Showing posts with label how do you write a good essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how do you write a good essay. Show all posts

15 August 2013

Is Using an Essay writing Service Ethical?



Many students often rely on custom essay-writing services to get their paper or essay written within the specified deadline. They choose this option for many different reasons – they may not have sufficient time to research or lack the knowledge to write a compelling essay. Whatever the reason, these essay-writing services are increasingly popular.

However, it is important to point out that there are also certain ethical issues associated with the idea of using these writing services. In almost every educational institution in the United States, using these services is considered a form of cheating. There is another viewpoint as well – some people think cheating is wrong only if it affects other people. In case of essay writing services, a student gets better grades for their essays and the school itself enjoys better reputation; therefore, you cannot say the idea is wrong or harmful. Professor Richard Gunderman in his article for The Atlantic magazine said that: "These services have names such as College-paper.org, and Essayontime.comBestessays.com claims that "70% of Students use Essay Writing service at least once [sic]" and boasts that all its writers have M.A. and Ph.D. degrees."


Are there instances when using these services is harmful?

By digging deeper, you will realize that there could be a few situations when using essay-writing services may affect others in a negative way. For instance, if your school asks you to write an essay and grades you on a curve, then it may affect hardworking students, as their work may not be as
impressive as the one submitted by the student who has asked a professional to write him/her an essay.

Similarly, there is another instance when using an essay writing service is not good for others. For instance, a student who has not invested any time and effort in writing an essay and still secures good grades for submitting a professional written essay, he/she will cheapen all the hard work done by those students who didn't use an essay writing service. Moreover, if it is found that students in any particular institution cheat a lot, it will affect its reputation and, at the same time, will also make things difficult for those who have worked hard to get their degrees.
Photo: Stockvault

The Existence of Essay Writing Services

Interestingly, many people doubt the existence of essay writing services. It is due to this particular reason that you cannot talk much about the ethical side of essay writing services when many people don't take it as a problem. It is quite the same as it was witnessed during the Great Leap forwards in China.

 During this period, millions were dying and people were worried about the seriousness of the problem. On the other hand, there were political leaders who were completely unaware of the severity of the issue. You can see the same thing happening with the essay writing services, as many people are bent on discussing the ethical and moral aspects of these services but many others are reluctant to take it as a problem.

Essay Writing Services are Ubiquitous

The biggest problem many ethical people have to deal with is that they cannot do anything about these essay-writing companies, and that's mainly because they are present everywhere in the world. That's the reason why it is hard to take a stance on a problem that is not just an American problem.

In fact, most of the companies serving people in the United States are based in a foreign country. This raises another question: will these services be unethical if the money stays in the country? Some believe that no one in the United States would consider it a problem if these companies pay taxes to the American government on the money they make. It is true that you are not doing anything illegal to buy or sell essays, which is why many people don't take it as a problem at all.

These people also have other concerns about using these essay-writing services. For instance:

·      One common concern is that you shouldn't be using these services because you will never know anything about the writer – there are good, bad, and average writers, and the money a company asks for doesn't tell anything about the quality of the writer. 

·      Another ethical aspect of the problem is that many companies ask you to pay a lot of money, but the price is usually not relative to quality – you often get substandard work.

·      Almost everyone is aware of the fact that no one can stop them from using these writing services, but if they get caught, they will face serious consequences – you may be rusticated from your school and have your credits stripped from you. 

·      These writing services can affect the grading curve, which will ultimately be devastating for good students who will fail to find a place in their preferred colleges. 

·      Yet another nasty object is that most of these essay-writing companies are unregulated, they may be offering third world and Middle Eastern terrorists a way to make money. It may be a concern, but you can overcome the issue by getting to know the company you're buying from. 

·      Another unethical thing associated with the problem is that the whole idea is quite useful for richer students. Considering the price these companies charge, not every student can use their services, which is why a rich but an average student can get good grades. 

