the cheap term paper writing service uk

the cheap term paper writing service uk

Exploring the Ethical Implications of Using Cheap Term Paper Writing Services in the UK

1. Introduction

Introduction. This paper presents a discussion of the ethical implications of students using essay mills or other sources of written material for submission as their own work. I analyze responses to questions on this topic, a part of a larger survey, carried out in 2018, by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Responses are examined in the contexts of academic dishonesty, professional creativity, and the overall conditions of deregulated and privatized markets in which university students must work, because this economic context affects their capacities for ‘accreditation’, and this may be significant for determining the feasibility of plagiarism policies. It seems plausible to think that universities already depend upon the academic writing industry, in various ways, and for a variety of services, for the maintenance of their normal operations. On these bases, I further consider: whether essay writing is work, rather than a commodity or service; the ethical conditions of part-time study; whether a degree has more than one market value; and the utility of considering academic writing as fiction.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, now renamed the ‘Office for Students’) is an independent public body in England which maintains standards in UK universities. In October 2018, they published an analysis of a survey of 54,000 students, carried out with the particular goal of understanding the factors which might lead final-year undergraduates to undertake contract and/or essay cheating, defined as “students paying a third-party to write an academic assignment, which is then submitted as the work of the student” and/or submitting “one or more pieces of academic work as the student’s own work when someone else has either carried out some or all of the work…or written some or all of the work”. I take analysis of these responses to be valuable in the light of the fact that research into contract essay cheating is troubled by high rates of industry denial, so that the use of survey data may offer an alternative to a competitor, and largely industry produced, FX foil.

2. The Rise of Cheap Term Paper Writing Services in the UK

Introduction Cheap term paper writing services are no longer a foreign concept, offering the preparation of written pieces as ‘support’ for financially exhausted students who are inundated by multiple deadlines and tasks that should theoretically push them to ‘think critically’. They allow for intellectual and emotional challenges to be written in accordance with assigned codes and have proliferated as a popular aid for UK-based students who may be under extreme pressure. The other side of the argument focuses on the ethical implications of these services, touching on the wider issue of increasing competition between students, a point elaborated upon by Barnie Choudhury for The Sunday Times. In the context of this theorization and applied discussion, there has been a considerable amount of expansion to the custom essay writing market, most prominently in the capacity of cheap term paper writing services which concern us in the 2020s.

Over the past two decades, cheap term paper writing services have been molded by the interests of technology and demand for such services. Students of upper-layered society have gathered to pay for such amenities which affect the depth of money-driven logic within academia. The draw of such websites is not isolated; there has been an expanded outreach on social media platforms as well as the very success that Barras notes invites more technological innovations. As Moddelmog explains, the basic process is the same: go online, click a few buttons, fill out an order form, and receive an essay crafted to your very needs. These services are offered on such an expansive basis due to a combination of tutor competition, cost cuts, essay writing jotting becoming a pure business standpoint, and the casual perusal of fortunes reasoning.

3. Ethical Considerations in Academic Writing

Academic writing entails not only following the grammatical rules and submitting high-quality work, but also engaging in ethical endeavors. It pertains not only to the content of the submission, but also to the process undertaken to create it. Despite some instances that call into question ethical practice among some researchers, research value also leans heavily on these principles. Janssens et al. warn that “otherwise, the public is no longer willing to pay the bill, and public support for – and trust in – science will erode since its output is not reliable.” The nuances of ethical aspects of academic honesty are complex. There are issues in this domain that should first be the concern of students, universities (both instructors, teaching and support staff, and administrative side), and writing service providers. More recently, researchers have sought to understand the ethical position of the service providers themselves, usually by way of surveys or similar data collection from the academic cheating industry.

There is an assortment of policies and codes for good practice in academic work, each with its focus. For example, ethical standards are in place at the level of the employers of the authors-researchers, third-party bodies considering proposals for methods and relevant considerations within research programs, the publication in question, the process of registering trials, and, where applicable, registers for conflicts of interest. In the UK, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education has incorporated a section into their UK Quality Code for Higher Education that provides guidance to universities regarding the services that writing companies offer. The Quality Code is effectively a list of what are considered to be “buck stops” for institutions should students decide to escalate a complaint.

4. Consequences of Using Cheap Term Paper Writing Services

We have seen that the use of inexpensively priced and relatively low-quality term paper writing services can be rather widespread among students in the UK. The ethical, academic, and career-related repercussions or impacts of the practice, however, are less commonly discussed in the literature. Despite the lack of an open discussion, we can see that unethical and dishonest behavior at higher education institutions has been proven to increase the likelihood that students will engage in similar behaviors while on the job. Academic penalties for being caught cheating may exert minimal short-term consequence on students’ final grades and long-term learning outcomes, but employers who value specific behaviors and personal characteristics may be discouraged from hiring those who have, on a near-term or longer-term basis, incurred associated disciplinary action. Furthermore, we do not yet know what may happen if a UK student is caught practicing falsified authorship, which the Turnitin Report implies is an offense.

First, the service can support intellectual dishonesty by making it simple and cheap to hand in a poor-quality term paper under the pretense of being the exclusive work of the author, with the potential to reap good grades. Second, universities have a deterrent effect on students who would otherwise exploit the system and focus on learning for the long term by imposing academic exclusion orders. Disallowed academic activity can be published, with the potential to deter future employers from hiring the reformed cheating student. Cheating throughout one’s entire college career may also negatively impact a first job in terms of expected wages. It remains unclear if individual professors are likely to report incorrection during the enrollment period. Although a history of procrastination may result in subpar process grades, only egregious examples of unethical behavior generally constitute actual incapacity to practice competently. Furthermore, failing to graduate on time with one’s peers increases associated costs and may lead to increased unemployment. Therefore, slow learners may ultimately incur a form of academic embarrassment that forces them to improve.

5. Recommendations and Best Practices for Academic Integrity

In the previous sections of the report, I have shown that it is difficult to determine what constitutes unethical practices when using or providing the services of cheap essay and term paper writing companies. I have also argued that the extent of ethical responsibility rests on several defining factors such as the circumstances for needing to utilize such a service, or how the essay is subsequently used or resold. Based on my research findings, I have made the following recommendations and best practices that honor academic integrity and ethical conduct.

There is a need for strong promotional strategies and infrastructures to inform students about resource centers and the services and assistance available to them during the research and writing process. These resources should be advertised to benefit all students and not simply those who are conspicuously struggling with the requirements of their assignments. This approach will strive to cultivate good intellectual practices with a focus on searching, evaluating, compiling, and writing. Emphasis should be placed on the quality of the students’ education and the purpose of learning being the commitment to producing and advancing new knowledge through academic research and writing. Universities must espouse a culture of knowledge creation, wherein students engage inquiry from the moment they begin their studies. In the same respects, instructors must be creative in adapting assignment requirements that embrace diverse learning styles. These strategies should focus on students’ most authentic participation in their learning instead of excluding them through demands for ready-made, pre-prepared assignments. It is hoped that these multifaceted responses will contribute to the diminishment of the marketplace for papers in the UK higher education sector.