Abstract
This paper provides a systematic and critical review of the existing literature on the phenomenon of ‘commercial contract cheating’ (CCC). Unlike some existing systematic reviews generally on CCC, this paper focuses on the potential causes and suggested preventative measures specifically, intending to develop effective interventions on the basis of empirical insights. We reviewed primary studies with empirical data and systematic reviews focusing on higher education published between 2012 and 2020. A logic model is developed to graphically indicate the complex and dynamic interplay between a variety of factors identified. Our inquiry reveals a highly specified, uncoordinated and fragmented research landscape that urgently needs integrated, holistic and critical reflection. It shows that the current research is still far from establishing causal relationships as the scholarship opts to reveal an abundance of contextual factors identified only, without probing the relational dynamics or striving for causality. A range of broad and tentative recommendations are proposed on that basis but are barely empirically examined. We also attend to lack of conceptual clarity and work towards a more inclusive and future-proof definition of CCC beyond assignment-based conceptualisation. It is argued that CCC should never be reduced to plagiarism (a natural inclination inspired by the plagiarism research tradition) nor neutralised as a legitimate business (a potential risk revealed mostly by the supply side research). As an interdisciplinary field, CCC should move beyond student perceptions of education cheating and affordability, while including more inquiries into the exploitative, predatory nature of the industry.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahsan, K., Akbar, S., & Kam, B. (2022). Contract cheating in higher education: a systematic literature review and future research agenda. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(4), 523–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1931660
Amigud, A. (2020). Cheaters on Twitter: An analysis of engagement approaches of contract cheating services. Studies in Higher Education, 45(3), 692–705. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1564258
Amigud, A., & Lancaster, T. (2019). 246 reasons to cheat: An analysis of students’ reasons for seeking to outsource academic work. Computers & Education, 134, 98–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.01.017
Amigud, A., & Dawson, P. (2020). The Law and the Outlaw: Is Legal Prohibition a Viable Solution to the Contract Cheating Problem? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(1), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1612851
Anderson, L. M., Petticrew, M., Rehfuess, E., Armstong, R., Ueffing, E., Baker, P., Francis, D., & Tugwell, D. (2011). Using logic models to capture complexity in systematic reviews. Research Synthesis Method, 2(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.32
Austin, M. J., & Brown, L. D. (1999). Internet plagiarism: Developing strategies to curb student academic dishonesty. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(99)00004-4
Awdry, R. (2020). Assignment Outsourcing: Moving beyond Contract Cheating. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(2), 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1765311
Bengtsson, L. (2019). Take-home exams in higher education: A systematic review. Education Sciences, 9(4), 267. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040267
BBC. (2021). Essay mills: 'Contract cheating' to be made illegal in England. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/education-58811822
Bennett, R. (2005). Factors associated with student plagiarism in a post-1992 university. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 30(2), 137–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000264244
Bertram-Gallant, T. (2016). Response to White’s ‘Shadow Scholars and the Rise of the Dissertation Service Industry. Journal of Research Practice, 12(1), 1–5. http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/553/452
Bretag, T. (2007). The Emperor’s New Clothes: Yes There Is a Link between English Language Competence and Academic Standards. People and Place, 15(1), 13–21. Retrieved August 12, 2021, from https://tapri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/v15n1_2bretag.pdf.
Bretag, T., Harper, R., Burton, M., Ellis, C., Newton, P., Rozenberg, P., Saddiqui, S., & van Haeringen, K. (2019a). Contract cheating: A survey of Australian university students. Studies in Higher Education, 44(11), 1837–1856. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1462788
Bretag, T., Harper, R., Burton, M., Ellis, C., van Newton, P., Haeringen, K., Saddiqui, S., & Rozenberg, P. (2019b). Contract cheating and assessment design: Exploring the relationship. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 676–691. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1527892
Bretag, T., Harper, R., Rundle, K., Newton, P., Ellis, C., Saddiqui, S., & van Haeringen, K. (2020). Contract cheating in Australian higher education: A comparison of non-university higher education providers and universities. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(1), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1614146
Brimble, M. (2016). Why Students Cheat: An Exploration of the Motivators of Student Academic Dishonesty in Higher Education. In T. Bretag edited, Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 366–380). Singapore: Springer.
Carmichael, J. J., & Weiss, M. (2019). Digital Warfare: Machine Learning and Contract Cheating. In (pp. 1–19). Manchester: The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).
