by Sarah Michelson

Created on: June 06, 2009

So you've got that paper due, next week. And you're really, really busy. Or maybe its your college apps, and you just can't write all those essays. Or that thesis, the one you've got to write to get your degree? You really just don't have the time. After all, you're working full time, to pay your tuition, or you've got a ton of coursework, or there's that party you really want to go to. So what do you do?

Many companies and people now offer the service of "academic ghostwriting." Like normal ghostwriting, somebody else writes or completes the assignment, you pay them, you use it as your work. Tah-dah! Books, papers, articles - just about everything can be done with ghostwriting. And now assignments can as well. Some of these paper mills sell pre-written papers, while others construct them based on your notes or outlines. And its not really cheating, is it? You're paying them, right? But is it still dishonest?

While general ghostwriting is generally considered somewhat acceptable, there is a difference with academic ghostwriting. Generally, we assume that the person whose name is on the cover did it. However, there is some degree of scepticism. For example, in order for Carolyn Keene to have written all of the Nancy Drew books, she would have had to live to be 93, provided that she started writing when she was twenty and wrote the first manuscript the year it was published. It is fairly common knowledge that Keene did not write all 175 of the Nancy Drew mysteries. To a certain extent, it is reputable, even reasonable, for some books to be ghostwritten. There is legitimate reasoning; a would be author, with good information or ideas, is unlikely to be published if they are a bad writer. In order to get their ideas read, they need to find a writer to do it. But they're their ideas. Sometimes, ghostwriters are noted as co-authors or contributors; others, not at all.

In academic work, however, there is a significant difference. Your professors are reading for your writing ability; taking someone else's writing is the equivalent of sitting next to them and writing down the answers from their exam. If you are being evaluated on something, the evaluation is of your performance, not of your ability to fork out a wad of cash for a professionally written essay. Perhaps, however, you justify this to yourself, saying that the evaluation isn't of your writing ability, its of the ideas you're presenting. Even if the ghostwriter is writing off of your outline, however, the ideas are presented with that writers interpretation; they are no longer just yours, though your name is the only one on the top. When claiming someone else's work as your own, there is no room for honesty.

Additionally, academic ghostwriting can have serious consequences. After all, taking someone else's words without crediting them is plagiarism. If you are using a program with pre-written papers, there's a chance that your professor has already seen it; a classmate could be using the same service as you. Additionally, a database called "Turn it in" allows teachers to search for duplicates of your paper, revealing potential cheaters. Plagiarism has serious consequences; though in high schools, students may only get a slap on the hand, colleges are likely to expel students caught cheating.

You may not ever get caught, using academic ghostwriting. You may get an A, you may pass your class, you may get your diploma. However, academic ghostwriting is not the honest thing to do.

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