otisons

Perils of Purchasing Internet Made-to-Order Research Papers

Both buying and writing internet papers and essays involve questions of ethics, while subjecting students to scrutiny that could end their academic careers.

An American History student who could not come up with a good research paper topic bemoaned the fact his Google search for “American History topics” produced pages of assignment writing services. On the high school and university level, students are enticed to submit assigned topics and, for a fee – often steep, someone else will write their paper as per all assignment specifications. The made-to-order research paper industry is a lucrative business, tempting the ethics of students pressed for time or weak in writing and research skills.

The Perils of Buying On-Line Papers
A March 20th, 2019 report in the Chronicle of Higher Education (“Cheating Goes Global as Essay Mills Multiply,” by Thomas Bartlett) charts the author’s search into one paper-writing enterprise that he eventually found operating in Manila through Ukrainian business connections.

Bartlett’s investigation reads like a detective novel. There were plenty of writers eager to cash in on high dollars, including former attorneys. Yet at the same time, most papers were written by dubious “researchers,” cranking out hundreds of papers and essays.

Then there were the students, including an MIT Ph.D. candidate who ostensibly “bought” her dissertation from an online source by request "I can pay someone to write my paper cheap". Invariably, all purchased essays and papers are blatant plagiarism. Students caught submitting such papers can be expelled from the institution. Unfortunately, bought papers are often difficult to identify, even if institutions use web sources like “Turn-it-in” to police plagiarism.

Who is Writing the Paper or Essay?
Decades before the universality of the internet and on-lines sites like SparkNotes, high school teachers and college professors (usually English folk) facetiously asked students who actually wrote CliffsNotes. Their point was that a guide to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar may have been written by someone without any academic credentials in that particular field. Yet CliffsNotes were the rage.

Today, online papers might be written in Manila, Jakarta, Hong Kong, or Calcutta. Most of the “sources” will be from online databases rather than books. Further, the depersonalization of the writer with the topic often ensures a sterile treatment of the subject. As Thomas Bartlett documents, citing a paper/essay writer from Nigeria, fluency with the English language can also be a problem – as well as a dead give-away to alert professors.

Ethics and Student Pride
If students are guided throughout the entire essay/paper project, the temptation to buy assignment online or finished product will diminish. This involves mini-tutorials addressing all aspects of research of paper writing. Some institutions devote entire semesters to developmental and post-developmental writing skills.

Additionally, ethics must be encouraged. Many institutions have adopted detailed policies covering plagiarism and cheating. These policies should be addressed in course syllabi as well as verbal instruction. Students must come to understand why an essay or research paper is part of the curriculum and how those assignments will impact future success. Students respond most eagerly when requirements are framed as a part of their overall college package in terms of post-graduate marketability.

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