The online academic assistance website Edubirdie has become one of the most popular platforms for students to get help with their assignments and papers. There is much debate around whether the services Edubirdie offers are ethical and legal. In this in-depth article, we will explore both sides of the argument by analyzing Edubirdie’s business model, customer reviews, and academic integrity policies.
To start, it’s important to understand what Edubirdie actually offers students. Their main service allows students to post assignment details and deadline information, which is then viewed by freelance writers around the world who can bid to complete the work. If a student selects a writer, they pay a fee starting at $15 per page and the writer will then submit the finished paper before the deadline.
On the surface, this model provides a useful service for students who may be too busy or struggling with their coursework. Critics argue that Edubirdie facilitates contract cheating or outsourcing school assignments, which is unethical and in many cases considered academic dishonesty by educational institutions. Some key issues people have raised include:
Students are essentially paying someone else to do their work for them, violating standards of originality and independent thinking. While the students’ names remain on the assignments, the work was not fully done by them.
It can undermine the purpose and integrity of assessment if students outsource major assignments like papers, projects, or exams that are intended to evaluate their own knowledge and skills. This compromises the credibility of earned grades and degrees.
Many schools explicitly prohibit getting significant help from outside sources like parents or paid professionals without disclosure or consent from instructors. Using a service like Edubirdie violates these academic integrity policies in most cases.
It can develop a “culture of cheating” where more students feel pressured to use similar services to keep up, eroding education quality over time.
On the other hand, Edubirdie and its supporters claim there are legitimate uses for the types of limited, advisory help they provide as long as clients remain transparent with their schools. Some counterarguments made include:
Students should have autonomy over contracting private tutoring or essay coaching if they choose. Edubirdie provides a convenient way to access these types of legitimate learning supports.
Not all projects outsourced through Edubirdie are major assignments – some may be ungraded or in subject areas the student has less interest/skill in. Limited teamwork shouldn’t be considered cheating in all contexts.
Edubirdie has discouraged contract cheating in its policies by prohibiting writers from completing whole papers or taking online exams for clients. Students are still meant to do their own independent work.
There will always be a gray area between overly broad academic integrity rules and supporting legitimate learner needs through supplemental services. Edubirdie aims to operate within reasonable guidelines.
To evaluate these perspectives, it’s helpful to examine reviews from actual Edubirdie clients. On sites like Trustpilot, the company receives a poor 1.4/5 star rating based on over 14,000 reviews. Many complain of poor quality work, plagiarism, missed deadlines, or a general lack of customer service responsiveness when issues arise. Other reviews insist they found high-quality help.
While Edubirdie and similar services aim to argue they provide legitimate tutoring supports, the consensus from top universities and academic associations is that contract cheating through such sites violates principles of scholarship. Even if intent is just for “guidance”, using pre-written work submitted under a student’s name undermines integrity of assessment. And poor quality control as seen in reviews damages credibility of their policies. Ultimately, the risk of unintentional plagiarism or poor work may outweigh potential benefits for most students. Transparency with instructors is ideal if supplemental help is really required. But is Edubirdie legit? Based on the analysis here, most experts agree the answer is no due to enabling academic dishonesty in many cases. Students are best served focusing energies on their own learning and citing sources properly if referencing outsider assistance.