Academic Misconduct - Cheating - I am angry and want to report it.

[n_sappleton]

I know there are already a couple of threads on this, and the consensus is that Upwork does nothing to prevent students seeking academic work that they plan to submit under their own name.

I flag these all the time and nothing happens.

BUT.

What if we were to report the students to their institute? Ethically is this correct course of action?

I recently was duped by a client who was looking for something to be written "not for a PhD but "to PhD level" (I should have seen right through this). After hundreds of message exchanges about revisions he wanted, he blurted out "but I have to submit this on Sunday!". I am angry. 

I wish I had access to Turnitin so I could upload this and it could never be used.

I did complain to Upwork but nothing happened.

[prestonhunter]

re: "What if we were to report the students to their institute?"

There are no Upwork rules or policies preventng you from reporting cheating students to an academic institution.

re: "Ethically is this correct course of action?"

This is a subjective question. What you describe is certainly ethical according the standards of some people, and it is unethical by the standards of other people. There is more than one ethical consideration involved here, as this deals with cheating, but also privacy. The answer depends on what principles and rules a person values most.

[colettelewis]

---

@Preston H wrote:

re: "What if we were to report the students to their institute?"

There are no Upwork rules or policies preventng you from reporting cheating students to an academic institution.

re: "Ethically is this correct course of action?"

This is a subjective question. What you describe is certainly ethical according the standards of some people, and it is unethical by the standards of other people. There is more than one ethical consideration involved here, as this deals with cheating, but also privacy. The answer depends on what principles and rules a person values most.

---

 ____________________________

This is NOT a subjective question. There is only one principle concerning academic cheating; you report it to Upwork and if possible you report it to the academic body concerned.  If a student starts off life fraudulently, it is my belief that they will continue to do so in their professional lives. It is unacceptable and this "ethic" on cheating is upheld by every decent academic institution in the world.

Students who indulge in this sort of fraud should have their accounts suspended, and essay mills who cynically encourage it should be shut down, and if they operate on Upwork, their accounts should aslo be terminated. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "I wish I had access to Turnitin so I could upload this and it could never be used."

Go here:

https://go.turnitin.com/en_us/consultation

[n_sappleton]

I did already investigate that - thanks. It is only licensed to academic institutes.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Natalie,

I see the ticket you submitted about this issue and will follow up with the team regarding your report. The client's account will be reviewed.

All,

Please, note that a couple of replies have been removed from this thread because they were in violation of Community Guidelines.

[n_sappleton]

Thanks, Valeria.

Can we have a flag in future for academic misconduct? I always flag these and nothing happens because I still see them on the system.

[kochubei_valeria]

Natalie,

Jobs that violate academic integrity are inappropriate for Upwork and can be flagged as such. The additional details box can also be used to provide any further details to help the team with their review. All flagged jobs are reviewed by Upwork team and appropriate actions are taken.

Thanks for helping us improve trust and quality on Upwork marketplace!

[n_sappleton]

I am talking about a specific flag button (i.e. not the 'other' button), which actually works. 

I always flag using other and the additional information and jobs are NEVER removed. As an example, here is a job which is posted perhaps 3-4 times every day by an essay mill (offering as a side point, $500 for 40,000 written words!!!).

I flag it every time and every time it stays. Why?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[mwiggenhorn]

Natalie, I bet I've flagged that client a dozen times.  Somebody at UW just doesn't understand.

I do know one freelancer who has on several occasions contacted the university department head or professor and let them know what was going on, vis a vis academic fraud. Every time the university person has been appalled and has said that they would follow up. The problem is that you have to play along to get the student's name.

In the same tone, I have flagged paralegals who provide legal advice and/or offer to do tasks which are inappropriate (which is the unlicensed practice of law).  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't sadly.

[n_sappleton]

Its crazy isn't it?

How can they still be allowed to post? 

My own client used a fake name (I think). So I am not sure how easy reporting him would be but uploading to Turnitin will show which university he submitted it at and then I'd be straight on to the research ethics department. 

[kochubei_valeria]

Natalie,

I'll have the team review the client you are referring to as well and see if the work they request violate Upwork ToS. Please, note that we can't share the results of another account's review or account status for privacy reasons.

Thanks!

[n_sappleton]

Today, I've flagged this one job three times. Its still there.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[kochubei_valeria]

Thanks for flagging, Natalie. I'll follow up with the team about your report and they'll review the job as soon as possible.