·      One important ethical problem is that many people use an education visa to come to America and then involve in illegal activities. They purchase essays from online essay-writing companies to stay in the college.

The fact of the matter is that there sure are several ethical aspects of the problem, but it doesn't mean you cannot use it for ethically sound reasons. If a student falls ill for a few weeks and the deadline for submitting an essay is fast approaching, asking a professional company to write an essay would be the best bet. What it means is that it is hard to make any concrete decision – it basically depends on how and why a student contacts these essay-writing companies.

Korah Morrison, UCLA student, owner of Blogoloola blog.

30 May 2013

Essential Tools Every Student Writer Should Know and Have


         Being a writer is a difficult job, especially when you rely on your skills for a living. You must be able to convey your ideas and make sure to relate to them in a manner that readers can understand. At the same time, you also have to ensure that what you write is believable and based on facts and information. Otherwise, you will lose your credibility and no one would want to read your work.

            Fortunately, there are a lot of tools which writers can use. Although everything else still depends on your ideas and own style, these aids can help you make a quality output and assists in improving your work by making sure that the content is error free. Hence, here are 10 useful tools an experienced writer should consider looking into.


            With the wide-range of information available on the Internet, it’s no wonder how some people can lift a sentence or two on their papers and make those ideas as their own. In order to prevent being accused of plagiarism, then plagiarism checker Plagtracker is the ultimate tool to check any copyright issues. It has a unique checking algorithm that will immediately inform you if any of the sentences or
paragraphs is similar to other people’s work. Even if you did not copy anything while writing your content, there will be instances that your ideas are already conveyed by the other. Hence, it is better to make use of Plagtracker to make sure that nothing is duplicated. If you want further assistance, a minimal fee is required to purchase the program.


            Google doesn’t want you to keep repeating the same word all throughout your article. To avoid being penalized, then Visual Thesaurus is going to be your new best friend. It gives you the possible choice for every word typed, whether it is a noun or an adjective. To maximize this product, you need to pay for a subscription fee at a minimum price.


            Typing, especially when you’ve been doing it all day, can be exhausting. Luckily, there’s a speech recognition software that allows you to talk and your computer will do the typing for you. Simply say the words and everything else will be translated directly on your computer screen, accurately. Hence, it saves you more time and energy which can help increase your productivity.


            SEO is a very important tool in writing online. If you want to generate the right amount of traffic in your site, then Scribe is essential for you. It follows an online marketing trinity of content, social and search, making sure that all SEO-related areas taken into account by Google will be covered.


            It is an essential add-on that synchronizes all your passwords and bookmarks and at the same time, can be used for searching information, all for free. It will not help your writing career in a big way but it can contribute a lot as it saves you time which you can use to focus on your writing.


            Through this web conferencing service, you are able to talk to your clients in real time while giving you an inexpensive way to share any documents in a secured network. However, it requires a payment of monthly subscription fee, which is still affordable.


            In order to maintain a strong writer-client relationship, then this software should be installed in your computer. Skype is the primary source of communication for most clients since it’s easier and more convenient to use with no fees required. 


            Wridea promotes the idea of collaboration and brainstorming. You simply post an idea and categorize them in pages, ask your friends to give a feedback and encourage discussion and brainstorming among them, to make sure that your ideas get better. If you’re geared towards the creative aspect of writing, then this web service is for you.


            If you have a task that you do most of the time, then MS Word Macros can become handy. It creates a shortcut to a task that you repeatedly which can help you save some time and allows you to focus on more important tasks. You can even use this to organize your daily writing schedule.


            Definitely a useful tool for every writer, the Web SEO Analytics has the most complete tools that will help you meet Google’s online content standards. It has everything you need – plagiarism checker, keyword, link and domain tools, even Web SEO Analysis.

            Although these tools can be useful, the important thing is to be able to provide an original and high quality content article that can attract readers all over the world. 

Sandra Miller is a freelance writer from Brooklyn. She always uses professional editing services help to make her writing perfect.