apa format college papers for sale

apa format college papers for sale

The Ethical Implications of Selling APA Format College Papers

1. Introduction

Perhaps the simplest ethical concern to capture in a college essay is the one presented when someone sells a paper they wrote. In our instant gratification, fruits-of-effort-be-damned society, we often hear little argument on this front, rather: “Do it if you can.” And indeed, one could laboriously accumulate a few papers in each style of documentation and then try to sell them – especially if the buyer’s professor has a compassionate understanding of literary style, the ebb and flow of thought, or any small language ticks characteristic of different people. Instead, however, most people say that they are not going to buy papers because they “could get in trouble for cheating.” Weak ethical consideration, indeed, when someone bets their getting-caught chances are low and the lure of an easy “A” is so high! However, one of the considerations that could make someone reflect a little longer on doing the buying is if the papers are all in APA format. What-apa-what? Well, electronic sources, mostly, because have you ever tried footnoting ten plus quotes on your laptop word processor? It’s a major hassle.

In this paper, I will address the sale of academic papers written in APA format. I will discuss who the most likely demographic to buy such papers is, whether there is room for a middleman/woman in the selling process, the consequences of black and white plagiarism (sourced papers that receive good to excellent grades for the purchaser), the legitimacy of selling papers in APA format, and whether it should be considered unethical. In writing this particular essay and using “we” as my viewpoint, I am making myself complicit, therefore I will speak from experience and distance when I need to discuss people like me “on the outside”.

2. The Importance of Academic Integrity

The intellectual and moral code of academic integrity is upheld by students, professors, staff, and administrators. This collective agreement is the cornerstone of scholarship and the knowledge production enterprise. Without upholding the values and ethics of academic integrity, scholarship is little more than competition, which has a tendency to degrade human behavior into that which falls outside the parameters of law and order. Ultimately, academic integrity has very little to do with the art of detecting dishonesty and everything to do with how individual and institutional stakeholders proceed, behave, and “show up” within academe.

It is important to emphasize that the ability to trust in the authenticity and honesty of others in academe is a valid and coherent ethic of academic engagement that carries the potential for our best selves. Why? Because the opposite of academic integrity is to surrender one’s own moral compass and individuality to that of another’s, or to the pressures of public perception which suggest that the easiest path to success is straight through the middle of academic misconduct. Consequently, selling or purchasing college papers, which are designed to be utilized for academic credit, are considered serious breaches of both academic integrity and ethical behavior. Both selling these papers and purchasing these papers violate the fundamental ethics that academic integrity represents.

3. Understanding APA Format and Its Role in Scholarly Writing

APA format is a document formatting standard utilized by writers of research or scholarly papers, particularly in the areas of psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, and criminology. Used for citing sources and in research and writing, it is a strict standard that papers are constructed around. Precision, sharpness, and consistent application throughout a discipline is what helps settings of scholarly work apart from others. For freshmen who are writing at an advanced level, it is vital that all research and papers are monitored from an outside authority, which is what these “rules” do. Scholars are either figures known for their top-level work or scholarly work. A huge portion of doing scholarly-based writing has to do with knowing and understanding APA format. Even freshmen who aren’t scholars can learn to research, understand, and use the standard. This is assured by standards that are addressed throughout each course.

Overall, the format of an APA paper uses certain guidelines that are not only rhetorical considerations but guidelines for scholarly interest and how the processes are to be done by being best practices. APA format is assumed and can even be assured for a strong paper that illustrates scholarly depth, critical thinking, and proper analysis of scholarly literature. For an individual to know how to use APA and be consistent, it is a learning guide to be able to communicate research findings. A paper done in the style of APA will also contribute to good cohesive writing. Understanding the basis of how to track, cite, and present works at the scholarly level is the knowledge for scholars. Knowing and understanding APA is an ability every scholar and student should require. Understanding and knowing APA writing helps writers and researchers identify scholarly work, follow the center of a research paper, and study the structure of a paper. Educated researchers can spot and recognize the steps, advancing through the processes of scientific work. Knowing basic understanding and how to involve the steps of these processes can help you catch those who have taken shortcuts. Any work that is based on the rules will reveal a lack of skill or desire to know and follow the rules in comprehensive research. In a word, understanding APA format relies on knowing and being familiar with the reasons why someone conducts research at the scholarly level.

4. Ethical Concerns and Consequences of Selling College Papers

The possibility to purchase papers written in APA format is liable to inspire ethical considerations about education and academic integrity. Are college papers written and sold in this manner less valuable than those written by students themselves? Do college classes degrade into an empty hustle instead of maintaining an environment of collaboration, critical thinking, and diverse voices? Students and professionals struggling to manage their time and grades are faced with choices about whether to write and sell college essays by APA standards. Do they face greater ethical pressure than those who buy them? What risks do they take by participating in academic cheating? Do the profits justify these risks? The APA is investigating whether the selling of these papers is ethical. To answer that question, we might need to consider the impact of buying and selling APA format college essays on our educational system and personal values.

The values we hope to instill in educated citizens are the hallmark of a reputable education. These values emerge from academic expectations, and the consequences of ignoring them can be significant. If we cannot trust the way students interact with their assignments, how can we expect them to participate in research, work, and community service ethically? The long-term consequences of cheating can be far-reaching, sometimes causing bad grades, expulsion, or a mar on your academic record. A person’s reputation can be hurt for years to come if other employers, schools, or workplaces learn of his or her academic misconduct; it may impact potential job, graduate school, or scholarship opportunities. In the end, the money earner is not the only one who pays for unethical behavior. We all pay when our students graduate with less than the critical thinking skills that protect the health of our democracy.

5. Strategies for Promoting Academic Integrity in Higher Education

While we recognize that a certain number of students do not buy college papers to submit in lieu of composing their own, the sale of college papers written in APA would not take place if there was not strong evidence, if not proof positive, that the practice is becoming increasingly more prevalent. It was reported that admissions offices at some of the nation’s elite universities are receiving, on average, fifteen copies of the same essay. Moreover, a 2005 study by Rutgers University’s Management Education Center surveyed 13,050 MBA candidates and found that over thirty-two percent admitted to plagiarizing some or all of the necessary essays. That is a few days after enrollment. This type of practice raises questions of an existential nature and touches upon public perception, in a way that no outlet available to us in terms of editorial content can surpass. Perhaps, we can now all appreciate the drop in public perception of higher education in general. But what will the nation’s academic institutions do about this issue? Buying a paper rather than doing the work is cheating, and education must, if nothing else, be about the pursuit of the truth. Concerns related to differences in ethical reasoning, person-situation interaction, relative deprivation, and social disorganization all seem to distinguish those who buy and submit papers written in APA from “conscientious” students. As we consider these issues, we seem to agree with Hwang (1996) that the pressure for good grades is unlikely to be alleviated, and that faculty should focus on promoting honesty and integrity among students instead.

What then, can institutions of higher education do? The immediate response should be to advertise alternatives to buying college papers. While emphasizing academic honesty may help to reduce purchasing behavior, other recommendations that logically derive from our study include: it may be profitable to attempt changing essays frequently, as close examination revealed that essays retrieved from the same semester were much more likely to be plagiarized. Moreover, faculty and instructors should inform students of academic honor codes and encourage classroom discussion about cheating. Including academic honesty reminders when assignments are distributed should also be beneficial. Finally, administrators may consider investing more money into combating the vast resources of term paper mills with the goal of eliminating paper sale opportunities altogether. It is critical that any changes that are made continue to promote open and candid discussions in the classroom so that the integrity of the educational process and institutional reputation are maintained.