CHINA: Fake papers are rife at universities

Strong demand for ghost-written academic papers in the lead-up to university graduation and revelations that people pay to have scholarly articles published are worrying critics who fear the billion-yuan industry is making it harder than ever to evaluate graduates' abilities, reports China Daily/Asia News Network.

Li Wei, who works for China Professional Paper Writing Agency, said his company employs about 20 writers who each produce five or six papers a month for students who should do the work themselves. The cost of an undergraduate thesis is 700 yuan (US$103) and the additional cost to have one published is 600 yuan. Li said writers are paid 3,000 yuan a month to write five 3,000-word papers. He claimed his company can also help graduates get papers published in periodicals.

Fenghe Rili Paper Writing Agency in Beijing told METRO a 20,000-word master's thesis produced by that agency in English costs 20,000 yuan. Papers written in Chinese are cheaper.

Buyers of the ghost-writing service need only tell the agency the theme, length and due-date and pay an advance of 30% before work begins.
Full report on the Asia One site