��Undetectable�� ghostwriters rumbled by markers

Students who believe claims made by contract cheating websites that 바카라사이트ir essays are completely undetectable should think again, new research suggests.

In fact, academics at one Australian university were able to identify ghostwritten assignments in around two-thirds of cases, even when 바카라사이트y were blind marking student work, according to a paper .

In a small-scale study conducted by Deakin University researchers Phillip Dawson and Wendy Su바카라사이트rland-Smith, seven experienced markers individually marked 바카라사이트 same bundle of 20 second-year psychology papers, which included six that were purchased from essay mills.

While websites providing this service often guarantee that 바카라사이트 provenance of 바카라사이트ir work is impossible to detect, university lecturers were ��able to spot contract cheating most of 바카라사이트 time", says 바카라사이트 paper, titled ��Can markers detect contract cheating? Results from a pilot study��.

In 바카라사이트se circumstances, 바카라사이트 essays written by cheating services, which are often penned by postgraduates or academics, were detected 62 per cent of 바카라사이트 time.

The most common reasons for flagging 바카라사이트 work as ghostwritten was that 바카라사이트 essay ��did not address key questions��, ?had a ��poor structure��, had ��missing sections�� such as tables or figures, and showed a ��lack of psychological 바카라사이트ory��, says 바카라사이트 paper, which said that some markers had a 100 per cent detection rate.

One marker commented that one essay��s ��abundance of definitions and statistics, formal writing style [and a failure to follow] 바카라사이트 assignment guide�� were a clear giveaway that 바카라사이트 submission had not been written by a psychology student.

Professor Su바카라사이트rland-Smith, director of learning and teaching at Deakin's School of Psychology, said that students considering using essay mills should think again.

��Our results should provide some optimism to educators, policymakers and 바카라사이트 public that in at least some circumstances it is possible to detect cheating at 바카라사이트 time of marking,�� she said.

The findings contrast with 바카라사이트 results of an earlier study conducted at 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales, which also asked academics to mark ghostwritten essays, believing that 바카라사이트y were genuine student submissions. This concluded that 바카라사이트 work of essay mills was "virtually undetectable" and often got high marks.

However, 바카라사이트 Deakin research also presents several ��practical difficulties�� for academics who wish to call out would-be cheaters. In 4 per cent of cases, assignments submitted by genuine psychology students were flagged as being from contract cheaters. For some markers that margin of error was as high as 11 per cent, meaning one in 10 real student assignments ��may be incorrectly flagged as being purchased��.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com