Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Doctoral Writing Markets: Exploring the Grey Zone

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Academic Integrity

Abstract

The growing diversity of the doctoral research student population is placing increasing pressure, both material and pedagogical, on institutional resources to support student writing. At the same time, expectations for doctoral students to produce numerous written outputs that demonstrate advanced competence in academic English throughout candidature place them under increasing pressure. This confluence of factors has been paralleled by a growth in the provision of noninstitutionally based writing support services specifically aimed at doctoral students to help them with their writing. Many of these services are offered online; operating transnationally they are largely unmonitored – influencing and impacting doctoral writing practices in unknown and often unacknowledged ways. This chapter reports on an analysis of 158 online writing support provider sites and data from follow-up interviews and surveys. The study shows the existence of numerous “quasi markets” with suppliers ranging from reputable editing and writer development services to a large number of suspect “doctoral writing support services” offering more questionable services. It confirms that little is known about the individuals offering and taking up these services. It also confirms that there is considerable fuzziness in regard to the ethical and educational legitimacy of accessing external help for writing the doctoral thesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aitchison, C. (2014). Learning from multiple voices: Feedback and authority in doctoral writing groups. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., & Guerin, C. (Eds.). (2014). Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., & Lee, A. (2006). Research writing: Problems and pedagogies. Teaching in Higher Education, 11(3), 265–278. d07294360.2014.911257/13562510600680574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., Lee, A., & Kamler, B. (2010). Publishing pedagogies for the doctorate and beyond. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., & Mowbray, S. (2013). Doctoral women: Managing emotions, managing doctoral studies. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(8), 859–870. d07294360.2014.911257/13562517.2013.827642.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, C., & Paré, A. (2012). Writing as craft and practice in the doctoral curriculum. In A. Lee & S. Danby (Eds.), Reshaping doctoral education. International approaches and pedagogies (pp. 12–25). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnacle, R., & Dall’Alba, G. (2013). Beyond skills: Embodying writerly practices through the doctorate. Studies in Higher Education. d07294360.2014.911257/03075079.2013.777405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D., & Lee, A. (2009). Changing practices of doctoral education. Abingdon/Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J. (2007). A handbook for deterring plagiarism in higher education (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford Brookes University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, D. W., & Lindner, S. (2014). Degrees of integrity: The threat of corruption in higher education. Studies in Higher Education. d07294360.2014.911257/03075079.2014.927854.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R., & Lancaster, T. (2006). Eliminating the successor to plagiarism? Identifying the usage of contract cheating sites. Proceedings of 2nd International Plagiarism Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clegg, S., & Flint, A. (2006). More heat than light: Plagiarism in its appearing. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(3), 373–387. d07294360.2014.911257/01425690600750585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotterall, S. (2011). Doctoral students writing: Where’s the pedagogy? Teaching in Higher Education, 16(4), 413–425. d07294360.2014.911257/13562517.2011.560381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crossling, G. (2012). Issues and strategies for student engagement through assessment in transnational higher education. In L. Clouder, C. Broughan, S. Jewell, & G. Steventon (Eds.), Improving student engagement and development through assessment: Theory and practice in higher education (pp. 196–209). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang, F., & Casadevall, A. (2011). Retracted science and the retraction index. Infection and Immunity, 79, 3855–3859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forster, P. (2005). Stopping the cheats Part ii. A survey of assessment behaviour in French business schools. Le Havre: Ecole de Management de Normandie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, B. (2005). Unfinished business: Subjectivity and supervision. Higher Education Research and Development, 24(2), 151–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruzd, A., Staves, K., & Wilk, A. (2012). Connected scholars: Examining the role of social media in research practices of faculty using the UTAUT model. Computers in Human Behaviour, 28, 2340–2350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. (2011). Social media lure academics frustrated by traditional publishing. The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Social-Media-Lure-Academics/126426/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en. Accessed 28 Jan 2014.

