Profiling the international academic ghost writers who are providing low-cost essays and assignments for the contract cheating industry
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-04-2018-0040 |
| Pages | 72-86 |
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Author | Thomas Lancaster |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
Profiling the international academic
ghost writers who are providing
low-cost essays and assignments
for the contract cheating industry
Thomas Lancaster
Imperial College London, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Students have direct access to academic ghost writers who are able to provide for their
assessment needs withoutthe student needing to do any of the work. These ghost writers are helping to fuel
the international industry of contract cheating, raising ethical dilemmas, but not much is known about the
writers, their business or how they operate. This paper aimsto explore how the ghost writers market their
servicesand operate, based on observable information.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper reviews data from providers actively offering contract
cheating services available to the public on Fiverr.com, a low-cost micro outsourcing site. The search term write
essay is used to identify providers, finding 103 Gigs from 96 unique providers. Visible inform ation, such a s
provider marketing, advertised services, pricing information and customer reviews, is analysed.
Findings –The results demonstratethat bespoke essays are readily availableto students at a low cost. The
majority of providers operatefrom Kenya. Revenue calculations indicate a price point of US$31.73 per1,000
words, below the cost of traditionalessay mills, but show that these 96 providers have generatedaround US
$270,000of essay writingbusiness between them.
Originality/value –This study affords a look into a complex and established industry whose inner
workings are normallykept private and for which little published information currentlyexists. The research
adds to what is knownabout the extent, location and operation of the contractcheating industry.
Keywords Academic integrity, Contract cheating, Essay mills, Fiverr.com, Micro outsourcing
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper reviews and analyses publicly available data relating to contract cheating
providers advertising their academic writing services on Fiverr.com (2010). Fiverr.com is a
micro outsourcing website where providers from around the world advertise services for
prices starting at US$5.Buyers can then place orders directly with these providers.
When students purchase academicghost writing services on Fiverr.com and submit the
resulting work for assessment, they are contract cheating (Clarke and Lancaster, 2006).
They are also bypassing learningand may receive academic credit that they do not deserve.
In surveys from 2014 to 2018,15.7 per cent of student say that they have committed contract
cheating at least once (Newton,2018).
To understand the vast international market that is associated with contract cheating
and the opportunitiesavailable to dissuade students from using contract cheating providers,
it is useful to understand the individuals involved in writing assessments on behalf of
students. Formal researchinto these writers and providers is only just beginning to emerge
(Sivasubramaniam et al., 2016), although some insights are available through analysis
reported in the media and through web channels.
JICES
17,1
72
Received20 April 2018
Revised5 September 2018
Accepted16 September 2018
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.17 No. 1, 2019
pp. 72-86
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-04-2018-0040
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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