Phony Student Papers, Purchased On Demand, Are Flooding U.S. Colleges

It’s not plagiarism because the essays are original. It’s just that they aren’t the work of the students who turn them in. Instead they are written to order by employees who work for outfits with names like Ace-MyHomework and EssayShark. According to a current researcher on the topic, millions of these papers are commissioned every year. “You can relax,” says the pitch from one company, “knowing that our reliable, expert writers will produce you a top quality and 100% plagiarism free essay that is written just for you, while you take care of the more interesting aspects of student life.” Many but not all the writers live overseas and the pay is quite good, especially for those working in countries where prevailing wages and job prospects are not so good. The industry is flourishing in Kenya, India and Ukraine. Some sites, however, have started pitching their indigenous American talent – i.e., writers whose work won’t be sullied with British spellings or the occasional clunker idiom that might raise suspicions – and these are more pricey. Contract cheating is illegal in 17 states, but enforcement is lax and punishment is generally light, according to this New York Times investigation. Solutions in the wings, not surprisingly, involve new software that purports to be able to identify writing styles and flag an imposter. No mention in the article of what readers of a certain age will recall as a nearly 100-percent guarantee of original work by the writer whose name appears on the paper: Real-time exams with written questions to be answered in long hand and administered in the presence of humans.