Have you ever been hired to write research papers or essays? I once was solicited for such a service but I declined it. I wasn't comfortable with the concept.
I've edited a few personal essays for clients. However, I haven't done any academic ghostwriting. Here's an interesting story about someone who has (over 5,000 pages in a year): http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/
I did academic work at one point at a desperate time in my life. The company was very well-managed and billed their services as "model" papers for students to use as examples. The students also had to sign a release stating they wouldn't use the papers as their own work. I'm sure some did, but I felt a bit better knowing I was writing for a company and not for an individual student. As soon as my financial circumstances improved, I stopped doing that kind of work.
Reading the article mentioned wasn't really all that enlightening - the business model is far from new, just infinitely easier to achieve through the web. I don't know if it's still online but there's at least one site offering a marketplace to pair writers with "students" needing papers. The truly horrific parts of the article were the examples of the students' emails. What was sad was how many profs in the comments made excuses that they had too many students or other constraints on their time to care. Seems like the ones who try to do the right thing are stymied by administrations who worry more about tuition than providing an education to their students. I'm so glad I went to a small college before the Internet was around. A recently released educational study from Washington state mentioned that 40% of the students in that state entering community and tech colleges in 2004 needed remedial math and/or English. Another article from Colorado identified a far higher number of students requiring remedial courses. Some of the Ivy League schools report yet even higher numbers. Seems like the computer age is doing more to dumb everyone down than offering more opportunities to actually learn something. That's the real shame in all of this.
Academic ghostwriting is a very lucrative business model, and if you're up to the task, it's likely that you'll have more work than you can handle. Laziness and a lack of diligent study habits it becoming more commonplace amongst upper class students, so it's really isn't such a shock that someone could make a steady income from offering this type of service. I've actually done a fair amount of work in this market myself. And yes, it does pay VERY well. It's interesting, to say the least, and I never did find myself inundated with boring tasks. Now, don't get me wrong. I am by no means an advocate of students cheating their way through their classes, but, I have no problem turning their garbled drafts into brilliant masterpieces. Not everyone has a knack for writing like I do, so if I can help someone make their work better and get paid for it at the same time, then I'm all for it.
I had read that article a while back but had lost the link and have been looking for it for a long time. Thanks for the post!!
I Have been Doing Research papers, Essays, Dissertations for several years and I am quite happy doing it. It really need the head out of your regular works -you need to put all your past academic lessons and make the work look neat.
No, but it's not related to the Internet. I have a friend who is making a steady income doing this to his friends. And friends of his friends. He is charging something like $500 for the Thesis. What he does? Type on the computer, review grammar and syntax, general improvement. A couple of days work. That's all.
There are a lot of term paper mills out there. I won't work for them either. I refuse to help someone cheat. There's no excuse on earth that justifies paying someone to do your schoolwork for you. It's unethical at best.