Draft:Academic ghostwriting

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Academic ghostwriting or contract cheating is a form of academic fraud, involving hiring someone to write homework assignments on behalf of a student, so that the student can turn it in for higher grades. This practice is forbidden by nearly every educational institution, for obvious reasons of academic dishonesty. Some could argue that academic ghostwriting creates social injustice, by fraudulently - and, in some cases, illegally - increasing the grades (and, therefore, college and job opportunities) for those who can pay, without actually educating them.

Legal issues

In the case State of New York v. Saksniit, an academic ghostwriting business was legally required to stop doing business in New York due to violations of New York law. This was under New York law stating "No person shall buy, sell or fraudulently or illegally make or alter, give, issue or obtain or attempt to obtain by fraudulent means any diploma, certificate or other instrument purporting to confer any literary, scientific, professional or other degree, or to constitute any license, or a duplicate thereof, or any certificate of registration, or to certify to the completion in whole or in part of any course of study in any university, college, academy or other educational institution." Given that fraudulently obtaining a diploma or certificate has been ruled to also include academic ghostwriting, this could put many other academic ghostwriting businesses, maybe even in jurisdictions beyond New York, in a legal gray area.

California Education Code Section 66400 also states that "No person shall prepare, offer to prepare, cause to be prepared, sell, or otherwise distribute any term paper, thesis, dissertation, or other written material for another person, for a fee or other compensation, with the knowledge, or under circumstances in which he should reasonably have known, that such term paper, thesis, dissertation, or other written material is to be submitted by any other person for academic credit at any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher learning in this state."

The 2011 Florida Statutes Section 877.17 makes it a 2nd degree misdemeanor to "sell, offer to sell, or advertise for sale any term paper, thesis, dissertation, essay, or report or any written, recorded, pictorial, artistic, or other assignment which the seller or advertiser knew or reasonably should have known was intended for submission by a student, unaltered to any substantial degree, in fulfillment of the requirements for a degree, diploma, certificate, or course of study at a university, college, academy, school, or other educational institution in the state." A 2nd degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to sixty days in jail or a fine of, at most, $500 in Florida.

See also

• Plagiarism