  • James, B. (2013). Researching student becoming in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(1), 109–121. d07294360.2014.911257/07294360.2012.751089.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., & Freeman, A. (2014). MNC horizon report: 2014 higher education edition. Austin: The New Media Consortium.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamler, B., & Thomson, P. (2014). Helping doctoral students write: Pedagogies for supervision (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutz, E., Rhodes, W., Sutherland, S., & Zamel, V. (2011). Addressing plagiarism in a digital age. Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, 9(3), 15–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, A., & Danby, S. (Eds.). (2012). Reshaping doctoral education: International approaches and pedagogies. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macfarlane, B., Zhang, J., & Pun, A. (2014). Academic integrity: A review of the literature. Studies in Higher Education, 39(2), 339–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLeod, I., Steckley, L., & Murray, R. (2011). Time is not enough: Promoting strategic engagement with writing for publication. Studies in Higher Education, 1–14. d07294360.2014.911257/03075079.2010.527934

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, B. C., Anderson, M. S., Crain, A. L., & De Vries, R. (2006). Scientists’ perceptions of organizational justice and self-reported misbehaviours. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 1(1), 51–66. doi:10.1525/jer.2006.1.1.51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, D. (2013). Essay mills: University course work to order. Times Higher Education. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/essay-mills-university-course-work-to-order/2007934.article. Accessed 28 Jan 2014.

  • McGrail, M., Rickard, C., & Jones, R. (2006). Publish or perish: A systematic review of interventions to increase academic publication rates. Higher Education Research and Development, 25(1), 19–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meagher, G., & Goodwin, S. (Eds.). (2015). Markets, rights and power in Australian Social Policy. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, H. (2014). Campus cheaters hire customer essay writers to avoid detection. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/campus-cheaters-hire-custom-essay-writers-to-avoid-detection-1.2551409. Accessed 27 Jan 2014.

  • Newton, F., Wright, J., & Newton, J. (2014). Skills training to avoid inadvertent plagiarism: Results from a randomised control study. Higher Education Research & Development. doi:10.1080/07294360.2014.911257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas, D., & Rowlands, I. (2011). Social media use in the research workflow. Information Services and Use, 31(1–2), 61–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osipian, A. L. (2012). Economics of corruption in doctoral education: The dissertations market. Economics of Education Review, 31, 76–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, J. (2004). Cyber-pseudepigraphy: A new challenge for higher education policy and management. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 26(3), 429–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paré, A. (2014). Writing together for many reasons: Theoretical and historical perspectives. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plagiarism: The Ctrl + V, Ctrl + C boom (2011). BBC News Magazine Online. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12613617

  • Ponte, D., & Simon, J. (2011). Scholarly communication 2.0: Exploring researchers’ opinions on Web 2.0 for scientific knowledge creation, evaluation, and dissemination. Serials Review, 37(3), 149–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, J., & Tobin, L. (2007). Their dark materials: Oxbridge essays is a company that claims to have over 600 academics and students writing essays for sale. Who are they? The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/apr/03/highereducation.students. Accessed 29 Jan 2014.

  • Starke-Meyerring, D., Paré, A., Sun, K. Y., & El-Bezre, N. (2014). Probing normalized institutional discourses about writing: The case of the doctoral thesis. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 8(2), 13–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tenopir, C., Volentine, R., & King, D. W. (2013). Social media and scholarly reading. Online Information Review, 37(2), 193–216. doi:10.1108/OIR-04-2012-0062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, P., & Kamler, B. (2013). Writing for peer reviewed journals: Strategies for getting published. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomar, D. (2012). The shadow scholar; how I made a living helping college kids cheat. London: Bloomsbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, S. (2013). Bribe and cheat to get a doctoral degree in Germany? In G. Sweeney, K. Despota, & S. Lindner (Eds.), Global Corruption Report: Education, Transparency International (pp. 178–185). Abingdon: Earthscan by Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Western Sydney University, College Dr Great Western Highway, 2753, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Claire Aitchison

  2. Learning and Teaching Unit, Western Sydney University, 2751, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Susan Mowbray

Authors
  1. Claire Aitchison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Susan Mowbray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire Aitchison .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Australia, School of Management, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Tracey Bretag

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this entry

Cite this entry

Aitchison, C., Mowbray, S. (2016). Doctoral Writing Markets: Exploring the Grey Zone. In: Bretag, T. (eds) Handbook of Academic Integrity. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_39

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation