Nowadays students are well aware that copying a paper from the Internet or using paper mills and databases is not a way out. Universities and colleges are increasingly turning to anti-plagiarism software, publicly advertised institutional policies to deter and educate students, and some relevant national initiatives. Meanwhile the new businesses welcome students' intentions to cheat. Some Internet sites give examples of cheating techniques, some sell prewritten term papers, but others write a research paper according to the student's specifications. Custom writing services that develop very fast on the web offer the way to overcome the assigned work and cheat more "effectively" than ever. It also seems like students of American Universities welcome the new opportunities, increasing the number of academic dishonesty incidents in schools. The major problem that education faces today lays in the fact that it seems to be impossible to determine that the essay turned in by a students is not his or her original work. I was more than curious to investigate this challenge for our education and educators.
My inquiry began after a Minnesota economics student admitted buying 10 essays for $700, which, over the year, earned him a diploma with straight A's.
After a friendly talk with a few "honest cheaters" I found out more than I was expecting. My new friends claimed custom or tailored written essays to be "a safe way to get through the taught times", they gladly and enthusiastically shared some tips with me, that was almost complete custom writing market overview:
"... Watch out for the PhD writers advertised on the website, companies charge somewhere around $15, while a person with PhD would charge a lot more".
"... Don't go for the lowest price, they'll give you a paper on the 8th grade level".
"... You might wanna see all of the company's web sites, they usually link to each other. See if price is the same, and if it differs, which is common, they just wanna rip you off".
"... When I see the website that is like 5 pages only, with some grammar mistakes, and looks like it was done by a student, but claims to write on any topic possible, man, I just laugh!"
"... If the company owns a database, it is kindda obvious that your paper will be sent to the database right away, the questions is when it's gonna happen, before of after my teacher checks it on plagiarism. I avoid custom-database-essays".
Regardless of all these facts that leave a hope for the value of diploma to stay on the appropriate level, there are "honest" custom research companies:
"God, they make college so easy!!!"
Doesn't it sounds like a problem to you? After speaking to the "cheater representatives" I was quite astonished. Is using services of customized/personalized writing indeed so widely spread!?
So, I decided to get to the very insights of the problem. Trying to put myself in the student shoes I went directly to Google.com and armed with all the tips gathered from the well-informed cheaters I tried my luck with one of the custom writing services, my pick was Bright Minds Network. It came out that I could order my custom written research for $13.95. The first thing that stoned me were the 12 departments of the company covering all major fields of studies! After I composed instruction for my "college assignment" I placed an order. My curiosity cost me money of course, but the outcome shocked me! After two days a 2,000-word essay was delivered. It was independently assessed by a professor at a leading university and assigned an A-. The research, composition, flow of ideas, everything a good paper should be! After a check on plagiarism the paper came out to be an original work.
Although plagiarism is a problem recognized by universities, my investigation found cheating to be more widespread and systematic than previously thought. Tutors admit commissioned papers are extremely difficult to detect.
Companies that offer essays insist they are selling research to students and the papers are not meant to be reproduced word for word in course work. Many companies have disclaimers on their websites saying the essays they provide should not be passed off as the work of the purchasers. Customized writing services can be viewed as a new threat to the educational world and there is no way for detecting this kind of academic dishonesty yet.
Olga Swanton
