No Cover Image

Journal article 950 views 118 downloads

Essay mills and other contract cheating services: to buy or not to buy and the consequences of students changing their minds

Michael Draper Orcid Logo, Thomas Lancaster, Sandie Dann, Robin Crockett, Irene Glendinning

International Journal for Educational Integrity, Volume: 17, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Michael Draper Orcid Logo

  • 59433.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © The Author(s). 2021 This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

    Download (576.9KB)

Abstract

Very few parts of the world have legislation that prohibits the operation or the promotion of contract cheating services. This means that commercial companies providing such services can formally register and operate in most countries. If a student enters into an agreement with a contract cheating p...

Full description

Published in: International Journal for Educational Integrity
ISSN: 1833-2595
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59433
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: Very few parts of the world have legislation that prohibits the operation or the promotion of contract cheating services. This means that commercial companies providing such services can formally register and operate in most countries. If a student enters into an agreement with a contract cheating provider, what rights do they have to change their mind and what are the risks if they choose to do so? This paper examines the question through legal, institutional and societal lenses, showing that although a student has the consumer rights to withdraw from a contract with an essay mill, they may also be putting their future at risk by doing so. Contract cheating providers are now embedded within many institutions, using sharp practices to connect with vulnerable customers, but are also perfectly placed to blackmail students or threaten to report them to their institution if they ask to cancel their order. The paper argues that, while not condoning the practice of contract cheating, supportive processes need to be in place to help students at risk as part of standard institutional duty of care. This must be backed up by institutional policy that considers academic integrity as a core value for all.
Keywords: Contract cheating; Contract formation; Consumer rights; Student behaviour; Educational institutional policies
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 1