Image: Nic Mc Phee [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr
Academic integrity could be at risk from the government’s failure to ban contract cheating.
The recent explosion in web-based essay mills is a major assault on academic integrity and the core values of academia. But while there appears to be widespread agreement between universities and government that urgent action is needed to tackle the issue, legislation is now long overdue. Any further delay in introducing such measures is potentially harmful to the whole higher education system.
In September, 46 vice-chancellors from some of the UK’s leading universities, together with other higher education leaders, felt compelled to write an open letter to education secretary Damian Hinds requesting the introduction of legislation to outlaw the “provision and advertising of essay mills” before the end of the current parliament.
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