buy coursework from writing website

buy coursework from writing website

The Ethical Implications of Purchasing Coursework from Writing Websites

1. Introduction to the Issue

It is widely known that a growing number of students are buying their coursework from online writing websites. Sometimes referred to as ‘contract cheating’, this has become a pressing issue in academic integrity. However, there has been less attention given to the ethical implications of this practice; conventional thinking increasingly holds that authorship is non-excludable. Using a sample of British students (n = 1029), this paper presents four key ethical principles that can be used to guide public policy in this regard: non-blind-weight, clamant contiguity, existential/experiential engagement, and harmfulness. These principles coalesce in the conclusion that while existing contracts between students and essay writing websites will have to be upheld, such essay writing practices ought to be forbidden in future using legislation.

The purchase of custom writing online is a practice that, although not new, has been problematized since the internet. Writing websites have existed in some shape or form since the emergence of the velobound term paper industry in the immediate post-war era. Since the 1990s, term paper websites have been the locus of cheating scandals and the object of legislation. Today’s custom essays and dissertations are often offered by ‘paper mills’; essay writing companies founded corroborated breaches larger than student assessment. A large-scale Australian study notes that around 6.73% of students regularly use essay writing companies. When asked why, British or Australian students generally claim that they are learning English as a second language, that they are international students, that they are working and studying for professional qualifications, or that they are undertaking university for the first time.

2. Ethical Considerations in Education

Educational systems are built upon foundational elements of integrity, trust, autonomy, honesty, equity, and fairness. A broad framework regarding ethical standards in education can be developed from these elements, making a space that is conducive to teaching, learning, student development, research, and classroom management. The history of education in relation to ethics is centuries old. Socrates believed that each human being has the capacity to construct knowledge from what is in their environment and have a unique capability to provide the best possible solution for a given situation. He believed this could only be achieved if people openly engaged in societal issues with a natural consequence of reciprocal ethical considerations and goodwill to all. Today, education still seeks societal goals and has to effectively balance multiple requirements such as for personal and social development, establishing a just society, and optimizing human ecological sustainability. Similar to societal responsibility, academic integrity has an essential role to play in a broader concept of academic ethics. Thus, ethical codes for the teaching profession are built upon elementary ethical principles reporting the need to recognize complexities and review them in practice.

Several overlaps exist in ethical concepts of academic integrity and professional teaching ethics. At the core, ethical principles are interconnected by the broader concepts of respect, responsibility, and caring. So, in professional education, these ethical standards necessitate educators to think for themselves and to develop capabilities in their students to do likewise. Some of the guidelines in codes of academic ethics can also be observed in professional training for teaching such as obeying rules and regulations passed by the state, treating candidates equally in terms of admissions, course requirements, and learning aids, and adhering to policies and procedures concerning all areas of campus safety such as emergency evacuation plans, fire alarms, and sexual harassment. Although compliance with ethical codes is expected at all levels of academia, non-compliance with such guidelines rests at the discretion of various educational institutions. Impartiality, integrity, and honesty are highly embraced by audiences of an educational setting. A deviation from this leads to conflicting ethical parameters and moreover the academic learning and moral development of all involved. It is perhaps no surprise then that the issue of buying coursework is a contentious topic.

3. Impact on Academic Integrity

When it comes to academic dishonesty, there are no less than 480 potential behaviors to study. Grabbing a system-generated paper from a writing website is, according to the creators of this list, “Fraud, cheating, and case building and matter because they undermine the trust, honesty, and fairness that are fundamental to academic integrity.” Misleading your professors and perpetuating an extensive multi-level lie that undermines learning is not just about failing to come up with a thesis statement. One might argue that this could be an answer to the student who sees such cheap stratagems as viable strategies for handling the constraint and pressure of academic study, saving time to allocate in other areas of life.

And tutoring and “influencing (goading) throughout” would be the norm in some institutions, were it not so costly to administer good-faith proctoring to ensure the “influence” comes from the tutee. Such students, then, are banking on the all-too-plausible deniability conveyed by the invisibility, and the disruption and hassle that can be created for the faculty member who raises such concerns. They put their professors into the Faustian bargain of avoiding the hassle by giving them a pass, which sustainability for me would ultimately be a renunciation of the very reason for teaching as vocation. These buy-it-now behaviors strip the brown-and-gold-awarded sheep of its fine wool, and contribute to making a sheep-like apparatus for those who might otherwise not partake in shenanigans. Sacrificing even one viable interest of a classroom ought to be avoided; the habit has its own indifference, impoverishing the world in our students. The scholarly problem with “tutoring throughout” is actually academic freedom: Neither the tutee, nor the tutor’s employer, nor the interested public should very much care what leads a tutor to “influence (goad) throughout”; it might be, after all, a late-autumn giddiness attended with the scent of good land and the plough or other homely things. The estranger’s $ might well merit the same terms as the stranger’s and all. But those terms are not the terms of the classroom; the ones who approach the latter by the terms of the former erode the former—replaceable and verifiably so—with the latter. It’s act-utilitarianism, of the sort that requires no work beyond being human, that’s the problem.

4. Alternatives to Purchasing Coursework

There are numerous effective and ethical alternatives available to students who purchase coursework from online writing websites. The most constructive option is to openly address any challenges they might face and reach out for support from their tutors. Additionally, students who feel anxious about taking exams can seek resources or guidance from any number of sources, including academic study skills websites, university support services (particularly mental health and study support services), or exam preparation workshops specifically provided by their university. Finally, writing is a skill that can be improved through learning and practice. Students who are concerned about their writing abilities can seek constructive guidance in the form of textbooks and online resources, or specialised support from their academic skills tutors. Simply blocking students from engaging in essay mills or explicitly punishing them will not provide any support to those who engage in such practices or address the challenges they might face.

From our own experience and research, we can recommend some practical advice to students who aim to avoid purchasing coursework: Students who feel stressed about exams and coursework should take steps to learn how tutors can support them. These tutors are an excellent resource for students who feel confused or anxious. Such conflicts or exams can be quite upsetting, as they can make students appear as though they have no help. Official university services and counselors are often willing and available to assist.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

The findings of this paper demonstrate that purchasing models and false motivation for academic misconduct have changed, enabling essay cheating to persist among students. Clearly, preventing or curbing academic misconduct encompasses addressing both the demand for authentic academic works and the motivation to cheat. Educators and administrators seeking to prevent or address the demand for essay cheats will ideally address the need for coursework, offer high-quality feedback, and reduce the fear of failure that leads to transactional purchasing motives. Additionally, acting diligently to dispel these myths about educational inadequacy and respond to transactional student purchasing may limit the demand for essay cheats. If the demand for original essay cheats remains or continues to grow, policies and practices that intervene specifically in this area are needed.

Academic institutions and teachers have a responsibility to promote academic integrity and hold students accountable for their learning outcomes. Our findings show that buying coursework has been rebranded as an innocent solution to address workload, stress, or bad times. We argue instead that buying work distorts education, reduces student opportunities to learn, and undermines degrees by awarding academic credit to those who may not have demonstrated the same abilities as others. Ethical principles require a commitment from all stakeholders in higher education to act in this same direction, especially if students are to learn by example. In response to these debates, we offer the following suggestions to address the complex challenges of buying coursework.