Zhai Tianlin`s Ph.D. Graduation ceremony is now a "dream" / source: IC
Recently, Zhai Tianlin, once numerous fans of the high education circle, set up a complete collapse in Zhai Tianlin`s "high achiever" entertainment industry, which continued to occupy the hot search pages of China`s major portals for a few days, and even was retransmitted by many foreign media such as The British Broadcasting Corporation, Global Times.
Being pulled down from the shrine, and even ridiculed by the public as "fake doctor" or even "fake graduate student" Zhai Tianlin, I`m afraid I didn`t think of myself at the beginning, as soon as I posted a postdoctoral admission notice on Weibo, and when I was on live broadcast, I casually said, "know what the net is?" Net friends will be so desperate to let themselves, Beijing Film Academy, Peking University Guanghua School of Management are trapped in the whirlpool of public opinion.
"the repetition rate of 2700-word small essay has been revealed to be as high as 40.4 percent, and no references have been identified," said Masters essay on suspicion of plagiarizing the essay graduated from Chen Kun University. In response, Zhai Tianlin said in an apology issued a few days ago: "the recent discussion over my essay situation on the Internet, let me regret, deep self-remorse."
"there is a road for the path", many students after more than ten years of hard reading in the cold window to exchange for a thin paper diploma; Many, however, pondered the wrong mind and tried to "create a new path"-Zhai Tianlin, just a microcosm of the group.
In fact, in Australia`s Chinese student circle, "essay generation" has become a well-known dirty secret.
1, "cheap and good"? $85 for 1200 words
At an unofficial fb group at the University of Sydney, an alias "Eleanor Rose McCarthy" user kept posting ads on the group about "professional online tutoring for academic writing."
In fact, "Eleanor" is not sold to these potential customers in the high-profile counseling service, but the "gunman" (Ghostwriter) based on the needs of the "essay writing" service created by the needs of the "essay" service. The posts also promise confidentiality, quality and quantity, all of which are "plagiarism-free" (plagiarism free) articles.
Eleanor`s offer is obviously more exciting than the "A $1000 / piece" offer from Sydney-based company MyMaster, which was previously exposed by Fairfax Media:
A 1200-word essay costs only A $85.
In a joint investigation with an Australian media station, Radio JJJ`s < Hack > program tried to send an e-mail to the mysterious user, who signed "Eleanor," asking for details of the purchase.
Soon, a person named "Jessica" responded and asked about the required essay topic, word count, and any specific requirements.
"explain how cloud computing has been change the nature and structure of multinationals over the past decade, and uses two concrete examples to support the argument," he said in an email response, asking for more than 1200 words to answer the following questions.
Just three days later, a 1200-word article was "as promised." The e-mail also includes the company`s bank account number and details of the payment, for a fee of only A $85.
The company is known as "Nexus NetworksLtd" and is registered at the office of the Colchester Industrial Park in north London. Since June 2015, the company`s hotline has been unanswered.
We don`t know if this "extremely cheap" gunman essay, if it were really bought by a foreign student to hand in its homework, would have made it through the eye of the school and the professors.
In fact, "cheap" does not necessarily mean "beauty."
Aussie Financial & Financial News found information about the price tag on the website of an Australian international student, essay Writer, on the website of an Australian international student. On the site, the reference price is even further classified according to the level of academic degree and the quality of submission:
[high school] middle level: $140 per thousand words; good level: $160 per thousand words;
[undergraduate] medium level: $160 per thousand words; good level: $180 per thousand words;
[master`s degree] medium level: $180 per thousand words; good level: $200 per thousand words;
[doctor] medium level: $200 per thousand words; good level: $280 per thousand words.
Website information also pointed out that essay majors are not limited, if the number of words written within 3000 words, the guaranteed delivery period is only 3-5 days.
In fact, the examples on the site cover business, market, history, law, pedagogy, statistical thermodynamics, There are even philosophy and all kinds of academic degree., "Australian Financial News." Random opening of a philosophical essay segment entitled "Black White Community":
“Although not completely understood by the main protagonist the grandfather had imparted a rather sphinx like riddle of an advice that although appeared to be that of subjection was actually a means of survival. By urging his grandson to say yes he in not urging him to bow down to the white man but rather assert himself. ”
Looking at it, I didn`t bother to correct it (interested readers can change it in their comments) because it was so long and dry, grammar and spelling mistakes, and flawed words. On such a poor level of article, or by the major "writing agency" resources sharing.
