A proliferation of online services for third-level students offering “pay as you go” essays has prompted universities to review their policies against plagiarism.
DCU is one of a number of institutions that are altering their methods of assessment, in tandem with the rollout of “cut-and-paste” detection software, to combat the threat of academic fraud.
The Irish Times has identified a number of Irish students using websites such as Odesk. com and Elance. com where they have posted ads seeking freelance academics to write essays for them at a rate of up €50 an hour.
An Irish website writemyassignments.com says it has enjoyed “a growing demand from Irish students which is increasing year on year”.
Like the other sites, however, it says it does not support plagiarism but rather offers academic assistance, including sample essays that should be referenced as such by students.
Among those recruiting help through Elance.com this month was a Dublin student who was seeking a freelance academic to write a 4,000-word paper on the topic: “Has the emergence of the troika undermined democracy in Europe?”
While his profile said he was based abroad, and did not mention the name of his university, his tender documents identified the university. They also inadvertently mentioned his lecturer’s name.
