# Term Paper Writing Services; How Illegal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 18, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947 "2019-10-18T12:19:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947/61 "2019-10-21T17:14:28Z")

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> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#):
>
> I would have thought I had matured as a writer since then. In an update, I have given up. Working with non-paper sources was just awkward for me.

Glad to hear it. Kind of odd, I’ve had no problem making the switch and neither has my wife.  
I got better as a writer not from just growing older but from feedback - from my PhD adviser, from reviewers of my papers and from critique groups for my fiction.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947/62 "2019-10-21T18:22:47Z")

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> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> Wouldn’t it just be sent to the author for revision?

My Orgo teacher used the example of an article from one of his doctoral students which was rejected (not sent back for revision, which is part of the normal process, but rejected) on account of writing piridine instead of pyridine. Since the compound in question was the solvent, it appeared often. Both the original thesis in Spanish and the article in English with a single but frequent misspelling were available for perusal.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947/63 "2019-10-22T02:44:50Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Again, the question isn’t whether the student committed a crime but whether the author of the paper did so.

Technically, it’s fraud (or conspiracy to commit fraud), but the author of the paper could probably get out of charges with a simple disclaimer by saying something like it’s a “model paper” and that it’s only to be used for educational purposes.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-paper-writing-services-how-illegal/841947/64 "2019-10-22T02:46:07Z")

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> [@Voyager](#):
>
> Out of curiosity, what grades did you get on papers when you were in school? If your customers get Cs, you won’t have much of a business for long.

All they have to get is a passing grade.

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