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TEN YEARS OF CONTRACT CHEATING

DR.THOMAS LANCASTER

Keynote Presentation at WA Forum on Contract Cheating Thursday 13 October 2016


CONTRACT CHEATING

SCENE SETTING


ht tps://en.w ik iped ia.org/w ik i/Cont ract_cheat ing

My major focus for the past 10

years


DR. THOMAS LANCASTER

Associate Head of School (Marketing and Recruitment) at Coventry

University, UK

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/



ROBERT CLARKE

The world’s foremost

contract cheating detective!

With thanks to

ht tp ://w w w .bbc.co.uk/new s/educat ion-20298237


“The game is afoot”

The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Arthur Conan Doyle

ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/dynam osquit o/4265771518


DETECTION ALONE IS NOT

THE SOLUTION

https://w w w .flickr.com /photos/m ccaughan/13633616994


CONTRACT CHEATING

TIME LINE

https://w w w .flickr.com /photos/m seeley1/17230241660


“The one charm of the past is that it is in past”

Oscar Wilde

ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/hom e_of_chaos/4997788989


Eliminating the successor to

plagiarism?

INITIAL PUBLICATION

2006

2016

The time line for my ten

year journey exploring

contract cheating A HIGHLY DEVELOPED INDUSTRY

ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/53255320@N07/6724868813


ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/b rightm eadow /196120731

Good New s?


t he com pany w as started last fall by tw o brothers w ho hope to grow rich doing other peop le's hom ew ork assignm ents. Since then, they say, they have sold alm ost 10,000 term papers.

Can you tell which company

this is?


[t he com pany’s] original w ork is w rit ten by m oonlight ing facult y m em bers, graduate students, technical w riters and others

ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/raffee/381878922


all of the w riters are college graduates and m ost have m aster's or Ph.D.'s

ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/47444666@N05/5333110027


t he m ajorit y of students w ho buy from the com pany don't p lagiarize. What they purchase is a photo stat ic copy and they m ust retype it before it can be handed in. In the retyp ing they can throw in their ow n m aterial


Market in Term Papers Is Booming

New York Times

July 10, 1971

ht tp ://w w w .nyt im es.com /1971/07/10/arch ives/m arket -in-t erm -papers-is-boom ing-the-m arket -in-t erm -papers-is-found .htm l


A university newspaper

November 23, 1971


Advert ising found inside a universit y new spaper


# cont ractcheat ing – as seen in the 1970s


ht tp ://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-b in /cdnc?a=d&d=CRS19950531.2.2

“Class w ould be at 9 a.m . Papers w ere p rom ised for before class, and students w ould w ait on the front steps of t he build ing. The guy w ould com e and call [t he students'] nam es, hand ing out papers in front of t he build ing!”

Santa Monica College Weekly Article Published 1995

Reporting on what happened in 1988


For years, educators have know n about fratern it y files and the exchange of papers am ong students. The assistance rendered by relat ives and friends in the p reparing of assignm ents has som et im es been m et w ith academ ic oversight and even acquiescence.

Stavisky, L. (1973). Term Paper "Mills," Academ ic Plagiarism , and State Regulat ion. Polit ical Science Quarterly, 88(3), 445-461

1973


Initial contract cheating

publication 2006

2016

The issues associated with contract

cheating date back to the 1950s

(and earlier)

Contract cheating observed on

campus 1950s

Continued visibility of

contract cheating



publication 2006

2016

Many of the academy integrity

issues facing education are the

same issues


campus 1950s

Continued visibility of

contract cheating


CONTRACT CHEATING

MY HISTORY


2003

I found the assignment that I’d set on

Rentacoder


Rentacoder is no longer operational in its

2003 form, but there are other similar

outsourcing sites around


Web offers cheats tailor-made assignments

The Age

September 30, 2006

“I can't see any solut ion to that for universit ies, w here

the w ork is a com m issioned and w rit ten new w ork.”

ht tp ://w w w .theage.com .au/new s/nat ional/w eb-offers-cheats-t ailorm ade-assignm ents/2006/09/29/1159337339350.htm l

Wendy Sutherland-Smith


[Turnit in ] failed to find papers w rit ten to order.

