CUP paper ‘The Ubyssey’ investigates essay mills and the plagiarism detection process
VANCOUVER (CUP) — Want to buy yourself a passing essay? It may be easier to commit academic fraud than you think.
Last term, The Ubyssey contacted 16 essay revision services that advertise around the University of British Columbia. Posing as desperate students, we asked if they’d be willing to write a first-year science essay. Of these 16 services, six immediately agreed to do so, knowing they’d be taking part in academic misconduct.
One particular service, EssayExperts.ca, referred us to their website where we found the company provided custom-written essays, research papers and even theses and dissertations at high prices.
To test its claims of originality and high quality writing, The Ubyssey bought an essay. And with the co-operation of earth and ocean sciences professor Michael Lipsen, we proceeded to submit it under an assumed name for grading with his TA.
We also ran it through Turnitin.com to check for recycled content. If it was this simple to plagiarize an essay, would it be just as easy to get away with it?
What is plagiarism?
Purchasing an essay and submitting it as your own is considered a form of plagiarism. Other forms of plagiarism include using improper citations, copying published sources, copying other students and even copying your own work from a different course without prior consent from the professor.
“I don’t ever buy the idea that students didn’t understand they plagiarized,” said Janet Giltrow, a dean of students at UBC. “The very fact they chose the other person’s words as opposed to their own, shows that they know value’s added.”
From cottage to corporate industry
Companies who make it convenient for students to plagiarize — often referred to as essay mills — are numerous. Bestessays.com, custom-essays.net, and primewritings.com are just some of what comes up when you Google “custom essay writing.” Unlike individuals offering tutoring services that may be willing to write essays for clients, these companies have based their entire business model on essay writing.
For the most part, they also position themselves as research assistants that can help students with figures, sources and examples on how to write a quality paper.
“Our papers are designed to HELP you write your own essay,” states EssayExperts.ca on their FAQ page. “It is completely legal to buy a completed paper from a research service, whether pre-written or customized. Plagiarism means you sign your name to a paper you haven’t written, or take credit for ideas without indicating where those ideas came from. Buying an essay from a research service IS legal, and is often the best way to learn about writing quality essays or term papers.
“Everyone needs help at some time or another. Essay writing services are designed to provide you with personal assistance in writing your own papers and essays.”
EssayExperts.ca, which has corporate offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles, provides an online application form that allows students to specify the topic, length and other details about the assignment.
Prices range from $27-$40 per double-spaced page, depending on how quickly the essay is needed. The company’s website guarantees original work, and each writer possesses “at least a master’s degree.”
In its mission statement, EssayExperts.ca boasts that it’s the “leader in custom academic writing in North America … well versed to be able to deliver a superb document.”
The Ubyssey ordered our own three-page earth science essay seven days before it was due for submission, to get the lowest rate of $27 per page. The next day, an “academic adviser” called us back and told us the fee would be raised to $32 per page, because it was a science paper. $116.14 later, our essay was assigned to a writer.
Screening for fraud
There are automated plagiarism-detection services that claim to detect fraud.
For many classes, student papers are screened using Turnitin.com’s originality check. Calling itself the “world’s #1 most used and most effective plagiarism prevention tool,” the online tool compares student papers to a database of publications, indexed web content and previously submitted student papers.
Naturally, these services are unable to detect plagiarism in original essays.
“Essays from essay writing services often contain extensive material cribbed from online sources as well as material from banks of standard essays that have been recycled many times over,” said Katie Povejsil, vice-president of marketing at iParadigms, creators of Turnitin and WriteCheck.
“Students who purchase so-called custom-written essays may not be getting as original work as they think,” she said, adding “Turnitin is likely to flag content in so-called custom essays as unoriginal.”
However, no red flags came up when The Ubyssey essay was submitted to Turnitin.com, suggesting that EssayExperts.ca did indeed hold up to its promise of originality.
Apart from Turnitin, professors and TAs rely on their prior knowledge of the student’s capabilities to check the originality of their student’s work. But Giltrow acknowledges it’s harder to detect plagiarism when a student has used a service that sells original work.
“I think it’s harder to prove services because they’re not ready made; they’re not up there on the web to be bought off a shelf … [but] essays that are produced to order very rarely fit the assignment,” she said.
The TA did not detect The Ubyssey’s plagiarism, although the paper was given a low grade for poor content quality.
