Academia-Research Exposed as a Scam

Posted on September 3rd, 2008 in Online Writing by iakul

While Academia-Research has been touted as a writing site that pays, my research has led me to believe that the site is not as legit as it appears to be. Here are some interesting information that I found out about it.

• iakul
  September 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 am

  Wow, something weird happened to my article 1) and 2) are supposed to be 4) and 5) and a couple of things have turned out weird after Triond has editted it. *goes to submit a fix*

• Lauren Axelrod
  September 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 am

  Very interesting article. I know where I won’t be posting. Great job iakul

• iakul
  September 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 am

  That was fast. The article’s been fixed. It’s been only a couple of hours after I submitted the fix.

  Thanks for the compliment, Lauren

• Jo Howard
  September 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm

  I had considered applying for Academia-Research, but when I sent them an inquiry about whether they have tax forms available for those living in the United States I decided not to apply. Their response not only had no punctuation, but no capitalization, either.

  From receiving that and reading this article, I can definitely say that a person should not waste their time with that site.

• batit
  September 26th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

  Beware of essaywriters.net as well.
  They have the same modus operandi. They do not pay their writers. They still owe me some money and have accused me of plagarism when clearly my references were noted and the supposed plagarized items were part of a block quotation.

• UND
  December 9th, 2008 at 11:24 pm

  1. Could you or your readers suggest as to what one should do if Academia-Research commissions and then reneges on payment under some pretext.

  2. Many people do not seem to be aware that Academia-Research pays writers less than 40% of what it charges from its ‘customers’.

  3. Although the company’s website boasts of paying $ 7 – $ 20 per page to writers – to snare them into signing up – in practice, I have never seen any assignment offering more than $ 10 per page in my three years experience with the company.

• scammed by AR
  December 24th, 2008 at 1:15 am

  I have worked for AR for a year, you are right on. I have actually earned almost 20k from them as I do this all the time but as of late…payments have been later and later. I have written 410 papers this year and amassed 80 of their “bonus” points only to be told 2 days before christmas that I was not getting my bonus because that is only for writers who “understand their problems”. I am so irate that I cant even think right now. I am trying to retain an attorney and I am filing complaints and reports with every internet agency I can come up with. Pleasse help, does any one have any advice? My childrens’ christmas is ruined thanks to AR.

• UND
  December 30th, 2008 at 6:10 am

  It would be a good idea if all such cheated writers could join to bring a class action suit against the company. The company seems to be able to get away with cheating writers because most freelancers it employs are non-US-residents. Can some one come up with ideas to make the company accountable and pay up?

• UND
  December 30th, 2008 at 6:16 am

  I have seen a post on your blog in which the writer recommends Academia-Research as one of nine sites freelance writers can consider for working. How do you reconcile the post with “Academia-research Exposed as a Scam”? I mean A-R can not both be a recommended destination for freelancers and a scam-site at the same time?

• iakul
  January 6th, 2009 at 2:19 am

  @ UND : I believe you are referring to the article “Nine Legitimate Writing Sites Which Pay” by Sydney Hazelton. Both of us are writers for Triond, and Writinghood is one of it’s partner sites.Being two different people, I would expect differences of opinion when it comes to assessing whether a site is legitimate. I have spoken to her about this before. While I can’t claim that my word is better than hers, what I can do is present evidence that Academia-Research is not trustworthy, which is what I have tried to do in this article. If you have any questions about Sydney Hazelton’s article, I think it would be best if you talk to her instead. I can’t really speak for her and/or edit her article.

• Wynne
  January 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am

  I worked as a writer for academia-research.com – they told me I had two complaints about my last two papers and then fined me.
  I contacted one of the customers to find out he paid 300.00 to the site for the paper – but I was only given 120.00 for writing it. Of course, once you subtract the fine of 96.50 – I’m only getting 23.50 for writing 20 pages. Nice profit for them, eh?

