I am sorry to tell the whole truth that there are many black offices for solving exam questions, solving homework, doing projects, or writing the thesis, and the dissertations!! These offices made online learning a trading stock that resembles the slave-market. indeed, The transforming of science into business is fully incompatible with human values and, in turn, opens the blackmail doors.

Let me now tell you about the other face of the same coin. I classify myself within the poor layer, but I can be very rich within one year. Just by agreeing to work with these offices; some have done that.

Kindly, could you please contribute in the following discussion thread that is related to this valuable question of Dr. Eric Offei Affedzie?

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does-Coronavirus-Disease-COVID-19-increase-the-black-market-of-education

It is clearly academic dishonestly Incidentally, I am about to take a webinar for the same on 4th April. I strongly feel about this issue.

And it appears you are trying to help your students with it but in reality, you will be inculcating wrong values if you write for them. Instead you can help them with resources , do corrections in their work and for statistical assistance, definitely they need an expert but it has to put forward in their own words

The five main ethical principles you should abide by, in most cases, include: (a) minimising the risk of harm; (b) obtaining informed consent; (c) protecting anonymity and confidentiality; (d) avoiding deceptive practices; and (e) providing the right to withdraw.

Dear Eric Offei Affedzie ,

I am totally agree with Priyanka Kapoor . It is indeed academic dishonesty. You may consult your students, assist them, teach them academic writing or research methods, provide them materials, etc. But to write the dissertation for students is against academic principles.

Best regards,

Dr. Vardan Atoyan

I am agree with Priyanka Kapoor .

It's a kind of infusing inferiority complex among the students unknowingly, which may be of great hampering impact in the long run.

Not at all. I extremely disagree.

It is not ethically acceptable to write a dissertation for someone. It is an indirect practice of plagiarism.

It's a DIRECT practice of plagiarism. If you want to help, ask good questions that will help to guide them, help them to find good resources, identify areas where they can better articulate their ideas, point out holes in their argument that they can address before presenting their dissertation. At this level, the student should be a reasonably competent writer.

Not at all!

It is ethically wrong for lecturer to engage in writing project for students. Most of the time based on my experience I noticed that most of the students are lazy and they believe that they can always contract out their project. Lecturers' should be ready to sacrifice to teach, explain and expose their student to the nitty gritty of research. This act most times lead to brain drain in the system.

It brings about brain drain in the system

its ethically wrong but one can give directives, literature reviews or article that can guide the person to write his/her dissertation.

I won’t even consider that option. It’s a capital academic offense. However, guiding the student on a highly technical matter and giving constructive criticisms are totally acceptable. Let the student process those and let him/her translate her/his own thought processes into his/her own original work. After all that is what we want to know in assessing and grading his/her paper.

As most respondents have already replied, it is unethical and dishonest for anyone but the student themselves to write their dissertation and depending on the circumstances plagiarism could be involved. Again, as previously suggested in several responses, whatever your role is, be it as the lecturer, professor, instructor, to mentor the student. Mentoring happens when you ask questions that force the student to think and work through their dilema, provide suggestions that guides them to research resources. I find questioning in the Socratic method is often helpful in these situations. As for statistical analysis and data interpretation, we may need to be more direct or suggest specialized resources, however this should also be done in a way that challenges the student to formulate their own responses.

I agree that it is ethically unacceptable for you to write for your student. It is okay to guide and ask them questions that will make them think critically and direct them in writing a piece which is good. Your role is to build confidence in that student to be able to perform even when you are not there.

A few of points about this, that I hope are useful...

1. If the student doesn't write the work they submit, they will be less able to effectively defend the research in a viva.

2. Research is about discovery, but it also about the researcher learning about and engaging with research techniques, research ethics and developing an ability to communicate and present their work effectively. You would be compromising significant aspects of this.

3. As other folks have already said, it unethical. I would add, in the longer term you're setting them up to fail as it will become apparent at job application or at work that they don't have the experience their CV might suggest.

4. If the person you are working with is genuinely struggling to work at the level expected, perhaps an honest conversation about other options might be a better way to proceed, rather than you than doing the work for them. Further, might consider re-looking at your entry requirements, to prevent this happening more often?

5. Many academic institutions engaged in research have clear guidance and standards on research ethics and practice. If you did engage in doing other peoples research for them, you may find yourself in hot water at work.

These points are obviously made with best intent and without the full context / facts of the case you highlight. I hope they are helpful.

This is totally unacceptable at any circumstances.

The question was asked "How do I balance this with assisting students who need genuine help because they are stuck at a point in their work and need expert assistance, for instance with statistical aspect of their data analysis?" As a faculty advisor or dissertation committee member, this is part of our responsibilities - to guide the students efforts to accomplish the highest quality work possible. I am thinking in terms of a dissertation being written by doctoral students who have completed a Bachelor and Masters degree, and their doctoral level course work. They have a certain level of academic experience. We can ask the student questions that prompt their critical thinking skills in the area in which they are struggling. We can ask questions that get them thinking on a path they might not have previously visualized. Sometimes I'll start with a suggestion, such as 'have you considered what might happen if . . .' Then ask them to talk about what options they might explore along this path. If there is an particularly obscure resource, I will have if they have come across the work of a specific author or group. If they seem particularly stuck, I may start asking questions in the Socratic method to get them to break the pattern of thought they are stuck in. Always positive and always challenging the student to think at the potential level that got them into a doctoral program. And, if they can walk out of such a session feeling they came to the idea, they will be more confident and competent in their writing.

Absolutely rejected.

Nice Terry Young .

Surely not.

Constructive feedback should support Undergraduate, Masters and PhD. The latter should indicate how the readers may perceive the content and how eligible is it.

Constructive feedback should carefully indicate how the work can be improve. However, it should not cross the line of suggesting what the content should be. Careful questions and pointing out what is good should provide enough hints about the quality of the work.

Writing a thesis for somebody is not acceptable and supervisors need to draw a line in their type of feedback. The favourite sentence from my supervisor was "If I was in your shoes, I would consider ....". It was general enough and pointed me in the right direction.