Clarke, R., & Lancaster, T. (2006). Eliminating the successor to plagiarism? Identifying the usage of contract cheating sites. In proceedings of 2nd international plagiarism conference, (pp. 1–13). Northumbria Learning Press.
Comas-Forgas, R., Sureda-Negre, J., & Morey-López, M. (2021). Spanish contract cheating website marketing through search engine advertisements. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(7), 1035–1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1841091
Coren, A. (2011). Turning a Blind Eye: Faculty Who Ignore Student Cheating. Journal of Academic Ethics, 9(4), 291–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-011-9147-y
Curtis, G. J., & Clare, J. (2017). How prevalent is contract cheating and to what extent are students repeat offenders? Journal of Academic Ethics, 15(2), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-017-9278-x
Dawson, P., & Sutherland-Smith, W. (2018). Can Training Improve Marker Accuracy at Detecting Contract Cheating? A Multi-Disciplinary Pre-Post Study. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 715–725. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1531109
Draper, M., & Newton, P. (2017). A Legal Approach to Tackling Contract Cheating? International Journal of Educational Integrity, 13(11), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40970-017-022-5
Ellis, C., van Haeringen, K., Harper, R., Bretag, T., Zucker, I., McBride, S., Rozenberg, P., Newton, P., & Saddiqui, S. (2020). Does authentic assessment assure academic integrity? Evidence from contract cheating data. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(3), 454–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1680956
European Commission. (2021). AI Act. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021PC0206
Foltýnek, T., & Králíková, V. (2018). Analysis of the contract cheating market in Czechia. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 14(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-018-0027-8
Fyfe, P. (2022). How to cheat on your final paper: Assigning AI for student writing. AI & Society. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01397-z
Gough, A., Spence, D., Linden, M., Halliday, H. L., & McGarvey, L. P. (2012). General and respiratory health outcomes in adult survivors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia: A systematic review. Chest, 141(6), 1554–1567. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.11-1306
Gullifer, J. M., & Tyson, G. A. (2014). Who has read the policy on plagiarism? Unpacking students’ understanding of plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7), 1202–1218. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.777412
Harper, R., Bretag, T., & Rundle, K. (2020). Detecting contract cheating: Examining the role of assessment type. Higher Educ Res Dev, 40(2), 264–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1724899
Harper, R., Bretag, T., Ellis, C., Newton, P. M., Saddiqui, S., Rozenberg, P., & van Haeringen, K. (2019). Contract Cheating: A Survey of Australian University Teaching Staff. Studies in Higher Education, 44(11), 1857–1873. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1462789
Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2018). Contrasting prediction methods for early warning systems at undergraduate level. The Internet and Higher Education, 37(1), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2018.02.001
Jessop, B. (2017). On academic capitalism. Critical Policy Studies, 12(1), 104–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2017.1403342
Khan, Z. R. (2014). Developing a factor-model to understand the impact of factors on higher education students’ likelihood to e-cheat (pp. 1954–2016). Wollongong: UOW Thesis Collection. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4545/
Khan, Z. R., Hemnani, P., Raheja, S., & Joshy, J. (2020). Raising awareness on contract cheating–lessons learned from running campus-wide campaigns. Journal of Academic Ethics, 18(1), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-020-09365-2
Komljenovic, J. (2020). The future of value in digitalised higher education: why data privacy should not be our biggest concern. Higher Education, 1–17.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00639-7
Lancaster, T. (2019). Social media enabled contract cheating. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity, 2(2), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.11575/cpai.v2i2.68053
Lancaster, T. (2020). Commercial contract cheating provision through micro-outsourcing web sites. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 16(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-020-00053-7
Lancaster, T., & Clarke, R. (2016). Contract cheating: the outsourcing of assessed student work. In T. Bretag edited, Handbook of academic integrity (pp. 639–654). Singapore: Springer.
