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26d966d1
Community Member

Research Sources Job Posting Taken Down

Hi all,

 

I'm a master's student working on my thesis and I'm continuing to struggle to find related sources to my research and so I posted a job simply asking for someone to help find sources, give me the citation for them and to write one or two sentences about it so I'd have a brief understanding of what each was about at a quick glance. The job was intstantly flagged and taken down. I'm just hoping to get a little help, but not doing it in a way that is unethical and not against the Terms of Service. 

 

The reason it was taken down was "..as it again requests for services that violate, or has the potential to violate, the integrity of academic and professional applications, which is against Upwork’s Terms of Service."

 

I don't understand why it stated "again requests.." because this is my first time ever posting a job with Upwork. Ether way, any advice on how to ethically conduct this job posting so that it doesn't violate or "potentially" violate the terms of service? Also i'm kind of up set that it was taken down for "potentially" violating the terms of service. In my mind, either it does or it doesn't, and help me make sure I don't violate them so I can get the help i'm seeking in some form and then I can give upwork and a client some money in return. 

6 REPLIES 6
26d966d1
Community Member

to be noted, i only asked for 10 or so potential academic scholarly research articles citations (might not have been clear enough on the citation part), not anything else beyond that. 

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Nicholas,

 

I can see that you already followed up on the support ticker regarding this case. Please allow time for our team to respond and update the ticket. If you have any additional question please post them on that ticket for further assistance.

 

Thank you for your patience!

~ Bojan
Upwork
26d966d1
Community Member

Hi, I was hoping to find something in the community discussion too since this hadn't been addressed in any of the threads I was able to find that were even closely related to this subject, and thought this might be beneficial for the community at whole to discuss and understand as well. 


Nicholas G wrote:

Hi, I was hoping to find something in the community discussion too since this hadn't been addressed in any of the threads I was able to find that were even closely related to this subject, and thought this might be beneficial for the community at whole to discuss and understand as well. 


______________________________

 

I think you are  meant to be doing the research yourself for a master's thesisn even if you are having problems with finding sources and IMO, it is an ethical no-no to get someone else to do it. What  bothers me in your first post, was that you wanted someone to write "one or two sentences" on the work they researched; that sort of summarization requires a lot work and knowledge of your subject. And if you are having difficulties finding sources, why would it be easier for some freelancer you find on Upwork to be any more successful? 

 

Perhaps you should discuss this source problem with your supervisor, who should be able to give you some pointers. 

 

There should be no problem though, in hiring a professional proofreader to check your paper, once it is written, for style issues, as well as all the usual things such as grammar, spelling and crosschecking references and making sure the citations are correct. However, you would also need to discuss this with your supervisor. 

 

Academic research (and/or proofreading), even if it is not for a further degree program, takes a lot of time, and comes with a price tag. So one needs to factor this in at the start of the process or project. 

 

ETA: There have been long discussions in the forums about unethical academic practices, and while your request might not necessarily fall into this category (if, for example, your supervisor has agreed to it, which I feel would be unlikely), it is close enough to be flagged as a possible violation.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

researchediting
Community Member

I wouldn't fret too much about the particulars of Upwork's legalese. It's often confusing, and sometimes obviously flawed.

 

The more salient issue has been correctly identified by Nichola. The task you are seeking to job out—an initial literature review/annotated bibliography—is an absolutely essential part of graduate and professional research. It is how a student becomes worthy of the title of master of their subject. As Nichola suggested, if you are having difficulties, that is something to address with your academic supervisor.

As an academic editor, I am actually heartened at recent anecdotal indications that Upwork is finally getting a handle on the seriousness of academic impropriety, and on how to recognize it. One can only hope any improved scrutiny will be extended to freelancers who collude with clients to undermine academic integrity.


Douglas Michael M wrote:

I wouldn't fret too much about the particulars of Upwork's legalese. It's often confusing, and sometimes obviously flawed.

 

The more salient issue has been correctly identified by Nichola. The task you are seeking to job out—an initial literature review/annotated bibliography—is an absolutely essential part of graduate and professional research. It is how a student becomes worthy of the title of master of their subject. As Nichola suggested, if you are having difficulties, that is something to address with your academic supervisor.

As an academic editor, I am actually heartened at recent anecdotal indications that Upwork is finally getting a handle on the seriousness of academic impropriety, and on how to recognize it. One can only hope any improved scrutiny will be extended to freelancers who collude with clients to undermine academic integrity.


And it should not just be scrutiny either- scrutiny should be followed by meaningful sanctions if and when required.