Term Papers and Essay Tests
Read the article this discussion is about
- jerrib
- Terrie_Bittner
- mariaandrea
- tivnet
- mariaandrea
- crapademon
- allsocsoan232
This archived discussion is "read only".
» Terrie_Bittner - I am school-again-and I'm finding it very helpful as an essay t
I am school-again-and I'm finding it very helpful as an essay test is upon me.-- posted by Terrie_Bittner
» mariaandrea - Thanks and know what you mean!
I know what you mean Jerri! To think I never even touched a computer in high school! Or even my first 2 years of college for that matter. Couldn't live without the internet as a resource now!Good luck with the essay test Terri! I bet you'll do great. You already write so well! And remember, there's nothing to be nervous about. I prefer essay tests myself. After the first sentence or so, it just flows. Really!
-- posted by mariaandrea
» tivnet - Term Papers and Essays for sale?
What do you think about "homework help" sites like http://www.academon.com/ ? Students can sell and buy research papers there.Is is a learning tool? A reference? Or simple cheating?
-- posted by tivnet
» mariaandrea - Re: Term Papers and Essays for sale?
In response to message posted by tivnet:Excellent question.
To be quite honest, I am torn about those kinds of sites. As a writer and former student, I can never forget the nerve wracking, sleep deprived hours of research and writing it takes to produce a quality research paper. That memory makes me think, "I did it the hard way, why should anyone else get to do it the easy way?" Of course that kind of thinking is trivial in light of the bigger issues.
Do students use those sites to buy research papers and turn them in as their own? Of course they do. It's also likely that some don't. Some probably do use them as references. This is one of the few sites I've seen that actually require people who are selling their papers to submit their sources as well, and have an editorial review process that will reject papers. That still doesn't mean that students won't simply cheat with the papers they buy. It's quality control for the papers. There is no quality control for purchasers.
On the other hand, it can be helpful to see real papers that earned good grades and study why they earned those grades. A research paper without sources/bibliography is worthless. Checking out someone else's bibliography can be helpful. In my copy of "The Scribner Handbook for Writers" are two student essays, with instructions for how to analyze them. The book tells you that studying a well written essay can help you write your own. This is true.
There are two main reasons why I wouldn't recommend buying papers from these kinds of sites. On the site you provided I noticed that the average price for a paper seems to be about $30.00 US. For less than that you can buy a copy of Scribner's or one of the many other guides for writing research papers. Libraries and free internet resources will have the same background that the original writers used. In material terms, if all you want is to use one of those essays as a reference, it just isn't economically viable. There are too many free and inexpensive alternatives.
The second reason is that if students can find these sites easily, so can their teachers/professors. It would be downright dumb to plagiarize a paper bought from a website when it is so easy for an instructor to figure out that's what you've done. You fail, plus you're out the money you spent. In some cases, you might even be kicked out of school. Is it worth it to try? I wouldn't think so.
From a writer's standpoint, however, selling research papers to sites like these comes down to a question of morals and values, in my opinion. I think anyone with writing and researching ability who works hard on a paper, or any kind of writing, deserves to be able to earn money from their work. Are the writers of these papers responsible for what the purchasers do with them? Is it really any different from buying a book and using it as a source? Aren't these questions of personal responsibility? By providing the papers, are people contributing to bad scholarship and a lowering of standards for everyone? Probably.
I'd like to think that if I sold a paper in this manner that people who bought it would use it as a reference. That they would use it in such a way that they could even use it in their own bibliography, possibly even quoting or refuting things I'd written. That my bibliography would give them a good starting point for finding references for their own papers. That is what I would like to think. It isn't what I really think would happen.
Are these sites learning tools? They can be. Are they references? They can be. Is using them simply cheating? It can be. Like anything and everything else in the world it comes down to personal responsibility and our own code of ethics, values and morals.
Sorry this is so long, and I didn't mean "you" personally when I was writing. I just find this a fascinating subject. 
And I'd love to hear what anyone else thinks on the subject. Feel free to post comments.
-- posted by mariaandrea
» crapademon - Re: Term Papers and Essays for sale?
In response to message posted by tivnet:That site is sham... don't even bother with those guys. I posted a few papers. Never got credit for anything. Finally, I decided to test them and set one of my paper prices way low and bought it myself. Got no credit! They must be scamming sales or something. Not to mention "TivNet" is academon. They are the people who created the site. Funny they come here to push their product and scam us all. There's other viable solutions out there. I've used www.myessays.com. Though I have not gotten rich, my papers sell, and I DO get credit.
-- posted by crapademon
» allsocsoan232 - Re: Re: Term Papers and Essays for sale?
In response to Re: Term Papers and Essays for sale? posted by crapademon:WHAT THE HELL ARE U TALKING ABOUT? I MADE OVER 800 DOLLARS FROM ACADEMON. U ARE JUST MAD BECAUSE NO ONE BOUGHT YOUR PAPERS AND TAKING IT OUT ON THESE PEOPLE. DON'T LISTEN TO THIS LOSER. ACADEMON PAYS WAY MORE THAN MYESSAYS, I HAVE SOLD 1 PAPER ON MYESSAYS OVER 3 YEARS AND OVER 10 ON ACADEMON IN JUST A FEW MONTHS. DON'T LISTEN TO THIS LAME BUSTER HERE, ACADEMON IS JUST FINE.
-- posted by allsocsoan232
Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion.