Buy an essay services, also known as essay mills or contract cheating, are becoming increasingly accessible worldwide, using predatory tactics to exploit stressed and struggling students at their moment of need. But as students, instructors, and administrators become increasingly aware of misconduct trends in the digital age, essay mills are adapting their strategies to reach more students and using generative AI to fuel demand.
We explore strategies to move beyond these challenges by leveraging the power of transparency, shining a light on how essay mills operate, the techniques they use to specifically target vulnerable students with the goal of creating a cycle of dependency. We also examine how this practice is being adopted in the workplace, potentially impacting the credibility of published research, which not only undermines an individual’s integrity but that of trust in the wider profession.
What is contract cheating?
Contract cheating involves engaging or employing a third-party provider to create original academic work, which students submit as their own.
What are students actually buying when they instruct an essay mill?
When students instruct an essay mill, they are buying pre-written papers to submit as their own work, a practice commonly referred to as ghostwriting. If they are caught, the consequences for students can include:
- Loss of academic integrity: Contract cheating is a serious violation of academic principles and can lead to consequences like lowered grades or even expulsion. It can also adversely affect the reputation of the individual and the institution, both in the short and long term.
- A false economy of learning: By relying on essay mills, students can miss out on crucial opportunities to develop their writing skills and critical thinking abilities.
How is GenAI feeding demand for essay mill services?
The rise of generative AI tools has introduced a new dimension to contract cheating. While many commentators predicted that AI would disrupt demand for essay mills and even spell the end of their business model, it has instead enabled these companies to become more sophisticated in their approach.
Essay mills are using AI technology to scale their operations and attract more customers, promoting their services as a way to “humanize” AI-generated text. These AI-to-human-rewriter services receive AI-written content from paying individuals and then edit it—promising essays that are polished, personalized, and able to bypass plagiarism or AI-detection tools. Meanwhile, AI helps them generate vast amounts of content quickly and advertise cheaper, faster turnaround times.
Educator opinion
According to UK academic and expert on contract cheating, Thomas Lancaster: “Some students have moved to using genAI systems like ChatGPT in place of contracting to an essay mill. I’ve also heard that there is a market now for students who use genAI to create a first draft, but then hire a writer to check the content and to rewrite it so that it is not detected as AI-generated.”
By selling the idea that they can make generative AI content undetectable, essay mills exploit students’ fear of being caught for excessive or unauthorized AI use and present themselves as a safer alternative to using AI alone.
What are the tools and techniques essay mills use to appear more credible?
These businesses position themselves as saviors, promising timely, professional assistance to those struggling with academic demands. Cloaked in supportive language, they advertise themselves as “writing assistance services” or sources of “free essay samples.” They claim to provide “thousands and thousands of free papers” which students can use “as the foundation of (their) own piece” and offer to “enhance” existing AI output to ensure it’s submission-ready.
They strategically use positive language in order to normalize the use of essay mills as a tenable writing resource. For example:
“Practical uses of this unique website include spotting new topics and content presentation ideas, creating an outline for your paper based on proper samples, and discovering new sources for your work in relevant samples. Kudos to the company for building a resource where students can find the best writing examples to learn from without violating any point in the academic integrity code.”
A stressed student may feel validated in buying an essay by the empathetic tone, believing they are purchasing a legitimate resource rather than engaging in misconduct.
In addition, to make their operations appear legitimate, essay mills craft experiences that feel professional and personalized. From reassuring phone calls to discreet billing practices, these companies seek to build trust with their customers.
As Daphne Taras, Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, discovered during her exploration of essay mills, students are often convinced by these tactics. Taras was even contacted directly by a representative who assured her of the service’s reliability.
Some essay mills go so far as to display the logos of prestigious universities on their websites, falsely implying partnerships with these institutions. This misleading strategy fosters a sense of legitimacy, enticing students to buy an essay under the assumption that it is an accepted practice among their peers.