Lancaster, T. (2003). Effect ive and Efficient Plagiarism Detect ion (Doctoral d issertat ion, London South Bank Universit y, UK). cit ing Faber, L w ith C.K. & M.L. (1999), The Great Term -Paper Buying Caper – How They Do It , U.S. New s & World Report ;11/22/99, 127(20), pp . 63.

A paper w rit ten to order for Faber at $354 w as im m ed iately m ade availab le on the com pany Web site at half the p rice.

Another paper failed to arrive in t im e for the dead line


[Authorsh ip at t ribut ion] techniques could be used to see if students have w rit ten a p iece of w ork that they claim to have w rit ten. One w ay of doing th is w ould be build up an arch ive of w ork from a given student over t im e.

Lancaster, T. (2003). Effect ive and Efficient Plagiarism Detect ion (Doctoral d issertat ion, London South Bank Universit y, UK).


Concern has been expressed that docum ents can be p lagiarised by convert ing them into a foreign language and then reconvert ing them into English. There are services on the Web, such as babelfish.altavista.com that can do such t ranslat ion.

Lancaster, T. (2003). Effect ive and Efficient Plagiarism Detect ion (Doctoral d issertat ion, London South Bank Universit y, UK).

Research work is ongoing into essay spinning and back translation



publication 2006

2016

The standard of purchased essays

has improved. Technology

developments of further concern


campus 1950s

Continued visibility of contract

cheating

Plagiarism research setting the

scene for contract cheating 2000-2005


CONTRACT CHEATING

THE PAST TEN YEARS


2006

Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T., “Elim inat ing the Successor t o Plagiarism ? Ident ifying the usage of cont ract cheat ing sit es”, in Proceed ings of 2nd In ternat ional Plagiarism Conference, Gateshead , United Kingdom , June 19-21, 2006 [from p resentat ion slides]

‘Old style’ essay

mill


2006

Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T., “Elim inat ing the Successor t o Plagiarism ? Ident ifying the usage of cont ract cheat ing sit es”, in Proceed ings of 2nd In ternat ional Plagiarism Conference, Gateshead , United Kingdom , June 19-21, 2006

Habitual cheating O ver h alf of th e 236

c h eaters h ave

p reviously req uested

b etw een tw o an d

seven p iec es of w ork .


2012 Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2012). Dealing With Cont ract Cheat ing: A Quest ion Of At t ribut ion; 1st Annual Higher Educat ion Academ y Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathem at ics, Im perial College, London, April 2012

24.5% of EssayBay postings analysed from

the Business discipline

h ttp s://w w w .flic k r.c om /p h otos/teegard in /5916140780


2015

Rigby, D., Burton, M., Balcom be, K., Batem an, I., Mulatu, A., Cont ract Cheat ing And The Market In Essays, Journal of Econom ic Behavior & Organizat ion, Volum e 111, March 2015, Pages 23-37

Over 50% of students willing to cheat if risk of

detection is low

h ttp ://w w w .sc ien c ed irec t.c om /sc ien c e/artic le/p ii/S 0167 268 114 003 321


2013 Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2013). Com m ercial Aspects of Cont ract Cheat ing, 8th Annual Conference on Innovat ion and Technology in Com puter Science Educat ion (ITiCSE 2013), Universit y of Kent , Canterbury, UK, July 2013 [exam p le from Pow erPoint p resentat ion] Purchased assignments

can be cheap Average Freelancer academic

purchase of $101 USD ($133

AUD)

From a sam p le of 336 outsourc ed job s


2014

Wallace, M. J., & New ton, P. M. (2014). Turnaround t im e and m arket capacit y in cont ract cheat ing. Educat ional Stud ies, 40(2), 233-236.

Purchased assignments can

be completed quickly For every c on trac tor

aw ard ed a job , th ere

are an average of 10

oth ers offerin g to

c om p lete it


2016

Lines, L. (2016). Ghostw rit ers guaranteeing grades? The qualit y of on line ghostw rit ing services availab le t o t ert iary students in Aust ralia. Teaching in Higher Educat ion, 1-26.

Purchased assignments can be of high

quality!

