The work I’ve been involved with on contract cheating over the past decade has looked at students who pay for work to be completed for them online. This is a concerning behaviour. Students who do not complete their own learning are not gaining the skills they need for employment and the workplace.
A worrying trend that has emerged in recent years are essay mills (also known as term paper mills) that are designed to cater for students from particular academic disciplines.
You can find essay mills aimed at law students, business students, computing students or any academic discipline that you can think of.
From the point of view of the company marketing essay essay writing service reddit writing services to students, this is a smart decision. Providing niche essay mills means that students are more likely to find your company online. They are also more likely to trust that you have the academic ability to help them with their particular subject or academic discipline.
Actually, the truth is far less clear-cut. Investigations that I’ve been involved with have shown that most of these companies are not as specialised as they make out. The same company is often providing services through several different trading names. Each of these uses the same pool of writers, regardless of which entry point was used to get the students involved with these services.
The growth of essay mills in subject specific areas is also of concern when fitness to practice is considered. Nursing is a particular example which has been identified. Here, students need to leave their academic course with practical and mathematical skills that they will use on a hospital ward or with patients.
When students see nursing essay mills online, this is an encouragement for them to cheat and to receive help that they are not entitled to. This can mean that they end up being in front of patients, but lacking the medical care skills needed to support them with their conditions. The issue becomes one of public safety.