DG,
Your ends-means justification does not make up for the fact that you are
writing stuff which other people use as their own. In an academic setting
(as in many others), this is a breach of trust and a lie, and it should be
discouraged strongly. If a student cannot make a coherent sentence or plan
well enough to write term papers, odds are he or she is not destined for
academic research anyway. And please, ghostwriting and helpful editing is
not the same. If that student is not a good, clear, or diligent writer, he
or she can ask one who is to help out.
And to answer a few of your more problematic utterances:
"What the client does after that is not really my concern" - well, that's
part of the problem, isn't it? As a tenured academic, I wish you would. But
you're a writer, not an academic.
"If I can produce a more legible document isn't that better?" - no it is
not. If they write something and you proofread and edit it, it is entirely
different.
"How likely is it that a student that skates through like this will go on to
use that degree anyway? Won't the genuine student be the one that continues
in the field?" - so the ethical breach is nullified by the fact that they're
just using the system? The "genuine" student might feel a little cheated?
"how emotive an issue this is among academics" - well, as the entire system
of peer review rests on gentleman agreements of trust and integrity, I think
a little emotion is in order.
J.
-----Opprinnelig melding-----
Fra: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] På vegne av D G Mattichak jr
Sendt: 16. september 2011 10:37
Til: [log in to unmask]
Emne: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] FW: [Pagan Studies] Feature on what rituals
may have sounded like at Stonehenge
As I said previously, I am a writer and not an academic. I accept writing
jobs from clients, they give me the specifications and sometimes the
references to use and I produce the document. What the client does after
that is not really my concern. I also do re-writes and ghostwriting- is that
fraudulent too? We all know that footballers haven't got the vocabulary to
write a book but they sell so someone has to write them, is that fraudulent?
In my experience many academics who may be brilliant in their field of study
are the worst writers and even more struggle with formal writing styles,
even simple ones like Chicago or MLA. If I can produce a more legible
document isn't that better?
I am sure that there are students that try and get around the system in this
way. There was a scandal here in Australia recently that a number of
students had gotten degrees with papers that they had cut and pasted from
the internet (unfortunately I can't recall which University it was). Since
then there has been an improvement in anti plagiarism software but I am sure
that lots must get through. How likely is it that a student that skates
through like this will go on to use that degree anyway? Won't the genuine
student be the one that continues in the field?
The actual work that the site offers tends to be more corporate research,
outsourced for in house publications, usually in APA style, not degree
papers for kids. It is the corporate publishing world's equivalent of
content writing.
Having said that, it has been really interesting to see how emotive an issue
this is among academics- to me it's just another writing job. :) D
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