89.33% 86.33%

79.67% 71.33%


Enhanced

marketing funnels

2016

Lancaster, T., Cont ract Cheat ing and The Essay Writ ing Indust ry - Where Does the Money Go? ICAI Inaugural Med iterranean Conference ‘In tegrit y as a Way Forw ard , Athens, Greece, 8-10 Sep tem ber 2016


Writers now

operating their

own individual

businesses


Cheating has

moved offline


CONTRACT CHEATING

THE NEXT TEN YEARS

https://w w w .flickr.com /photos/29523289@N06/9431688531/


ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/shankbone/13772126105

What can we predict for the future?


Increased specialisat ion of services


Emotional marketing edge


Contract cheating services

guaranteeing marks

ht tp ://w w w .theregister.co.uk/2015/12/01/softw are_essay_m arking_equal_to_hum an_essay_m arking

The Register

December 1, 2015


Use of PR

Companies To

Press Agendas


Contract cheating sites

presenting their offer as

legitimate

ht tps://w w w .t im eshighereducat ion.com /b log/view -essay-m ill-best -offer-legit im ate-support -st ruggling-students

Times Higher Education

September 10, 2016


ht tps://w w w .flickr.com /photos/k lytem est ra/3194060066

“I was not predicting the future

I was trying to prevent it” Ray Bradbury


Need to channel

authentic

assessment, just like

they do in art


Reframe the language

of cheating?

Courtesy of Mike Reddy

plagiarism copying

contract cheating ?????


Work with students to

promote academic integrity

and develop solutions ht tp ://w w w .dusa.org.au/Advocacy-(1)/Cont ract -Cheat ing