While essay mills claim their offerings are tools for improvement, they undermine authentic learning and erode the principles of academic integrity. Students who buy an essay outright often remain unaware of the full consequences of their actions. And as they experiment with using AI responsibly in their work, essay mills’ AI humanizer services can further blur the line between legitimate support and academic misconduct in the eyes of students.
How do essay mills exploit students’ vulnerability?
Essay mills thrive by embedding themselves in the spaces where students congregate, especially online. These companies pay for advertisements on social media and local sites, often targeting students with strategically timed messages. For example, during the middle and end of academic terms—times when stress peaks—students are bombarded with countdown clocks and discounts urging them to buy an essay before deadlines hit.
Research also reveals the sophisticated use of automated tools to generate subject-specific leads on platforms like Twitter. Combined with paid sponsorships and partnerships with influencers, such tactics amplify the reach of essay mills. A recent BBC investigation exposed prominent YouTubers encouraging their audiences to purchase essays, further normalizing the practice. Additionally, essay mills often create interconnected networks of websites, giving students the illusion of choice while funnelling them back to the same core business.
How do essay mills create a cycle of dependency
Once a student has made a purchase, essay mills work tirelessly to secure repeat business. With a student’s contact information in hand, these companies follow up at critical moments during the academic calendar. Through discount offers, colorful graphics, and light-hearted messaging, they entice students to return for additional essays. This persistence often creates a cycle of dependency, where students repeatedly turn to essay mills instead of building their own skills.
This highlights the need for effective methods of detection. Students who are not caught when they submit a ghost-written essay as their own work, may feel a sense of legitimacy in what they are doing.
What is the broader impact of essay mills?
The cliché “Publish or perish” within academia still holds true for many around the world. When it comes to seeking a promotion, increasing an institution’s reputation, or in some extreme cases, merely keeping a position, the pressure to publish is often so great, support may be sought outside the norm.
Dr Anna Abalkina, who focuses on academic fraud at the Free University of Berlin, has observed an increase in essay mill usage at the publishing level, saying she “believed the trade in ghostwritten journal papers was growing rapidly as scholars seeking publication by nefarious means turned away from low-quality predatory journals and towards businesses that guaranteed them publication in recognized outlets.”
Instead of merely writing a paper for a high price, these ghost-writing companies now offer a “co-authorship” opportunity for those in need of a byline on a published journal. In short, they’re paying to become a co-author of a manuscript that is already accepted for publication by a journal.
To put this in a financial context, the papers for sale are known to utilize plagiarized materials from foreign language PhD theses or from trade journals, then translated into English, costing upwards of €5,000 ($5,718) for a first authorship in a reputable journal.
Essay mills also attempt to position themselves as integrity-focused organizations by marketing “plagiarism-free” services. For example, Spanish-speaking audiences are targeted with claims of free tools such as a plagiarism checker or an AI checker, only to be redirected to paid services for custom-written papers. While these essays may technically avoid plagiarism, they still constitute academic misconduct.
Strategies to support students and combat essay mills
To provide support to struggling students and tackle the evolving threat of essay mills, a multi-faceted approach is required:
- Provide easy access to legitimate resources
- Ensure clear understanding of academic integrity rules, including expectations around AI use
- Cultivate empathetic instructor-student relationships
- Implement feedback loops to improve writing and encourage continuous learning
- Create supportive learning environments
- Educators must work to expose the manipulative tactics of essay mills
- Highlight the true cost of buying an essay and the value of authentic learning
Overview
In high-pressure moments, when students struggle to understand academic subjects, the temptation to just buy an essay can become overwhelming.
Essay mills are a growing market with over 1000 listed in the United Kingdom alone. At their core, they are businesses exploiting the evergreen anxieties of students and professionals alike. While they frame themselves as helpers, their services ultimately undermine academic integrity and devalue both original and critical thinking.
As this industry continues to grow in the AI era, it is imperative for students, educators, and administrators to remain vigilant and to prioritize ethical practices in education. By addressing the root causes of academic misconduct, we can better combat the influence of essay mills and work towards improving student outcomes worldwide.
Discover how Turnitin’s Authorship and AI detection capabilities not only detect academic misconduct but also encourage original work: