I was recently shocked to see just how many essay writing companies have sprung up on the internet, literally hundreds of them. They all bill their services as a ready resource for students looking for that extra edge for cheap. I learned about these writing services through Google AdSense advertisements that showed up on Open2it. Interestingly, Google had planned to ban such ads well over a year ago, but apparently some of them have slipped through the cracks.

These companies promise “non-plagiarized essays” of all sorts. Heck, you can even get someone to write your dissertation for you! Many of them say they have staff working 24/7 to craft that perfect paper in as little as four hours! AHEAD Papers offers this rapid-turnaround essay writing service at a pocket-crunching $33.99 per page (12 pt, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 250 words per page guaranteed!).  Wow! What a deal!
 

For about $170 (two week’s gas money from Mom and Dad), I can get that five-page history term paper, the one that I’ve been procrastinating on, written to A+ standards—never mind that I’m a C- writer—before morning arrives, and I’ll actually get some sleep in the process! And while they’re at it, I have that ten-page Western Civilization paper due next week. For a cool $90 I can get that one out of my hair, too, and for only about 36 cents per word!
 

Woohoo! Who could resist?
 

Well, however tempting it might seem to free up time for friends and recreation while nailing those As, handing in someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism, plain and simple. The “plagiarism-free” stamp that these essay writers dole out with their work is just a guarantee that the anti-plagiarism software (in use at about 90% of college level academic institutions) used to catch cheaters won’t catch you. News flash—this is still cheating, and not just on getting grades; it’s cheating yourself out of the education that you are spending some $40k+ per year to earn, and, if your parents are footing the bill, it’s cheating them, too.
 

But wait a minute; let’s not dismiss these benevolent essay writers before we see what they can offer. After all, they don’t advocate cheating—they even say so. Their service is just for reference; it’s only cheating if I pass it off as my own work.  I can change a few of their words, add a sentence or two, you know, make it my own, right? Wrong!
 

Try this truth test: ask yourself if you are willing to identify for your instructor which of the sentences (or pieces thereof) you wrote and which were written by some nameless writer at Company X.

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Advertising Continues
written by Soapy Dishwater, December 31, 2008

I just had a Google ad come up for philosophy writers dot com Looks like the same kind of crap.

Is there any way to opt out of advertisements for specific services??

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