I recently became “employed” by an online editing company; there are many such companies like it, in which somewhat-anonymous editors are matched up with somewhat-anonymous writers (writers being a very loose term) via an online dropbox-like system. I am given documents to edit for grammar, punctuation, and content, usually within the fields I designate as my areas of expertise (academia and humanities, journalism, and creative writing). I receive a 25-50% commission, the rest going to the online company. I love editing, so this seemed like a nice pocket-change gig, especially at a time when I am between “real” jobs.
I discovered quickly that the organization finds its primary clientèle in non-native English speakers, which seems totally reasonable and expected; in my experience, most native speakers think their writing is pristine, and therefore, idiots that they are, do not think they need editing or proofreading services. Non-native speakers seem more self-conscious and willing to seek a second pair of eyes.
The first two or three documents I received seemed find — just short excerpts of articles or maybe textbook pieces, plus a long assignment on a YA novel.
Then I was asked to edit a letter — a self-promotional piece from a university professor to a dean. Okay, I thought. The writer was clearly a non-native speaker in an American setting, so it makes sense to me that s/he would want to put the best foot forward — and kudos for recognizing a weakness in writing and seeking assistance.
But at the same time, such a letter is supposed to be — wouldn’t you think? —indicative of one’s abilities as a researcher and a teacher. And shouldn’t those abilities include writing? And if you are paying someone to edit your writing, doesn’t that letter now reflect the efforts of multiple people, rather than your own solitary skillset?
Still, this doesn’t bother me nearly as much as my most recent assignment: a student paper, complete with an honor-code cover sheet, intended to discourage cheating. From my time in university teaching, I recognized it: something like, “I hereby certify that all work contained in this paper is mine and mine alone, yadda yadda yadda.” (You would think such a statement could go unwritten but still understood, but no.) So if a student writes a paper, and then pays someone else to edit it, and turns in those edits while signing that cover sheet, is that not a violation?
As a former teacher, this bothers me on an ethical level. It doesn’t seem honest to turn in work that someone else corrected, rewrote, or otherwise altered. It’s why universities have Writing Centers — places where students can sit down with tutors and teachers and discuss TOGETHER changes that can improve a paper — and why those Writing Centers DO NOT offer pure editing services. Having another person edit your document, especially without discussion of larger writing strategies in conjunction, is frowned upon in academia.
But it gets even more morally murky for me:
An example from my teaching days: I taught MLA citation format in my classes, that is, how to properly cite your sources in a research paper. The formatting is endlessly complicated, with loose rules, exceptions, and constant fluctuation, especially when it comes to new media. How do you properly cite a blog post, a podcast, an online version of a print magazine? There is no way to memorize the non-intuitive punctuation and ever-shifting rules, so I don’t teach students that they should learn every rule. Instead, I teach them that they should learn HOW TO LOOK THINGS UP. They have a rulebook; learn how the rulebook is organized, learn how to find things quickly and efficiently within it, and then, no matter what you need to cite, the proper format is at your fingertips.
I had always hoped this presented a larger lesson to students: you don’t have to know everything. You just have to know where to find everything. Learn who to ask, how to ask, and where to ask, rather than getting hung up on committing specifics to memory (which too many students are, a hangover from rote-learning secondary education). None of us can carry everything in our brains.
So, then, it would stand to reason that a student who chooses to use a pay service to edit his academic papers is simply being wise: he does not (especially as a non-native speaker) have the necessary information to do it himself, so he finds who does. He is utilizing a resource that is available not only to his academic life, but will continue to be available throughout his career. I could argue that every student needs to know how to write well and how to edit his own work, but the sad truth is that they do not — not if services like my online editing company exist.
Of course, I believe that writing is the core of every field, and most employers do lament that graduating students, by and large, can’t write for shit. But isn’t this problem resolved if you pay someone else to edit for you? Isn’t it like any other service? We pay others to dryclean our clothes, walk our dogs, do our taxes. Is this any different?
I edited the student’s paper and returned it, but I still feel gummy about it. It seems dishonest that he will get credit, a grade, based on my work; but it also seems rather realistic and world-ready that he would utilize an available resource to complete a job.
Thoughts?
![thedailywhat:
Poetry 2.0 of the Day: Sherman Alexie: “The Facebook Sonnet.”
[peterwknox / ratsoff.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll5srv3PnV1qz6t0vo1_500.jpg)