In fact, in addition to the company that wrote essay for Australian students, I found the same text on the website of a British company. Even spelling and grammar errors are copied and pasted-but the charge is clearly more affordable: "from £28 a thousand words."
In a conversation with another US-based agency, essay, customer service said "the more words you give, the more discounts you can give, and the 10, 000-word graduate student will charge about $1, 000-1500 for opening questions."
After my hesitation over whether to pay in Australian dollars, the customer service reassured me that "We can accept Paypal payments". After giving her general proposition direction and document format, she quickly placed an order for me, detailing "number", "course major", "submission date", "task volume", and "supplementary requirements".
She added that within half an hour it would be possible to identify the writer who met my requirements, as well as the specific offer from the other party.
In fact, the customer service replied to me in just 11 minutes: "there is a teacher at Bristow University in the United Kingdom who can take orders for 1300 USDs, or 1829 Australian dollars, with an extra 9.8% discount for RMB payments."
She added, "essay can be delivered in advance and modified to a reasonable extent free of charge until satisfied." After completion, free turnitin inspection and re-testing can also guarantee the original right. "
To reassure me, customer service also provided screenshots of other business in the company`s order-taking system, saying that the vast majority of the company`s business came from backers.
Screenshots of the internal system provided by the agency`s customer service
"for new users, you can apply for a 60 percent fee," the customer service added. "when the writer completes all the text, the screenshot can provide inspection and then pay the balance."
And these multitudinous essay writing agencies are just one of the tiny screws in the entire gray industry chain.
2. Revealing the Grey Industry chain of Australia`s "essay Generation"
How much money does the agency make?
As a result of the gray corner of the society, the entire generation market income can not be accurately measured. But we may be able to learn a little from the figures given by several companies.
An international essay writer, which declined to name it, said it had provided hundreds of essay articles to Australian college students, including three Ph.D. Essay, which earned more than A $ five hundred and eighteen thousand nine hundred and ninety nine a year in 2014 alone.
ACAD Write, a tailor-made essay writing service for graduate students, says its annual turnover is as high as A $2.7 million.
According to the Australian newspaper, ACAD Write sold 40 doctorate essay worldwide in 2014, including 3 doctorate essay, 14 master`s essay and 23 undergraduate essay for Australian students, as well as some semesters of essay, essay and homework and so on.
ACAD Write received five-star reviews (though dubious) based on 160 evaluations on Trustpilot / source: Trustpilot
The company`s statement, while acknowledging that writing is "morally problematic", also stresses that it is not illegal.
In the e-mail, the company, speaker, has emphasized that these are only a reference, and they will have the customer sign the agreed "will not be submitted in its own name" prior to the presentation. While knowing that the client has received the article, it is highly likely that it will be given to the school by the name of his own name, the sparemaker`s voice, the "But it`s not part of what we should care about.".
ACAD Write likens himself to being a weapons manufacturer, and "arms makers should not be held responsible for how arms buyers use these tools."
In fact, the international student "essay generation" market, which often walks on the edge of law, has developed and matured.
Today, the vast majority of essay writing business processes on the market have a model similar to this: customers find intermediary companies through various channels to receive customer service and organize order information to the intermediary company system. Match relevant professional writers to audit specific requirements and quote customer service to convey specific quotation information to customers.
And this mysterious grey industry chain is nothing more than three main links: customers, intermediary agencies, acting as a knife writer, there may be some purchasing agencies in the promotion of the so-called third-party "quality control gatekeeper", as well as other marginal links.?
client
In fact, in the early years, many of the first overseas essay writing companies started with unregulated overseas study intermediary services, and faced with some "academic difficulties" and were willing to give heavy money to Chinese students. The agencies turned themselves into agents for writing services, introducing the students to gunman and earning a commission difference.
Today, the main ways that writing agents can attract customers are as follows:
"search Advertising": buy Google`s bid rankings and ads, when users enter "essay write" and other related keywords appear on the home page priority.
