dissertation writing services illegal

dissertation writing services illegal

The Negative Consequences of Using Dissertation Writing Services

1. Introduction

Writing a dissertation or a thesis is considered by many to be the penultimate expression of a graduate student’s academic prowess, with the final achievement being the award of a custom degree. Both tasks are key components of higher degree programs, and for a student with the ambition of attending graduate school, any college or university program that does not require a thesis is seen as incomplete. Of course, a graduate student has to consider viable alternatives to writing a dissertation. But while other doctoral theses may confer distinction on the field, the dissertation is still the only possession of the candidate which is his or her alone. This paper addresses the issue of the alternative without the benefits, and the negative consequences of using dissertation writing services, and will help to guide potential clients away from making a costly mistake.

2. Ethical Concerns Surrounding Dissertation Writing Services

It is easy to see why one might consider engaging the services of a dissertation writing service. Writing a dissertation is a difficult task and the high pressure involved in obtaining top grades and the temptation to get the whole thing over and done with can provide a compelling incentive to avoid the drudgery involved. Used correctly, and the service can provide an excellent shortcut; a way for students to get a top grade with a dissertation that really reflects their knowledge of their subject. However, the temptation of a shortcut can prove too seductive for some. The recent rise in the number of students cheating their dissertations has directly correlated with the increase in the number of students using writing services. A recent report by Swansea University found 1 in seven students globally have paid for someone else to do their work. This is a very dangerous route to pursue – one of our central ethos’ at Writing a dissertation is a form of apprenticeship for your future career, the skills you learn from the process are vital transferable skills such as research, time management and improved writing ability are all highly sought after skills in today’s job market. By skipping the process of writing the dissertation you’re bypassing the opportunity to learn these skills and are in turn putting yourself at a major disadvantage once you strive to enter the job market. This can lead to feelings of regret and a lack of self worth. We have had many clients express regret for using our services on the basis that the quality of work we provided them far exceeded the caliber of work they were capable of doing themselves. At the end of the day, there is no substitution for hard work and finding the easy way out in today’s highly competitive society is a risky venture. It is a common consensus that putting in the hard work and ultimately reaping the benefits of a job well done is far more satisfying than taking a shortcut.

3. Academic Integrity and the Impact of Using Illegal Services

Most of the work offered by these services involves giving a complete dissertation or the editing a rough draft of a dissertation. The issue occurs when the dissertation is already written perfectly or when the service adds in their own data, thus making the dissertation no longer the original work. For the student who is bent on passing and scoring, this is definitely very tempting as a dissertation is very tedious and tiring work. The student would want the most elegant product with the least effort, thus there is the temptation to copy the work as their own. With the ease of the copy and paste function this plagiarism is inevitable. In the end, it will not be clear which parts of the dissertation are original work and which is not. In short, the line is thin, and it will be very difficult for any student to justify that all the data in their dissertation is their own.

Throughout our lives, there will be a time where a proper dissertation needs to be written. As a form of final assessment of our understanding of any topic involving research, it is inevitable that some will eventually have to write it. However, at more than one occasion, we are tempted with hiring a dissertation writing service to aid us in completing our dissertation faster and with less effort. On the surface, using such service does not seem to have any negative impact. However, with the ease of internet access and numerous service offers, the level of plagiarism of a student’s dissertation from using these services has increased significantly. In addition, the original purpose of the dissertation writing has been tainted with the aim of simply just completing it. This article will explore some of the negative consequences of using these services, with a main focus of academic integrity. Enemy number one when using a dissertation writing service is definitely plagiarism.

4. Legal Consequences for Both Providers and Users

There are a number of legal consequences for individuals or companies offering dissertation writing services. Many consider that they are assisting students to write and enabling them to produce a dissertation, when in fact they are not. A dissertation must be a report of guided evidence resulting from and contributing to a certain specific research question. It often takes the form of a hypothesis or is a comparative research project. By giving the student an essay, or ‘model essay’, they are committing a variety of acts of plagiarism and dishonesty. This is assisting a student to represent someone else’s work or ideas as his or her own. By passing off this essay as their dissertation, the student is in effect representing someone else’s work as their own. In turn, giving the student an essay to pass off as a dissertation is a false representation of the expected outcome for an academic task. This is in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. This regulation exists to prevent businesses from using unfair practices which would deceive the average consumer, or be likely to cause the consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise. On an individual basis, UK-based workers are liable to pay tax on the earnings from writing essays. In a survey conducted by London Economics in 2005, it was found that up to 12% of individuals were not declaring earnings in the black economy. It also estimated that by reducing undeclared activity by 10%, public finances would be bolstered by over £5 billion per year. Although international writers are required to pay UK taxes on income, as the majority of UK essay clients are overseas students, it is unlikely that taxes will be paid. This adds tax evasion to the list of offenses. In extreme cases, with the ever-increasing pressure on enforcing laws on intellectual property and internet piracy, providers may even be charged using existing laws such as the Fraud Act 2006, Theft Act 1968, and Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. The Fraud Act 2006 s.3 (1) defines fraud as being committed when a person dishonestly makes a false representation and intends, by doing so, to make a gain for himself or another, or a loss or risk of loss to another. S.6 (1) applies to possession of criminal property and S.7 (1) covers making or supplying articles for use in frauds. All are indictable and can incur a custodial sentence.

Provider-related consequences

5. Conclusion: Promoting Ethical Academic Practices

Some students may also choose to cheat because of ever-increasing pressures to succeed, and students who do not achieve high grades may feel that they will let others and themselves down. They might feel that the only possible way to get a good grade is to complete a dissertation without any errors. Even those who proceed with honorable intentions may develop a habit of dubiousness, guessing that most of their peers are complete or are likely to complete their dissertations with outside help.

The student ends up having the satisfaction of completing their work themselves but also the stress associated with failure. In addition to stress, health disorders or sleep deprivation are regrettably common amongst students who feel under pressure to succeed, whether they are competing against themselves or others. This is mainly due to inadequate studying, job commitments, and other extracurricular activities.

It has been argued that students are more likely to take shortcuts to complete or achieve a higher grade in their dissertations. The motivation to seek valuable solutions or complete the work within deadlines leads the students to these services. In the long run, using dissertation writing services has more advantages, but it is more of a short-term gain.