Essay writing services have become increasingly popular options for students who need help completing academic written assignments. These services connect clients with professional writers who will write an essay from scratch or edit/proofread an existing draft according to specific guidelines. While essay writing services aim to offer a helping hand, their use remains a controversial topic in academia.
The essay writing industry has grown significantly in recent years. Services advertise an ability to complete any type of paper on short notice for reasonable rates. Popular services include Grademiners, PapersOwl, EduBirdie, SameDayEssay, and EssayShark. While practices vary between companies, the basic process involves a client filling out an order form with essay details, making a payment, and receiving a completed paper via email by the specified deadline.
Services maintain a large pool of qualified freelance writers with degrees across all subject areas. When an order comes in, writers bid for the job based on their qualifications and availability. The client can view writer profiles to assess credentials before choosing who will complete their work. Payments are typically released to writers only once a client approves the completed paper. Quality control happens through comprehensive plagiarism checks, writer testing/ratings, and the ability for clients to request unlimited revisions.
While offering academic assistance, the legitimate use of essay writing services remains an ethical gray area. Generally speaking, submitting purchased work without attribution as one’s own is considered plagiarism, which is unacceptable in academic contexts. Some argue services fulfill a legitimate need when used sparingly and disclosed properly. For example, a service may help with general topic ideas and revisions on a draft written predominantly by the student. Controversy also exists around services potentially enabling dishonesty if submitted work is intentionally misrepresented as original.
Supporters argue essay writing services are an important option for students struggling to balance heavy coursework with jobs, family duties, disabilities or other commitments outside their control. Services allowing for late night submissions aim to help students facing unforeseen issues meet tight deadlines. Additionally, hiring experts ensures tasks are completed proficiently according to assignment guidelines by those with subject matter expertise. This helps relieve student stress and maximize learning from limited time available.
Critics reason commercially written essays undermine intrinsic learning goals. While bringing temporary relief, overreliance on outsourcing academic work may diminish independent thinking, research proficiency and writing ability development in the long run. Teachers also note an inability to effectively gauge a student’s knowledge and thinking process through ghostwritten work. Using essay writing services may also constitute plagiarism depending on the intent and specific policy of a learning institution.
To help address ethics concerns, some companies now position themselves more as writing tutoring platforms. They provide editing and referencing assistance on drafts predominantly written by the student as a collaborative learning experience. Others allow partial downloads of completed works exclusively for reference purposes, not direct resubmission. Transparency around proprietary writing and clear delineation of support versus doing the work for the student also seem aimed at establishing more legitimacy.
When discernibly used to supplement – not replace – a student’s own efforts, essay writing services could fulfill a productive role for academically stressed individuals. Complete reliance risks undermining intrinsic learning goals. To maintain standards, educational institutions should continue emphasizing independent effort and clearly define what constitutes acceptable assistance. Greater transparency from services around proprietary content and warnings against intentional deception also seem prudent steps to minimize questionable practices. Overall, more collaborative solutions respecting student needs and scholastic integrity aim to strike the right balance.
While offering quick academic relief, essay writing services remain a complex issue with reasonable perspectives on both sides. No single right approach likely fits all situations. But with open dialogue and focus on discerning, supplemental use protecting intrinsic learning – not replacing it – collaborative solutions respecting varied student needs and academic standards seem the best path forward. With continued evolution by all parties, legitimate assistance balanced with independent scholarship could fulfill a productive service role within the academic world.