Getting caught
Giltrow interviews students who have been accused of plagiarism, and determines whether or not they’ll be sent to the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline for further judgment. Once cases have been have been heard by the committee, the consequences can range from no penalty to suspension or expulsion from the university with a permanent notation on one’s record.
Committee chair Charles Slonecker explained that rules on reviewing plagiarism are reviewed by the course instructor, department head and dean’s office before going to the advisory committee.
Giltrow interviews all arts students suspected of academic misconduct and determines whether or not each particular case should be sent to the president’s committee for further judgment. She said that usually, the case is resolved without the involvement of the committee.
“Most of these cases are solved between student and instructor,” said Giltrow. “The student gets another chance, or takes a very low mark for that essay, or a zero, or gets to rewrite and the grade is discounted or cut in half … sometimes students will also be referred to the head of the department who will speak to the student and the department will decide how they will handle it in the department.”
As such, the disciplinary reports reflect only those cases that were not resolved within a faculty.
If an issue does make it to advisory committee, it will often be for plagiarism of some form. During the 2008–09 academic year, 13 of 32 academic violations at UBC were attributed to plagiarism. The punishment can range from a failing grade in the course to a suspension of one to 12 months, depending on the circumstances of the incident.
However, students are rarely caught and fully prosecuted for submitting papers that they had some one else write for them. In most of the cases, students were caught when they inserted material from online sources into their papers.
In 2008–09, only one student at UBC was brought to the advisory committee for allegedly submitting a final paper that was suspected of being written by someone other than the student. The allegation was dismissed due to lack of proof.
Who plagiarizes?
It is difficult to determine realistic numbers for how many students engage in plagiarism, and estimates tend to vary — one 1995 study entitled “Undergraduate Cheating: Who Does What and Why?” claimed that as many as 60 per cent of students have engaged in academic misconduct, including plagiarism, copying of others’ work or inventing lab results.
Giltrow said that students who commit academic misconduct are likely “alienated from their experiences or studies.”
“There’s a number of different ways that might happen,” said Giltrow. “They might have just not been going to class because they feel quite separate from the class and the coursework. They usually don’t talk about having close friends in the class [either].”
This alienation from the class could come about from disinterest, as well.
“[If] it was a course they were disinterested in, they [feel] they [don’t] need to have responsibility for doing their own work. It’s not a very grown-up attitude,” Giltrow said. “Maybe it was their parents’ idea that they come to UBC. However, I don’t think it’s retaliation or resistance.”
Still, people who plagiarize and buy ready-made essays aren’t always disengaged with academia.
“I have seen a case where an extremely conscientious student ended up turning in an essay where he finally said it wasn’t his, but it was the product of tutoring and he just wanted to do the best he could,” explained Giltrow.
Can essay mills be fought?
UBC RCMP confirmed that as long as essay mills are not violating any copyright laws, they are legally within their rights to operate as a business. A company like EssayExperts.ca, which sells original work to students, can continue to do so despite the fact that students may be using them to commit academic fraud.
Slonecker stated that the advisory committee is trying to combat academic fraud by “establishing a level playing field for all UBC students based on academic integrity.” Investigating allegations through three different levels of the university enforces this. The president’s decisions are published annually online.
Giltrow believes the key to undermining plagiarism is to “engage students in their studies and make them a part of a community of young scholars who are exploring an area of their discipline, and then the last thing [they] do is download something from the Internet.
“Students as part of a community of scholars … it’s all about you, and what you can do, and what you can say. I guess that’s a broad mission.”
Additionally, academic support is available. Unlike self-advertised tutoring or essay writing services, these programs have a system of checks and balances to ensure that no misconduct occurs.
The grades come in
The essay that The Ubyssey submitted was not detected as being plagiarized. However, the company’s claims of producing high quality work seemed to fall through as the essay only received a mark of 58 per cent.
Additionally, our essay was sent to us six days late; the first writer assigned to our essay abandoned the project without notice and the company scrambled to find another one. Coupled with the 30 per cent late penalty — 5 per cent per day — the assignment received a failing mark of 28 per cent.
When we called in to complain about the poor quality and service, EssayExperts.ca offered credit and the promise that our next order would be of higher priority. We filed a request for a refund and a month later, it was granted.
When we called the company again revealing we were student journalists, the company refused to comment.