Word-of-mouth Marketing: "word-of-mouth marketing": in the circle of colleges and universities have purchased a generation of writing services or the intended purchase of the group of students from the word of mouth, so as to achieve the old customers to drive new customers.
"Development agent": recruit their own "sales representatives" in various colleges and universities, every transaction on the basis of a certain price commission, social app groups in major colleges and universities like cow-skin moss like to get rid of the dirty essay generation of small advertising is from this;
Location push: accurate marketing based on traces on each user`s network. For example, students who play Weibo may have similar experiences-just because they mention keywords such as "homework", "essay", "paper" and "assignment" when posted, they will be followed by an intermediary or even sent a private letter to harassment.
In such an extreme marketing strategy, the "essay generation" advertising message can be described as pervasive in the college circle, and coveted to watch every moment when foreign students may have been weak-willed by essay.
intermediary organ
Although the writers in the organization may come from all over the world, the agencies currently serving Chinese students in Australia can still be divided into two types: overseas and domestic, depending on where the company is located.
Some generation companies may even use native English-speaking Westerners to improve their credibility, although the gunman behind them may still come mostly from China or another "populous country", India.
In addition, according to "direct contact with customers", intermediary agencies can be divided into: direct contact with buyers and writers, and direct access to the intermediary resources, acting as the "broker" of the secondary intermediary.
There is no doubt that the emergence of secondary intermediary is "the necessity of historical development".
Because of the opacity of information, the volume of business between intermediaries is unstable.
When foreign college students face the peak of test homework submission, overseas writing agencies may not be busy because of the writers` self-care, then these institutions have a lot of unclaimed lists; And when domestic writers are busy with public examinations, CPA and other national exams, domestic institutions will also need "help from overseas."
The task of sub-intermediaries is to adjust the number of tasks between intermediaries to ensure that "every client has a paper to receive and every writer has a single access".
Write
This group of writers can also be broken down: junior writers in charge of codewords, and senior editors responsible for reviewing and retouching. In fact, all are the same kind of people. Senior editors, most of whom are rich in writing experience and highly rated, have been promoted.
Editors of a generation of writers have revealed that their profit share is basically "30% for writers, 30% for editors and 40% for organizations"-notably, this is the removal of "sales." "customer service" such as fixed salary after the cost of profit distribution.
But as a result of cost savings, many companies are not actually equipped with Proofreading (embellishment) editors, at best using the syntax error-checking software Grammarly to check the low-level errors automatically.
After writing the article by hand, the Turnitin system will be used to check and submit the results, which is equivalent to the Australian version of the China knowledge Web. It basically covers seven hundred and thirty three million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine student essay and 62 billion web pages.
Introduction / Source using Turnitin: University of West Sydney School Network
In fact, in recent years there has been a rumor in the "anecdotal" that some generation organizations have even developed a "hacker-level" subsidiary business, which specifically hacks up essay records in Turnitin and then offers them for sale to new customers. So constantly circulating back and forth.
Who are the writers on earth?
On the introduction website page of a writing agency, the message that "all the writers of this organization come from foreign famous schools or 985 school graduate students or above education, English level of at least 7. 5 points above IELTS" is marked on the page of the introduction website.
Despite IELTS 7. 5`s English proficiency, after reading the philosophical essay I cited earlier entitled "the Black White Community", the real sexy of this condition has become deeply doubtful.
In fact, it can be said that the majority of the key factors that determine whether the customer finally receives the article`s pros and cons, such as HD or D, or even pass, lies in the professional quality of the writer. And whether or not to leave the heart for this article.
Although agents always stress before sending out orders, essay must be in advance of the deadline and give the customer a certain amount of time to feed back. It is also convenient for writers and editors to make some "reasonable range" changes. In addition, it is also promised that if handed over to the essay division, it can be refunded in full.
The ideal is very plump, the reality is very bone-felt.
Cindy, a Chinese girl who has bought essay for many times, once said that she had bought essay to hand in the two subjects because she was in a hurry and did not have time to do her homework, and she still regretted the fact that she was in a hurry and did not have the time to do her homework.
