If what “Ed Dante” writes is true, lots of writers are missing out on a rich — unethical — opportunity:<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve written toward a master\u2019s degree in cognitive psychology, a Ph.D. in sociology, and a handful of postgraduate credits in international diplomacy. I\u2019ve worked on bachelor\u2019s degrees in hospitality, business administration, and accounting. I\u2019ve written for courses in history, cinema, labor relations, pharmacology, theology, sports management, maritime security, airline services, sustainability, municipal budgeting, marketing, philosophy, ethics, Eastern religion, postmodern architecture, anthropology, literature, and public administration. I\u2019ve attended three dozen online universities. I\u2019ve completed 12 graduate theses of 50 pages or more. All for someone else. \u2026<\/p>\n
You would be amazed by the incompetence of your students\u2019 writing. I have seen the word \u201cdesperate\u201d misspelled every way you can imagine. And these students truly are desperate. They couldn\u2019t write a convincing grocery list, yet they are in graduate school. They really need help. They need help learning and, separately, they need help passing their courses. But they aren\u2019t getting it.<\/p>\n
For those of you who have ever mentored a student through the writing of a dissertation, served on a thesis-review committee, or guided a graduate student through a formal research process, I have a question: Do you ever wonder how a student who struggles to formulate complete sentences in conversation manages to produce marginally competent research? How does that student get by you? \u2026<\/p>\n
Of course, I know you are aware that cheating occurs. But you have no idea how deeply this kind of cheating penetrates the academic system, much less how to stop it. Last summer The New York Times<\/em> reported that 61 percent of undergraduates have admitted to some form of cheating on assignments and exams. Yet there is little discussion about custom papers and how they differ from more-detectable forms of plagiarism, or about why students cheat in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n