From Nilkhet to online 'buddies': The proliferation of academic fraud online

Arif Hasan (not his real name), a computer science graduate from the University of Asia Pacific and a research officer at a consultancy firm, has applied for a Master's degree in Germany, for which he needs his honours thesis paper to be published. 

"I already have an offer from Germany but I need my honours final year thesis to be published," Arif said.    

With a full-time job as a consultant, he says he cannot invest the time and energy on the research paper. So when he found 'Final Year Buddies,' a shadowy online platform that offers to ghostwrite research papers, he latched on to the opportunity. 

What this company does is, after knowing your research topic and securing the deal, they assign someone – it might be one of their nine-person in-house members or someone outsourced, to study and write your paper. 

They also help with publishing a paper in any journal, even Q1 journals. Not just this, many online platforms in general offer the opportunity of hiring people for writing academic papers.

From various freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer to dedicated companies like Web-Tech, Final Year Buddies etc, there are routes widely available which can be considered as cheating in the realms of tertiary education. 

The concept is not anything new; ready-made research paper shops in Nilkhet are something journalists and academics have been writing about for years. 

The wholesale research paper shops in Nilkhet

It was raining when this correspondent reached Anamul's shop inside the fourth alley of Nilkhet. He was working on a signboard printing commission.? When I (almost whispered like a criminal) asked about a ready-made research paper, he responded quite casually, as if it was something very normal. 

"Do you have a research paper on media studies, for the social science department?" I asked. And his reply was akin to that of a grocer interacting with the customer and asking questions about the one's purchase choice for better understanding. 

"What kind of paper? I have 169 folders for social science research papers. Just tell me your topic," he replied. 

Anamul opened his archaic and broken G40 Lenovo laptop and scrolled down the research paper folders he had on it. It has 4,990 subfolders in which you will find almost 9,000 research and thesis papers. 

"Where did you get all these papers?" When asked this question, Anamul had a pursed smile on his face. "We provide printing service. So when a student visits my shop for printing their report, I keep one copy on my PC," Anamul said. 

Like Anamul's shop, the shadowy Nilkhet alleys have several shops where you will find such stores and avail ready-made research papers just for Tk150 to Tk800. 

The price varies depending on whether you want a soft copy or a printed one. And if you want a bit of customisation, the price may rise to Tk1,500. 

The demand for these ready-made papers rises during the end of semesters and around the end of the year as submission deadlines approach.

'We are better than the wholesale shops of Nilkhet'

Md. Moshiur Rahman, one of the executives of Final Year Buddies, a Facebook-based group that provides ready-made research papers, says that they are better than the Nilkhet stores. 

"The papers you get from Nilkhet or some local telecom shops belong to someone else. When you reach out to them, they will give you that exact copy of that paper or a bit changed from shuffling the paragraphs. So you are receiving someone else's paper and claiming your copyright." 

On the other hand, this Facebook group offers custom-made paper only for individuals, Moshiur said when I reached out to them under the disguise of a customer. 

"From us, you don't just get a ready-made research paper, we will prepare you for the paper defence also. All you have to do is memorise the methodology, data collection and other processes so that you can defend your paper in front of the examiners," he added. 

Depending on the topic, the depth and the journal one would want the paper to be published in, the 'research buddies' will charge you from Tk20,000 to Tk90,000. 

"Take a recent report on computer science we have worked on, that included coding, hence we charged the client Tk85,000. And similarly, another paper that didn't have any coding part cost Tk22,000," Moshiur explained. 

Initially starting as a project management group (meaning Moshiur and his team used to make engineering projects for a price), the group eventually started ghostwriting or unauthorised co-operation. "In the beginning, we prepared robotic projects for the students. But then we saw, they needed papers to submit as well. We started writing project papers and other academic papers in 2021."

Finally, when I asked for a quotation for a research paper on media studies, they first offered 10 research topics and asked me to choose one from the list.  

"We have connections with research assistants and researchers who would write a paper for a certain amount. This is like a part-time gig for them. So we can assure you the best-quality paper," Moshiur said. 

Cheating in this scope can be a serious offence

"Although paying someone else to do your research for you might seem like an effective method to cut down on time, it is an unethical and punishable offence to employ the service. It is morally wrong, unwise and irresponsible", Md Fazlur Rahman, Professor of the Institute of Education and Research (IER) of the University of Dhaka told The Business Standard.

"And to be honest, even if a student or an educator adopts such unethical measures, and gets away with it, someday - today or tomorrow - s/he will face a roadblock for it," he added. 

According to the professor, there are a couple of reasons for an individual to take such 'shortcuts,' "To begin with, for students, this practice starts in the very first semester of university. They have to submit five to six assignments per semester and the deadlines come all in a row. 

So what they do is copy several articles from online and prepare a report."

The professor further elaborated on the root causes behind a student's decisions to partake in plagiarism and cheating citing the lack of monitoring and the quality of school and college education. "A large number of the students don't have strong analytical capability, which leads them to take unethical shortcuts. Many do not have the time to invest in a time-consuming thesis, term paper or research. All these lead to unethical measures," Professor Rahman added. 

This can be a serious punishable offence. "Dhaka University has an academic committee that investigates such cases of academic cheating. In previous years, whenever the committee found such cases, the teachers have lost their jobs and even been demoted," Fazlur Rahman said. 

The university committee uses Ithenticate, a plagiarism-checking software to check the submissions. "We allow a maximum of 20% of paraphrasing, with proper citation and from a single source, a researcher can paraphrase only 2%, not more than that", he further added. 

Of course, this software has its own limitations and cannot detect plagiarism or cheating if the scripts are written in Bangla. 

According to the Academic Integrity Handbook by MIT, "The consequences for cheating, plagiarism, unauthorised collaboration and other forms of academic dishonesty can be very serious, possibly including suspension or expulsion from the Institute. Any violation of the rules or deviation from responsible conduct of research may be considered a violation of academic integrity."

And as a consequence, "the instructor may require the student to redo the assignment for a reduced grade or assign the student a failing grade for the assignment or the class. And even can result in terminating the student's participation in the research project.

The instructor or supervisor may also submit documentation to the Office of Student Citizenship in the form of a letter to file or a formal complaint, which can destroy an individual's reputation and career options." 

But Anamul or Moshiur do not think of it that way. "I am helping a student," as Anamul sees it. While Moshiur thinks, "I do not think this is illegal. You are not forcing me, I am willing to help you with your studies and in exchange for that you are paying me. I think this is a win-win situation." 

And what if they get caught? "Who will tell them that? This is a secret between you and me, and if you tell someone, you are the one who will be asked the questions first," Moshiur said with a subtle confidence in his voice.