High-Tech Cheating

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 24, 1998 by Ronald Roach

With dozens of online term paper mills appearing on the Internet, professors and institutions are imposing new strategies to deter students from using them

Dr. Harryette Mullen worries that the Internet is making it too easy for students to cheat themselves out of an education. Mullen, an associate professor of English at the University of California-Los Angeles, says the growing presence of "term paper mill" Web sites on the Internet is a cause for great concern.

"I look for new information on the Internet, and then you stumble across these sites," Mullen says. "I'm concerned that students are robbing themselves because they aren't learning critical skills."

For years, desperate students have turned to illicit means to procure term papers, subsequently submitting them as their own work. Colleges and universities have long enforced bans on this form of cheating.

The Internet -- with its capacity to allow the electronic downloading of documents to desktop computers -- has ushered in a whole new and menacing era in the realm of cheating.

There are dozens of companies with Web sites that advertise services for providing customers with "models" of research papers. The company Web sites have names -- such as "Evil House of Cheat," "Term Papers 911," and "Genius Papers" -- that feature downloadable papers on thousands of topics that can be purchased by anyone with a credit card. Some of the sites charge no fee at all for research papers.

"This is a very important issue because it speaks to the academic integrity of an institution," says Sheila Trice Bell, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of College and University Attorneys.

"[The issue] is fundamental to the relationship between student and teacher. There's a core of trust that needs to exist there for the integrity of the educational process. That trust is broken when a student turns in work that is not his or her own."

The growth of term paper mill Web sites has alarmed administrators and faculty, who are looking to develop ways to counteract their patronage by students. It is not known how extensive the use of term paper mills are, but a cursory search of the Internet reveals several dozen uncovered by a single web browser. Other web browsers turn up dozens of additional term paper mill Web sites.

While some sites merely carry archives of actual term papers that have been procured from college students, others offer customized research papers that are written to fit a student's specifications. The rates for pre-written papers from commercial archives often vary from $6 to $10 a page. Customized papers cost more, with companies charging as much as $35 a page.

Though many states have passed statutes prohibiting the sale of term papers for submission in classes, the mill companies claim the documents they market to students are provided for research purposes only.

The papers are not to be submitted as original material, the companies tell prospective customers in disclaimer statements. These disclaimers often appear on the Web sites and many companies send a written warning with the materials they sell.

Taking a Savvy Approach

In 1997, Boston University filed a federal lawsuit against several term paper companies after employing a law student to purchase a research paper on author Toni Morrison that was said to be for a literature course assignment.

According to Boston University officials, the lawsuit charged wire fraud, mail fraud, and racketeering, and targeted eight companies in seven states with violating a Massachusetts law that prohibits the sale and marketing of term papers. Boston University officials claimed that it was the first federal lawsuit brought by a university over the online sale of term papers. Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed the case. The university plans to refile its case in state court.

"It was a significant decision for Boston University to take this step," Bell says, emphasizing the uniqueness of the legal action. "[Fighting student use of term paper mills] is one of many important legal issues schools have to confront."

Schools are under pressure to develop sophisticated approaches to combating student use of term paper mills, according to observers. Some faculty and administrators believe that successfully dealing with the issue requires them to make sure that students clearly understand the underlying moral and academic issues.

At Georgetown University, Dr. William McHenry, associate professor at the McDonough Business School, enhanced, with the help of his students, the university's Honor Council Web site to include an extensive explanation on plagiarism, a listing of term paper sites, and a research brief on term paper mills.

The enhanced Honor Council Web site is intended to provide students a broad spectrum of information rather than a mere policy statement. McHenry, who is chairman of the Georgetown Honor Council, says a school should not assume that all of its students fully understand what constitutes plagiarism and why it's wrong.