Academic Discipline Integration by Contract Cheating Services and Essay Mills
TL;DR: An analysis of the discipline level reach by contract cheating services as seen through an analysis of Google search results from the United Kingdom is seen, including a call to action for academia to develop discipline specific solutions to contract cheating.
Abstract: Contract cheating services are marketing to students at discipline level, using increasingly sophisticated techniques. The discipline level reach of these services has not been widely considered in the academic integrity literature. Much of the academic understanding of contract cheating is not discipline specific, but the necessary solutions to this problem may need to vary by discipline. This paper reviews current knowledge about contract cheating services at the discipline level, including summarising four studies that rank the relative volume of contract cheating within different academic disciplines. The reviewed studies show high volumes of contract cheating transactions in the disciplines of Business and Computing. Examples of discipline level contract cheating research and service advertising are provided. The main contribution of the paper is an analysis of the discipline level reach by contract cheating services as seen through an analysis of Google search results from the United Kingdom. This analysis of 19 discipline groups uses measures of organic search engine results, paid results and competition. Three discipline groups are shown as currently being heavily exploited by essay mills; these are: (1) Architecture, Building and Planning, (2) Computer Science and (3) Law. In addition, the discipline group of Creative Arts and Design is shown to be at risk of future exploitation. The paper recommends that academics are made aware about continual change in the contract cheating industry including the involved marketing taking place at discipline level. The paper concludes with a call to action for academia to develop discipline specific solutions to contract cheating.
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TL;DR: In this article, the use of file sharing sites to breach academic integrity in light of the Covid-19 pandemic has been investigated, showing that Chegg can and is used for contract cheating, despite the apparent existence of an Honour Code on Chegg.
Abstract: Students are using file sharing sites to breach academic integrity in light of the Covid-19 pandemic This paper analyses the use of one such site, Chegg, which offers “homework help” and other academic services to students Chegg is often presented as a file sharing site in the academic literature, but that is just one of many ways in which it can be used As this paper demonstrates, Chegg can and is used for contract cheating This is despite the apparent existence of an Honour Code on Chegg which asks students not to breach academic integrity With pandemic led safety considerations leading to increased online teaching and assessment, the paper analyses data relating to how Chegg is used by students in five STEM subjects, namely Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics and Chemistry The results show that students are using Chegg to request exam style questions They demonstrate that contract cheating requests can be put live and answered within the short duration of an examination The number of student requests posted for these five subjects increased by 19625% comparing the time period April 2019 to August 2019 with the period April 2020 to August 2020 This increase corresponds with the time when many courses moved to be delivered and assessed online The growing number of requests indicates that students are using Chegg for assessment and exam help frequently and in a way that is not considered permissible by universities The paper concludes by recommending that academic institutions put interventions in place to minimise the risk to educational standards posed by sites such as Chegg, particularly since increased online teaching and assessment may continue after the pandemic
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the current state of contract cheating research from various methodological and empi cational sources. But they do not discuss the impact of cheating in higher education.
Abstract: Contract cheating is an increasingly challenging problem facing the higher education sector. This study assesses the current state of contract cheating research from various methodological and empi...
28 citations
Cites background from "Academic Discipline Integration by ..."
...The literature on contract cheating has grown in recent years (Lancaster 2020)....
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...Contract cheating services employ a range of persuasive features, such as 24/7 service, promise of refunds (rowland et al. 2018) and tailoring work to student’s requirements (Lancaster 2019; Amigud and Lancaster 2020)....
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...…and Jurkevicius 2017; Draper, Ibezim, and Newton 2017; Ellis, Zucker, and randall 2018; rowland et al. 2018; Sutherland-Smith and Dullaghan 2019; Lancaster 2020); rich Site Summary (rSS) feeds relating to orders from academic custom writing websites (Ellis et al. 2020); contract cheating…...
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...…service providers (Amigud and Dawson 2020) such as online essay mills, pre-written essay banks, ghost-writing websites, and freelancing and auction sites (Draper, Ibezim, and Newton 2017; medway, roper, and gillooly 2018; Kralikova, Vajdikova, and Foltynek 2019; Awdry 2021; Lancaster 2020)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a multiple case study approach examined how academic misconduct is perceived in universities in in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom via interviews with academics and administrators and found that academic misconduct was a systemic problem that manifests in various ways and requires similarly diverse approaches to management.
