Protect your work – watch out for contract cheating services

At Monash, academic integrity is a top priority. That means you are expected to always submit your own work, and behave honestly and ethically with your assignments and exams.

Recently, there’s been an increase in contract cheating services that encourage students to share their work online for others to purchase or copy. They can pitch their services as providing ‘help’ so it’s important you’re aware of what is allowed and what isn’t, so you can avoid the penalties.

What is contract cheating?
Contract cheating is when students outsource their assessments to a third party, for example a commercial provider, current or former student, family member or friend. There may not always be an exchange of money – the assessment may have been obtained for free, such as using credits built up with commercial providers.

Contract cheating can include:

  • paying a third party to provide an assessment for you
  • using file-sharing sites to obtain someone's intellectual property without authorisation
  • organising for someone else to take your exam
  • selling and sharing your own work for other students to use, including via file-sharing sites.

What could happen if you are involved with contract cheating?
Contract cheating, as well as the promotion of cheating services, is serious and illegal with penalties of up to $110,000 in fines and even jail time. In addition to legal consequences, contract cheating can result in academic penalties or exclusion from university. In some professions, universities are mandated to report this to professional bodies.

Contract cheating companies have also been known to blackmail students, threatening to expose them to their university and cause deep financial and emotional stress.

How to protect yourself

  • Only ever submit your own work, and properly reference content from other sources.
  • Avoid sharing your work, even if you are not intentionally helping someone cheat. By sharing your work, you may lose control of who uses it and how, and may still be held responsible for contract cheating.
  • Encourage honest behaviour in others - don’t share websites where your classmates can buy essays and engage in contract cheating. Be aware that company representatives may approach you to get paid to promote their services, so make sure you decline to protect yourself from association with contract cheating.

Where can students report contract cheating?
You can report contract cheating services to Monash by completing this online form managed by the Education Portfolio. The form also provides more details about the reporting process.

Need help with your assessments?
If you aren’t sure about an assessment task or how to properly reference your sources, get in touch with your lecturer or make an appointment with a learning adviser to get some guidance.

The bottom line
Don’t risk your degree – don’t buy, exchange or sell assessments on contract cheating services, and avoid sharing your essays and assignments so you can always stay in control of your own work.