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The First Amendment guarantees all American citizens the right to free speech. We are free to think, speak, read, or write whatever we wish. That is what makes America the greatest country on Earth. However, there is a vast difference between conducting
legitimate research
and engaging in
literary theft. EssayFraud.org condemns academic fraud and plagiarism in any form.
Consumers have the right to expect that the example, custom research and unique ideas for which they pay will not be plagiarized from a third party. If a consumer contracts a freelance writer to research and compose an example document from which the consumer intends to glean unique insights/viewpoints on a given topic, the consumer must properly cite that writer and/or that writer's employing Web site when writing his/her own paper. Now, if the freelance writer deceives the paying consumer by plagiarizing from a third party, the consumer's bibliographical reference to that freelance writer and/or that writer's employing Web site will not be accurate! Therefore, it is the completely honest consumer who can be accused of academic fraud because his/her cited sources are not genuine.
We believe that legitimate research services have every right to compose sample research documents on all topics for consumers to reference and properly cite as secondary sources of information. There is nothing wrong with a consumer purchasing a sample research document, as long as that consumer properly cites quoted text within parentheses throughout the consumer's own, original, personally-written paper, and lists the quoted sources in a bibliography. Consumers must also properly acknowledge any paraphrased material or unique ideas, as well as consulted (albeit not directly quoted) sources in a "Works Consulted" list that follows the bibliography. According to the
Academic Integrity
standards of the
HSPH at Harvard University:
All work submitted to meet course requirements is expected to be a student's own work. In the preparation of work submitted to meet course requirements, students should always take great care to distinguish their own ideas and knowledge from information derived from sources. Whenever ideas or facts are derived from a student's reading and research the sources must be indicated. The term 'sources' includes not only published primary and secondary material, but also information and opinions gained directly from other people. The responsibility for using the proper forms of citation lies with the individual student. Quotations must be placed within quotation marks, and the source must be credited. All paraphrased material also must be completely acknowledged.
Consumers can avoid plagiarism by following basic citation guidelines, like those provided by Harvard University.
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