"But the article I bought for the first time had given me a high score of HD.", she said, once trusted the essay to write the company so that it was not carefully examined at the time that the article was purchased, and it was delivered to the school`s teacher, "I didn`t expect the two of them to be Fail, and it was just thirty minutes, and it was far from the grid.".
Chris, a Chinese boy who used to be a writer in school, told Aussie Finance: "gunman is really a conscientious occupation. It`s too much trouble to really write an article. It takes at least three or five days to read the material and conceive of writing in one or two thousand words` homework. " He added, "it`s relatively easy to work with similar majors. It`s just like taking off a layer of skin and learning a academic degree again. It`s just too tired to finish a cross-professional assignment."
When I asked why he didn`t continue his career, Chris smiled helplessly. "I was so busy with other people`s homework, I didn`t have time to do my homework, and I hung up." It`s not worth it. "
3, why are the prohibitions repeated? A buyer`s Market that cannot be ignored
In 2015, SMH reported an academic scandal that shocked Australia.
Two Chinese students were deported in connection with the cheating scandal at an online essay writing company, while another 70 students faced severe penalties, including dismissal, from five of New South Wales`s most prestigious universities.
According to a 2014 survey, according to Fairfax Media, as many as 1000 students from 16 Australian universities applied to MyMaster, a essay-based writing service company, to buy alternative essay services.
There are parts of Australian colleges and universities where student application services are available and number of applications / icon: Conrad Walters; data source: Mymaste
In fact, data from these users applying to write on behalf of the service are stored in an unsafe manner on the now disbanded My Master website, which includes purchase operations, bank receipts showing proof of payment, and information on certain suspicious names and school numbers. The site is written in Chinese and has been widely marketed to international students studying at the University of New South Wales.
MyMaster reported turnover of more than A $ one hundred and sixty thousand in 2014, while some of its students paid up to A $1000 a post, according to Fairfax.
Behind the prosperous market, there must be "vigorous development" of user demand.
In a report, < The Atlantic > explores the myth that "Why are these high-skilled students studying abroad unwilling to write their own essay"?
"some people may be because of the urgency of time, or because of the fetters of other business."
With the rising cost of studying in Australia, more and more college students need to find part-time or even full-time jobs to support their lives. Other students need to balance and weigh between school and family responsibilities, as well as relationships and marriage relationships. The time-saving and labor-saving essay writing service has undoubtedly solved many problems for them.
More troubling, however, some students may even question the significance of writing essay.
This question may not be new to us:
We spend a lot of time at school writing a well-formed essay, but how many jobs in the modern world will require this near-old form of writing?
When you click a button on the Internet to get tens of thousands of relevant information, what`s the point of "doing research"?
Some people even begin to wonder if the entire university education is really helpful to our lives.
This is the real problem.
Like a secret inside and outside the circle, in fact, many celebrity memoirs are written by gunman. Even many famous "original" singer artists, even the lyrics are written by someone.
At the same time, higher education has been transformed into an industry, that is, the sale of goods and services.
The ancient Chinese thought advocated that "all things are inferior, only reading high" has become a long time ago, and education has gradually become a commodity that can be exchanged as an equivalent value.
But while these students outsource essay to writing agencies, they are also belittling their pursuit of academic degree and courses.
They deceived their teachers because they gave specific comments according to the students` essay; they also deceived their classmates because, after all, the vast majority of them devoted the necessary time and energy to achieve their real results.
But more importantly, they deceived themselves.
In fact, they are doing deprive`s own opportunities to learn and think, such as-"what new insights and ideas can I get in the process of writing this article?"
Instead of "don`t know if the essay you wrote this time will pass?", "is it worth the 1000 yuan you spent last time?"
END
In 1932, Hu Shi, then president of Peking University, delivered a speech at the graduation ceremony of Peking University:
There is a saying in the Buddhist scripture: "Blessed or not donated by Tang Dynasty." Tang`s donation was lost in vain.
We should also say, "No contributions!" No effort will be lost for nothing. When we can`t see, when we can`t see the direction, you see! Your seeds have already taken root and blossoms!
Friends, when you are most pessimistic and disappointed, it is time for you to build strong confidence.
You have to be convinced that there is no wasted effort in the world.
Success does not have to be in me, and the strength will not be donating.
Share with the king.