Lines, L. (2016). Ghostwriters guaranteeing grades? The quality of online ghostwriting services available to tertiary students in Australia. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(8), 889–914. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1198759
Lyons, K. (2020). A college student used GPT-3 to write fake blog posts and ended up at the top of Hacker News. The Verge. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/16/21371049/gpt3-hacker-news-ai-blog
Mahmood, Z. (2009). Contract cheating: A new phenomenon in cyber-plagiarism. Communications of the IBIMA, 10(12), 93–97. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=0F083AE3825AFD40858CE606B34602E2?doi=10.1.1.411.4277&rep=rep1&type=pdf
McCambridge, J., Witton, J., & Elbourne, D. R. (2014). Systematic review of the Hawthorne effect: New concepts are needed to study research participation effects. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 67(3), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.08.015
Medway, D., Roper, S., & Gillooly, L. (2018). Contract cheating in UK higher education: A covert investigation of essay mills. British Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 393–418. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3335
Newton, P. (2018). How common is commercial contract cheating in higher education and is it increasing? Frontiers in Education, 3(67), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00067
Newton, P. M., & Lang, C. (2016). Custom Essay Writers, Freelancers, and Other Paid Third Parties. In T. Bretag (Ed.), edited, Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 249–271). Springer.
Page, J. S. (2004). Cyber-pseudepigraphy: A New Challenge for Higher Education Policy and Management. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 26(3), 429–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080042000290267
Petticrew, M., & Roberts, H. (2008). Systematic reviews in the social sciences: A practical guide, systematic reviews in the social sciences: A practical guide. Sociol Health Illness. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470754887
Pitt, P., Dullaghan, K., & Sutherland-Smith, W. (2020). ‘Mess, stress and trauma’: Students’ experiences of formal contract cheating processes. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(4), 659–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1787332
Rigby, D., Burton, M., Balcombe, K., Bateman, I., & Mulatu, A. (2015). Contract Cheating & the Market in Essays. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 111, 23–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.12.019
Rogerson, A. M., & Basanta, G. (2016). Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Academic Integrity in the Internet Age. In T. Bretag (Ed.), edited, Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 273–285). Springer.
Rowland, S., Slade, C., Wong, K. S., & Whiting, B. (2018). ‘Just turn to us’: The persuasive features of contract cheating websites. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(4), 652–665. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1391948
Rundle, K., Curtis, J. G., & Clare, J. (2018). Why students do not engage in contract cheating. Frontiers in Psychology. Retrieved May 23, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02229/full
Shala, S., Hyseni-Spahiu, M., & Selimaj, A. (2020). Addressing contract cheating in Kosovo and international practices. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 16(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-020-00061-7
Singh, S., & Remenyi, D. (2015). Plagiarism and ghostwriting: The rise in academic misconduct. South African Journal of Science, 112(5/6). https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20150300
Stavisky, L. P. (1973). Term paper" mills," academic plagiarism, and state regulation. Political Science Quarterly, 88(3), 445–461.
Tomar, D. A. (2015). The ghostwriting business: trade standards, practices, and secrets. Retrieved May 12, 2019, from http://www.thebestschools.org/resources/ghostwriting-business-trade-standards-practices-secrets
Turnbull, D., Chugh, R., & Luck, J. (2020). Learning management systems: a review of the research methodology literature in Australia and China. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 44(2), 164–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2020.1737002
Walker, M., & Townley, C. (2012). Contract cheating: A new challenge for academic honesty? Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(1), 27–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-012-9150-y
Wang, E. (2020). Turnitin tech talk: Artificial intelligence and machine learning at Turnitin. Turnitin. Retrieved May 23, 2021, from https://www.turnitin.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-at-turnitin
Williamson, B., & Hogan, A. (2020). Commercialisation and privatisation in/of education in the context of Covid-19. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from https://issuu.com/educationinternational/docs/2020_eiresearch_gr_commercialisation_privatisation
Yorke, J., Sefcik, L., & Veeran-Colton, T. (2020). Contract cheating and blackmail: A risky business? Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1730313
Youmans, R. J. (2011). Does the adoption of plagiarism-detection software in higher education reduce plagiarism? Studies in Higher Education, 36(7), 749–761. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.523457
Young, L. (2019). Students against contract cheating: Competition winners. Turnitin. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.turnitin.com/blog/students-against-contract-cheating-winners
Yu, H. (2018). Why college students cheat? A conceptual model of five factors. Review of Higher Education, 41(4), 549–576. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2018.0025
Funding
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Both authors contributed to the study conception and design equally.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 1 Searching strategy for the database ERIC
Appendix 2 Data extraction of included studies
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, Y., Li, W. The Causes and Prevention of Commercial Contract Cheating in the Era of Digital Education: A Systematic & Critical Review. J Acad Ethics 21, 303–321 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-022-09457-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-022-09457-1