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[professor_pat]

In looking for something else, I was astounded to come across this. Here's an excerpt from their opening blurb:

"From dissertation planning and research services to the preparation of a review defense of their dissertation, the candidates routinely find areas in the process that they are weak in, and this fact bares [sic] no shame upon their potential as doctoral candidates. Not everyone is good at preparing an effective argument in writing..."

Those poor Ph.D. candidates, feeling all ashamed and everything because they can't prepare arguments or figure out their topics or do literature reviews or design their research or analyze their data. How nice of these good folks to help them with each one of these - And More!

<heaves big sigh, turns back to cats for comfort...>

[smallways]

Link, please?

[professor_pat]

Here you go:

http://www.solidwriters.com/services/

(If you click on the "this" in the first sentence, which should show up as a different color on your screen, it'll take you to the link.)

[geonerd]

I love the "bares no shame" part. That said, this "service" is pretty disheartening, although I'm surprised by it.

[mystictechgal]

My favorite part is the lengthy discussion about plagiarism: What it is, why it's bad, how to avoid it, use of proper citations, etc.  A rather thorough and well-written explanation; Followed by a paragraph about how, if you hire them to do your research and write the dissertation for you, you can be assurred that everything will be properly and completely cited, thereby avoiding any chance of charges of plagiarism.  WTF?

[geonerd]

I love the "bares no shame" part. That said, this "service" is pretty disheartening, although I'm surprised by it.

Oops, that should have been "I'm NOT surprised by it."

[pocksuppet]

I love the "bares no shame" part. That said, this "service" is pretty disheartening, although I'm surprised by it.

Oops, that should have been "I'm NOT surprised by it."

Perhaps Solid Writers has a post-writing service as well?  "Never be embarrassed by missing words in a post again!"

[bookishone]

Okay, what about this tidbit from their website:

"A typical dissertation will run at least 20 to 30 pages and often into the range of 50 to 100 pages; it is a rare dissertation that will be longer."

Now I don't know how long dissertations are in the sciences, but I can tell you that if I'd tried to hand my advisor a research dissertation of 20 pp, or even 50 pp, I'd have found myself out the door and on the street. We humanists tend to be longwinded, I guess.

[infiniteloop]

As a PhD student this really effing pisses me off, because I know there are students in my program (and others across the globe) that wouldn't hesitate to do this.  For 3 years I tried to instill in my students why they should not cheat and to be ethical, yet I find some of the most blatant plagiarizers in the graduate program.  You know, the students who know what the test questions are or have access to the solution manuals.

     

[mystictechgal]

Okay, what about this tidbit from their website:

"A typical dissertation will run at least 20 to 30 pages and often into the range of 50 to 100 pages; it is a rare dissertation that will be longer."

Now I don't know how long dissertations are in the sciences, but I can tell you that if I'd tried to hand my advisor a research dissertation of 20 pp, or even 50 pp, I'd have found myself out the door and on the street. We humanists tend to be longwinded, I guess.

I wondered about that.  Heck, I can remember at least one paper I wrote as an undergrad that, including footnotes and citations, ran at least 30 pages.

[mountainguy]

While jaw-dropping, I find that site unintentionally hilarious in a way.

Who do they think their target market is? Besides the 20-50 pages thing, my professors know my writing style. Even if the service provided a finished produce that was impeccably written and researched, it would take my advisor all of about 30 seconds to realize it wasn't my writing. And what about quality? Even after four years of coursework and passing qualifying exams, I'm still trying to get a handle on the scholarly literature in my subfield. I don't believe for a second that some internet schmuck could do a decent job of mastering it.

Oh, and my "favorite" graduate student plagiarism story . . . one of my professors claims that a colleague in another department received a thesis from an MA student was a (translated) word-for-word plagiarism of another thesis originally written in an obscure foreign language. The faculty member knew because the original thesis had been written by his wife, who had a different last name!!!

[terpsichore]

Okay, what about this tidbit from their website:

"A typical dissertation will run at least 20 to 30 pages and often into the range of 50 to 100 pages; it is a rare dissertation that will be longer."

Now I don't know how long dissertations are in the sciences, but I can tell you that if I'd tried to hand my advisor a research dissertation of 20 pp, or even 50 pp, I'd have found myself out the door and on the street. We humanists tend to be longwinded, I guess.

Be careful not to get too long-winded! According to that web site, an overly long humanities dissertation can lead to criminal activity, possibly inspiring future episodes of Law and Order.

[mountainguy]

Be careful not to get too long-winded! According to that web site, an overly long humanities dissertation can lead to criminal activity, possibly inspiring future episodes of Law and Order.

Wow . . . that section made me laugh out loud. I should be concerned about length because fictional college professors played by actors think that a fictional dissertation is too long, I should be afraid? Riiiight. Now that Paula Abdul is done with American Idol, maybe Solid Writers customers should ask her to come be a cheerleader at their defenses. I'm sure that would go over well.

[oldfullprof]

Ha - two of the psychologists I worked with years ago copped to using "tutors" on the dissertations.  I agree.  Both were strikingly dumb.

[magistra]

Oh. my. God.

I am truly stunned.  This stuff is just crazy.  And seriously -- most of us work on obscure subjects with sources in all sorts of languages, or whatever crazy numbers stuff they do in science dissertations (hi, science people!)  Ever really read a thesis outside your field?  I have -- LOTS there I could never have "fixed", even though it was another humanities field.  I'm not able to edit the abstract of a STEM article.  Do they really have tons of retired scholars on their payroll?  Why do I doubt that?  Ethics aside, isn't the one thing retired profs look forward to is never reading bad student writing ever ever again? This is just...  And they're wrong about so many things!  Just flat-out wrong!

I feel mean saying this, but considering what they think is the proper length, and the general, shall we say, less than scholarly tenor of the site, do you think this is aimed at EdDs?

And what about orals?  Can't fake them!