Customers provide the company with specific information about the essay, including number of pages, general topic, and a time frame to work within.
As early as the 1950s, advertisements circulating on college campuses described services that included ghostwritten work for dissertations, theses, and term papers.
[2] In conjunction with this practice, the changing attitudes of students in the 1960s and 1970s started to stray away from diligent and engaged coursework because they saw an emphasis on the benefits of community involvement.
[3] One could walk into a building and peruse pricing pamphlets, speak to someone directly to place an order, or possibly make a selection from a vault of recycled research papers stored in the basement of these businesses.
Until the early 1990s, most essay mill companies were 'bricks and mortar' businesses offering their services by mail order or from offices in university or college towns.
[4] This case involved the state challenging an essay mill's business with reference to the New York Education Law.
[4] The court determined that the disclaimers did not sufficiently protect the company because their encouragement of cheating and plagiarism hurt the educational system.
[5] Several other legal battles have been fought since and have largely resulted in the punishment of the term paper writers rather than the students purchasing them.
State residents or academic institutions "acting for the interest of itself, its students, or the general public" can file suit against offenders for "any relief as is necessary.
For example, while some essay mills state that their products are not intended to be submitted for credit, they may also boast of the high grades that their papers have received.
[7] Essay mills and similar academic cheating services are also illegal in England and Wales, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Austria, among other jurisdictions.
Essay mill writers will read their writing only to make comments and feedback about content and grammar mistakes.
[1] Some customers claim they turn to essay mills because society has put too much pressure on students to achieve academic success.
GPAs and grades are greatly stressed in schools which causes students to worry and make them feel like they cannot meet their deadlines.
Another article in The Chronicle of Higher Education from 2010 interviewed an American essay mill writer, who stated that he receives half of the money paid by a client for a paper.
When a student is charged with academic fraud, his or her case is typically heard by a quasi-judicial administrative committee, which reviews the evidence.
For students who are found guilty, the punishments range from a grade of zero on the specific assignment, to failure in the course in which the plagiarism occurred, to (in extreme or repeated cases) suspension or expulsion from the institution.