthology recommends customers request a demo.