Abstract: Academic misconduct is a problem of growing concern across the tertiary education sector. While plagiarism has been the most common form of academic misconduct, the advent of software programs to detect plagiarism has seen the problem of misconduct simply mutate. As universities attempt to function in an increasingly complex environment, the factors that contribute to academic misconduct are unlikely to be easily mitigated. A multiple case study approach examined how academic misconduct is perceived in universities in in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom via interviews with academics and administrators. The findings show that academic misconduct is a systemic problem that manifests in various ways and requires similarly diverse approaches to management. Greater consistency in policies and procedures, including a focus on preventative education for both staff and students, is key to managing the mutations of academic misconduct that continue to plague the higher education sector globally.
13 citations
Cites background from "Academic Discipline Integration by ..."
...…and Lancaster 2019a; Rundle et al. 2019; Sarwar et al. 2018), essay mill processes (Ellis et al. 2018; Foltýnek and Králíková 2018; Kaktiņš 2018; Lancaster 2020; Medway et al. 2018; Rowland et al. 2018) and the relationship with assessment design (Bretag et al. 2019b; Ellis et al. 2019; Harper…...
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...This is of great concern, particularly in the UK, where law has been identified as particularly susceptible to essay mills (Lancaster 2020)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the advertisements inserted in search engines of Spanish academic services websites in 2018 and 2019 and conducted content analysis of these advertisements, conducted through the use of Se...
Abstract: This article analyses the advertisements inserted in search engines of Spanish academic services websites in 2018 and 2019. Content analysis of these advertisements, conducted through the use of Se...
10 citations
Cites background from "Academic Discipline Integration by ..."
...This is an element of vital importance since, as Lancaster (2020) argues, the first exposure or contact of the student with ghost writing websites generally occurs through online advertising and marketing....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the question of whether a student has the consumer rights to withdraw from a contract with an essay mill, and what are the risks if they choose to do so.
Abstract: Very few parts of the world have legislation that prohibits the operation or the promotion of contract cheating services. This means that commercial companies providing such services can formally register and operate in most countries. If a student enters into an agreement with a contract cheating provider, what rights do they have to change their mind and what are the risks if they choose to do so? This paper examines the question through legal, institutional and societal lenses, showing that although a student has the consumer rights to withdraw from a contract with an essay mill, they may also be putting their future at risk by doing so. Contract cheating providers are now embedded within many institutions, using sharp practices to connect with vulnerable customers, but are also perfectly placed to blackmail students or threaten to report them to their institution if they ask to cancel their order. The paper argues that, while not condoning the practice of contract cheating, supportive processes need to be in place to help students at risk as part of standard institutional duty of care. This must be backed up by institutional policy that considers academic integrity as a core value for all.
7 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesized findings from prior research to try and understand how common self-report of contract cheating is in Higher Education, and test whether it is increasing.
Abstract: Contract cheating, where students use a third party to complete their assignments, is frequently reported to be increasing, presenting a threat to academic standards and quality. Many incidents involve payment of the third party, giving contract cheating a commercial aspect. This study synthesised findings from prior research to try and understand how common self-report of contract cheating is in Higher Education, and test whether it is increasing. It also sought to evaluate the quality of the research evidence which addresses those questions. 71 samples were identified from 65 studies, going back to 1978. These included 54514 participants. Contract cheating was self-reported by a historic average of 3.52 % of students, with evidence that this has increased in recent years; a positive relationship was found between time and the percentage of students admitting to contract cheating, and in samples from 2014 to present the figure is 15.7%, representing approximately 31 million students around the world. This increase may be due to an overall increase in self-reported cheating, rather than contract cheating specifically. Most samples were collected using designs which makes it likely that contract cheating is under-reported, for example using convenience sampling, with a very low response rate and without guarantees of anonymity for participants. Recommendations are made for future studies on academic integrity and contract cheating specifically.
137 citations
"Academic Discipline Integration by ..." refers background in this paper
...Figures suggest that up to 15% of current students will pay someone else for work produced through contract cheating by the end of their course, a figure which has seen regular growth over the past 40 years (Newton 2018)....
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01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the issues associated with contract cheating, loosely defined as the outsourcing of student work to third parties, is presented, which is a specific form of academic misconduct with student plagiarism.
