Students Pay the Price: Doctoral Candidates are Targeted by Contract Cheating Websites

This analyses the textual features of contract cheating websites that offer thesis writing services for doctoral students and considers implications for practice. ature into contract cheating in a doctoral context also suggests a need for increased training and awareness-raising programs for supervisors, thesis examiners and new graduate students. Future studies that further investigate the prevalence of these themes across a broader scope of websites and countries will provide greater insights into the extent to which these websites are a global threat to vulnerable doctoral students. The paper provides a foundation for researchers and graduate schools to raise greater awareness of contract cheating amongst doctoral students and, in so do-ing, combats the reputational risks it can have on universities and the potential safety risks for the general public. Semi-structured and and explore of for and their ability to identify research writing that has been completed by a third-party. systematic internet searches and qualitative textual analyses of website content, this paper sets out to address the research question: what persuasive language features on these websites target the distinct vulnerabilities of doctoral students? The analysis reveals that contract cheating websites include specific language to appeal to vulnerable doctoral students using four common themes: balancing work and personal life, the complexity of doctoral academic writing, self-efficacy, and academic career progression. Finally, this article presents key implications for practice, including the important role supervisors can play in supporting doctoral students’ thesis writing progression as well as the value of peer learning groups in building self-efficacy.