ht tp ://cont ract cheat ing.w eeb ly.com

In t ernat ional Day of Act ion Against Cont ract Cheat ing O c tob er 19 , 2016

#defeatthecheat

#excelwithintegrity


2026

The challenge of defeating

contract cheating is one that we

can achieve

Contract cheating companies

appear to have the upper end 2016

Educators have successfully

reclaimed assessment


#defeatthecheat

#excelwithintegrity


CONTRACT CHEATING

SUPPORTING INFORMATION


References For My Main Contract Cheating Publications

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2015). Cont ract Cheat ing – The Out sourcing Of Assessed St udent W ork , in H and book of A c ad em ic Integrity, B retag, T. (ed itor): S pringerR eferenc e. Lanc a ster, T . and C lark e , R . (2 0 1 5 ). The Im p l icat ions of Plagiar ism and Cont ract Cheat ing for t he Assessm en t of Dat abase Modules. 1 3 th Internat iona l W ork sh op on Teac h ing, Learning and A ssessm ent of D atabases (TLA D 2 0 1 5 ), B irm ingh am , U K , J u ly 2 0 1 5 . H ersey, C . a nd Lanc a ster, T . (2 0 1 5 ). The Onl ine Indust ry of Pap er Mil ls, Cont ract Cheat ing Services, and Auct ion Si t es, C lute Inst itute Internat ional E d uc ation C onferenc e, Lond on , J un e 2 0 1 5 . Lanc a ster, T . and C lark e, R . (2 0 1 4 ). An Observat ional Analysis Of The Range And Ex t en t Of Con t ract Cheat ing From Onl ine Courses Found On Agency W ebsi t es; 8 th Internat ional C onferenc e on C om plex, Intelligent and S oftw are Intensive S ystem s (C IS IS 2 0 1 4 ), B irm ingh am C ity U niversity, U K , J u ly 2 0 1 4 . Lanc a ster, T . and C lark e, R . (2 0 1 4 ). An In i t ial Analysis Of The Con t ex t ual In form at ion Availab le W it h in Auct ion Post s On Cont ract Cheat ing Agency W ebsi t es, 2 8 th IE E E Internat iona l C onferenc e on A d vanc ed Inform ation N etw ork ing and A pplic ations, U niversity of V ic toria , M ay 2 0 1 4 Lanc a ster, T . and C lark e, R . (2 0 1 4 ). Using Turn it in As A Tool For A t t r ibu t ion In Cases Of Cont ract Cheat ing ; 3 rd A nnua l H igh er E d uc at ion A c ad em y C onferenc e in S c ienc e, Tec h nology, E ngineering and M ath em atic s, U niversity of E d inburgh , E d inburgh , A pril 2 0 1 4 . C lark e , R . and La nc a ster, T . (2 0 1 3 ). Com m ercial Aspect s Of Con t ract Cheat ing ; 8 th A n nual C onferenc e on In novat ion a nd Tec h nology in C om puter S c ienc e E d uc ation , U n iversity of K ent , C anterbury, U K , J u ly 2 0 1 3 . Lanc a ster, T and C lark e, R (2 0 1 2 ). Deal ing W it h Con t ract Cheat ing : A Q uest ion O f A ttribution; 1 st A nn ual H igh er E d uc ation A c ad em y C onferenc e in S c ienc e, Tec h nology, E ngin eerin g and M ath em atic s, Im peria l C ollege, Lond on, A pril 2 0 1 2 . Lanc a ster, T and C lark e, R (2 0 1 0 ). St af f -Led Ind ividual ised Assessm ent – A Case St udy ; 1 1 th A nnu al H igh er E d uc ation A c ad em y C onferenc e in Inform ation a nd C om puter S c ienc es, D urh am U niversity, A ugust 2 0 1 0 . Lanc a ster, T a nd C lark e, R (2 0 0 8 ). How t o Succeed at Cheat ing W it hout Real ly Trying: Five Top Tips for Successfu l Cheat ing ; 9 th A nn ual H igh er E d uc ation A c ad em y C onferenc e in Inform ation and C om puter S c ienc es, Liverpool H ope U niversity, A ugust 2 0 0 8 . C lark e , R , a nd La nc a ster, T (2 0 0 7 ). Est ab l ish ing a Syst em at ic Six-St age Process for Det ect ing Cont ract Cheat ing ; Th e S ec ond Internat iona l C onferenc e on P ervasive C om puting and A pplic ations, B irm ingh am C ity U niversity, J u ly 2 0 0 7 . Lanc a ster, T and C lark e , R (2 0 0 7 ). Assessing Con t ract Cheat ing Through Auct ion Si t es – A Com put ing Persp ect ive; 8 th A n nual H igh er E d uc ation A c ad em y C onferenc e in In form ation and C om puter S c ienc es, U niversity of S outh am pton, A ugust 2 0 0 7 . Lanc a ster, T and C lark e, R (2 0 0 7 ). The Phenom ena of Con t ract Cheat ing , in S tud ent P la giarism in a n O nlin e W orld : P roblem s a nd solut ion s, R oberts, T . S . (ed itor), H ersh ey, P en nsylva nia , U S A : Id ea Group Inc . C lark e , R and La nc a ster, T (2 0 0 6 ). El im inat ing The Successor To Plagiar ism ? Iden t ifying The Usage Of Cont ract Cheat ing Si t es; 2 nd P lagiarism : P revent ion, P rac t ic e and P olic y C onferenc e 2 0 0 6 - N ew c astle, U K , J une 2 0 0 6 .


ht tp ://w w w .slideshare.net /Thom asLancaster

A select ion of t he talks arch ived on m y SlideShare account (t he slides from today’s keynote p resentat ion are also availab le on SlideShare)



Available to support contract cheating activities, deliver staff training, present research seminars and generally promote academic integrity

Em ail : t hom as.lancaster@covent ry.ac.uk W ebsit e: h t t p ://thom aslancaster.co.uk Blog: h t t p ://thom aslancaster.co.uk/b log Linked In : h t t ps://uk.linked in.com /in /t hom aslancaster Tw it t er: @DrLancaster

General Resources: h t t p ://en.w ikiped ia.org/w iki/Cont ract_cheat ing ht tp ://cont ractcheat ing.com Cont ract Cheat ing Special In t erest Group (originally supported by the Higher Educat ion Academ y): h t t ps://w w w .jiscm ail.ac.uk/cgi-b in /w ebadm in?A0=CONTRACTCHEATING

Contact Dr. Thomas Lancaster

mailto:[email protected]

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

https://twitter.com/DrLancaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_cheating

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_cheating

http://contractcheating.com/

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=CONTRACTCHEATING



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