Abstract: This chapter reviews the issues associated with contract cheating, loosely defined as the outsourcing of student work to third parties. The chapter is intended to serve as an overview of current research while also providing practical instruction and guidance to academics and educators The discussion begins by introducing contract cheating and comparing this specific form of academic misconduct with student plagiarism. The suggestion is made that current anti-plagiarism methods are not suitable for contract cheating, defined as where a student is requesting an original bespoke piece of work to be created for them. Six types of services that students can use to have work produced for them are listed; these are (1) essay writing services; (2) friends, family, and other students; (3) private tutors; (4) copyediting services; (5) agency websites; and (6) reverse classifieds. Specific challenges associated with each service are provided. Findings related to the wider contract cheating area are given. This includes particular discussion of the research into agency sites, where a student makes the offer of work available to a large number of people who then bid to complete it. The student selects one of the bidders to complete the work based on a form of cost-benefit analysis. Issues considered include the extent of contract cheating, the cost and quality of outsourced work, and the range of subjects in which students are cheating The chapter concludes with a discussion of the main methods that can be used to prevent contract cheating. Research into technical solutions, such as stylometrics, put in place to find automated technical solutions to detect contract cheating, is also presented. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016.
114 citations
"Academic Discipline Integration by ..." refers background in this paper
...A summary of the issues by Lancaster (2016) considers the high visibility of specialist essay mills aimed at this market and the types of assignments regularly seen on public-facing contract cheating sites....
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...The studies reported in the leftmost three columns of Table 2 (Lancaster and Clarke 2012, 2014; Lancaster 2016) relate to specific contract cheating sites where requests are visible....
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...The fourth study from Table 2 was reported by a writer inside an essay mill who observed the requests and was reported by Lancaster (2016)....
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...…and Clarke 2012) Transtutors Study (Lancaster and Clarke 2014) Student Lance Study (Lancaster and Clarke 2015) Requests inside an essay mill (Lancaster 2016) 1 Business and Administrative Studies Computing/IT (=1) Business Business 2 Social Studies Business Studies (=1) Law Health…...
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TL;DR: Students appear to have a subjective threshold; they are willing to invest a certain amount of energy in any given assignment, and once the limit is reached outsourcing is sought as the means to quit without losing the qualification.
Abstract: This study examines the reasons students give for seeking unacceptable levels of help with completion of their academic work. It aims to fill the gap in the literature by presenting a comprehensive review of the first-person reasons students have given for requesting that someone else completes their assignments and assessments for them. To this end, we analyzed a dataset composed of 5,000 messages from ten contract cheating services posted on the social media service Twitter. Unlike survey research that relies on participants' ability to recall and explain the events, this study uses discourse analysis that provides a snapshot of student behaviors from the moment they announce their intent to outsource the work, an area that has not previously been analyzed in the contract cheating research base. The reasons accompanying the solicitation of contract work were classified into five categories that include: academic aptitude, perseverance, personal issues, competing objectives, and self-discipline. One important insight of this study is that students appear to have a subjective threshold; they are willing to invest a certain amount of energy in any given assignment, and once the limit is reached outsourcing is sought as the means to quit without losing the qualification. Recommendations for addressing the issue of contract cheating and directions for future research are discussed.
80 citations
TL;DR: R reverse engineered the business processes that operate within some of the Academic Custom Writing websites, and supports important findings about how these sites operate that can be used to inform future strategies to detect and deter contract cheating.
Abstract: While there is growing awareness of the existence and activities of Academic Custom Writing websites, which form a small part of the contract cheating industry, how they work remains poorly understood. Very little research has been done on these sites, probably because it has been assumed that it is impossible to see behind their firewalls and password protection. We have found that, with some close scrutiny, it is indeed possible to find some ‘cracks’ in these sites through which we can look to gain insights into the business processes that operate within them. We have reverse engineered the business processes that operate within some of these sites. From this we have also been able to identify three different business models that are supported by these sites. Our analysis supports important findings about how these sites operate that can be used to inform future strategies to detect and deter contract cheating.
72 citations
Abstract: Ghostwriting is difficult to detect, it has the potential to be high quality, and universities do not currently have adequate policies in place to police it. Determining the quality of the ghostwriting services available to tertiary students is of vital importance because underestimating the potential for students to use these services to pass their courses affects universities’ ability to detect their use and counteract their prevalence. This study examines the service being advertised to students by the 30 top-ranked ghostwriting websites. The study examines the quality of the service being offered by purchasing 2 essays from 13 of these businesses, 1 undergraduate and 1 postgraduate. These essays were graded by three academics who believed they were grading real student papers. The results of the study are alarming because they imply that had these essays been submitted to a university, the majority of them would have passed without any plagiarism detected.
69 citations
"Academic Discipline Integration by ..." refers background in this paper
...Due to the lack is specialism, the work purchased from these services may also not actually be very good (Lines 2016; Sutherland-Smith and Dullaghan 2019)....
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