1. Study Synopsis #13 Swanson 1
Study Synopsis: The Source in Student Writing – Secondary
Education
Andree C. Swanson, EdD
http://www.edutopia.org/
Turnitin conducted a study in 2011-2012 to examine the secondary
sources that students use in their written essays. “It is based on an analysis
of over 44 million content matches from more than 9 million student papers”
(Turnitin, 2013, p. 3).
KEY FINDINGS
The key findings from the study were:
1. “Students are relying on sources that have weak academic validity”
(p. 3).
2. “Most troubling, 18% of content matches come from paper mills and
cheat sites” (p. 3). In fact, the statistics showed that there was a 4%
increase in the use of paper mills and cheat sites (p. 5)
3. “Secondary student sources vary considerably from the sources higher
education students use in their writing” (p. 3).
4. “Educators should consider taking time to teach students how search
engines work and how to evaluate and judge the quality of online
content” (p. 3). I find this appalling! I think this statement assumes
that we, as educators, do not teach our students how to use search
engines. But, you can only spoon feed students so much! When
students have waited to the last minute, for whatever reason, they
might turn to whatever they think will help them get the page length,
etc.

2. Study Synopsis #13 Swanson 2
POPULAR SOURCES
The most popular Internet sites are listed below, with Wikipedia
remaining in the number one position.
1. Wikipedia
2. Answers.yahoo.com
3. Enotes.com
4. Answers.com
5. Oppapers.com (a paper mill) – personally, I find this to be a very
popular source and it disturbs me to find my name on many papers
as the instructor. 
6. Scribd.com
7. Slideshare.net
8. Essaymania.com
9. Shmoop.com
10. Medialibrary.org
Many students are citing blogs, not realizing that these are mostly
filled with opinions.
PAPER MILLS & CHEAT SITES
Educators are debating the value of Wikipedia or SlideShare.net.
Some educators recommend using Wikipedia to get an overall idea on the
topic, but then recommend using a primary source on the topic. However,
educators agree that cheat sites are just not acceptable… period (p. 8).
Table 1. Top Ten Cheat Sites
Number Top Cheat Sites Number of Matches in
Turnitin
1 Oppapers.com 1,245,097
2 Essaymania.com 932,709

3. Study Synopsis #13 Swanson 3
3 Antiessays.com 798,557
4 123helpme 794,807
5 Allfreeessays.com 604,413
6 Bignerds.com 534,955
7 Slashdoc.com 526,152
8 Customessaymeister.com 525.242
9 Novelguide.com 410,964
10 Termpaperslab.com 302,811
This table represents the top 10 cheat site and paper mills that appear in student work.
Roughly, 18% of all matches on Turnitin come from cheat sites. “To put it
bluntly at least 18% of all sources used in secondary education papers are
plagiarized” (p. 8)
SHOPPING SITES
Want to get a better understanding of what was presented in a
textbook or another source? Go to Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble and read
the reviews that the authors and readers write. This is where our higher
education students are going for information.
CONCLUSION
This is battle that will never be won. Circumstances will always tempt
even the best student to take a short cut here or there. It is our
responsibility to ensure that we are educating are students in the proper
method of research and that they use and cite the right sources when on the
web.
Reference
Turnitin. (2013). White paper: The sources in student writing – Secondary
education. Oakland, CA: iParadigms, LLC.