>From: "Baty, Phil" <
[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Plagiarism <
[log in to unmask]>, "Baty, Phil" <
[log in to unmask]>
>To:
[log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [article] Students 'waste money' buying internet essays
>Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 14:47:06 +0100
>
>There is an opinion piece by Charles Oppeneheim and news item in today's Times Higher - where the Telegraph got their story from.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Plagiarism [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tracey Beck
>Sent: 07 April 2005 14:34
>To:
[log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [article] Students 'waste money' buying internet essays
>
>
>Here is the article in full....
>
>
>Students 'waste money' buying internet essays
>By Liz Lightfoot, Education Correspondent
>(Filed: 07/04/2005)
>
>Students who pay internet companies to write essays for them are not only
>cheating but could be wasting their money, according to a university
>professor.
>
>An experiment at Loughborough University in which students were encouraged
>to buy essays from a number of ghostwriting companies found the results
>were of questionable quality.
>
>One essay costing £205 was of such low quality that it barely scraped a
>pass mark, says Prof Charles Oppenheim, an information science teacher and
>the university's plagiarism expert.
>
>"As well as breaking the rules on cheating, students are taking a big risk
>because they are clearly not getting value for money," he said.
>
>The firms blame universities for not teaching students how to write essays
>and say marking is subjective and varied. The largest firms produce more
>than 500 essays a week costing from £80 to £800.
>
>Prof Oppenheim judged the worst work to have been provided by Essays-r-Us,
>which claims to be "a unique service of ready-made and tailor- made essays
>and research facilities for both professionals and academics".
>
>Prof Oppenheim marked the £205 piece of work at 42 per cent, meaning it
>barely scraped a third. "The essay had really appalling English. . . was
>badly out of date, referring to something abolished in 2003. . . a basic
>error which looked bad," he says in today's Times Higher Education
>Supplement.
>
>"Our experiment was obviously not substantive research, but it is
>indicative that there are problems and issues with these services."
>
>An Essays-r-Us spokesman said it wrote to order. "We are sometimes asked to
>write at an overseas student level and the mistakes are done on purpose. We
>have thousands of essays at different levels and attaining different grades
>from fail to distinction. The client gets what he/she orders."
>
>She was not surprised by Prof Oppenheim's comments, saying: "The lecturer
>would say that, wouldn't he?
>
>A second essay provided by Papers4You was of a "moderate lower second class
>degree standard" said Prof Oppenheim, despite the company's claim that its
>professional writers all held "at least a Masters level degree" from top UK
>universities. The company did not comment.
>
>Prof Oppenheim gave the third essay 56 to 58 per cent, a lower second class
>degree mark. However the firm had promised work of a 2:1 standard and
>charged accordingly.
>
>
>
>
>
>--On 07 April 2005 13:52 +0100 Ian Winship <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > A brief story in today's Daily Telegraph, p10:
> > 'An experiment at Loughborough University in which students were
> > encouraged to buy essays from a number of ghostwriting companies found
> > the results were of questionable quality.'
> >
> > 'An Essays-r-Us spokesman said it wrote to order. "We are sometimes
> > asked to write at an overseas student level and the mistakes are done
> > on purpose. We have thousands of essays at different levels and
> > attaining different grades from fail to distinction.'
> >
> > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=5W0C3B3BTJAYZQFIQ
> > MFC
> > M5O AVCBQYJVC?view=HOME&grid=N1&menuId=-1&menuItemId=-1&_requestid=41395
> > Scroll down to the link. You will need to register first to see the story.
> >
> > --------------------------------------------
> > Ian Winship, Electronic Services Manager
> > Library & Learning Services
> > Northumbria University
> > Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
> > email:
[log in to unmask]
> > tel: 0191 227 4150 fax: 0191 227 4563
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ====
> > This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee. It may contain
> > private and confidential information. If you are not the intended
> > addressee, please take no action based on it nor show a copy to
> > anyone. Please reply to this e-mail to highlight the error. You should
> > also be aware that all electronic mail from, to, or within Northumbria
> > University may be the subject of a request under the Freedom of
> > Information Act 2000 and related legislation, and therefore may be
> > required to be disclosed to third parties. This e-mail and attachments
> > have been scanned for viruses prior to leaving Northumbria University.
> > Northumbria University will not be liable for any losses as a result
> > of any viruses being passed on.
> >
> > **********************************************************************
> > ***
> > You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe,
> > change your subscription options, or access list archives, visit
> > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/PLAGIARISM.html
> > *************************************************************************
>
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
>Tracey Beck
>Assistant Registrar
>Academic Office, Room 302
>Sussex House
>University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton. BN1 9RH
>
>Tel: 01273 873294
>
>*************************************************************************
>You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe, change your subscription options, or access list archives, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/PLAGIARISM.html
>*************************************************************************
>
>The Newspaper Marketing Agency: Opening Up Newspapers:
>
>www.nmauk.co.uk
>
>This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may be privileged. If you have received this e-mail in error, notify the sender immediately. Do not use, disseminate, store or copy it in any way. Statements or opinions in this e-mail or any attachment are those of the author and are not necessarily agreed or authorised by News International (NI). NI Group may monitor emails sent or received for operational or business reasons as permitted by law. NI Group accepts no liability for viruses introduced by this e-mail or attachments. You should employ virus checking software. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701
>
>*************************************************************************
>You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe, change
>your subscription options, or access list archives, visit
>http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/PLAGIARISM.html
>*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
You are subscribed to the JISC Plagiarism mailing list. To Unsubscribe, change
your subscription options, or access list archives, visit