• tequila
  January 21st, 2009 at 6:08 am

  i worked for AR for four years. I recently deactivated my account. Enough is enough! I had three payment problems with them last yr. because of SWREG. They did not returned my $950 but they posted that the payment problems were resolved already. Xmas is coming last dec. 2008 I was so happy thinking that I will be receiving $750 plus my bonus, on the other hand, I received $150 fine for plagiarism that they fabricated. I faught and defended myself that I did not plagiarized and sent them two plagiarism reports from two of the most reputable plagiarism testers. They did not listen. My works were written from scratch and well-referenced. Recently, I received another fine notification coz of bad quality for the same order, I was surprised becoz for that particular order the client gave me a good feedback. For one week, I did not reply to any of their messages, until I decided to deactivate my account. One more thing, AR is very strict in implementing their policies to their writers but they are violating these policies themselves just to please the clients. For example, asking you to revise an order that was submitted three months ago. Threatening you of implementing fines if you will not revise the paper. They pay their writers, but durng the peak season they will intend to delay payments or deduct fines to their writers. Talking about quality, what is their standard for quality? Their staff can’t even spell “brief” correctly. Alex and Victoria are mean! and I really hate them!

• jay
  February 21st, 2009 at 8:59 am

  I naively completed the application process with AR and never heard back from them. I sent a few nasty emails and finally received a grammatically incorrect response that addressed none of my concerns, apparently the idiots and morons running the scam on AR can neither read nor write in English.

• Paul
  March 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am

  I am a writer working with AR for over 3 years now, and I have to comment that this company works really efficiently and earnestly. I would not like to back stab the company that I work for. I am not defending them either! But, as no one is perfect, I would like to enlighten most of you who are considering a career with AR to decide and judge for yourself. Not everything that you read, you should believe in! My personal experience with them has been till today very good, though sometimes there seems to be a problem with the payment which tends to be delayed, but I still receive the full sum that I expected. Sometimes I get disappointed, but I look at the positive side of it.

  There also tends to be some clashes between the Quality Dept and myself, because they told me already 2 times that I had wrongly done the paper, I was fined but still it was not $100 as some of you say! It was $20 for the fact that I did not use the proper format and the references were missing. I was at fault, I admit it.

  There were several occasions that I had some problems with the assignment, the administration members have always attended to me without keeping any grudges against my statistics. To be honest enough, sometimes it is difficult for me to be on time, I always ask for extensions which the admin start with their favorite sentence: please contact the customer for the extensions. I have always considered the quality of the paper and the deadline to be my priority and then the money that we get out of it. If I was blinded by the greed of only acquiring money, I would have chosen another profession, but I preferred to have someone appreciate my talent which in turn brings me my earning.

  My advice to all the future candidates who would like to apply to a position as a writer would be that punctuality and quality are the two most important step stones of AR.

• iakul
  March 9th, 2009 at 11:27 am

  I do agree with you that everyone shouldn’t believe in everything they read, Paul. However given the command of the English language that you exhibit in your comment, you are just shooting yourself in the foot and setting yourself up with that statement. How do you expect people to look at your comment and believe that what you are telling is the truth when you say that “punctuality and quality are the two most important step stones of AR” and yet have used you as a writer for 3 years?

• ND
  March 11th, 2009 at 12:26 am

  i am considering becoming a member of AR but i it seems to be a not so lucrative option based on the cooments posted here. i was wondering if any of you could suggest other options where i can get paid for freelancing. I am new at this and would like to know if it is ok to give them personal information along with bank account details because i cannot afford to be swindled. thanks

• Scott
  March 14th, 2009 at 11:51 am

  I’m of the same position as Paul, although I can’t say that I’ve been with AR for that long. In my case, maybe a year or so at the most.

  Generally, I’m happy with the way things are going. I only choose the essays which have topics that interest me, complete them on time and to a quality level that’s on par with the pay. There are some delays in payment, but I found that once I switched my payment method to Paypal, it was much better. When I started with them I used Remote check, which was often a few days behind. Anyway, even if my pay is held up one or two days, I’m not the kind of guy to lose sleep over it. As long as the amount they pay is equal to the amount I calculate before hand, I’m content.

  Fines, warnings, etc, I’ve had my share. But the nice thing is that warnings disappear after a few orders and the fines are usually reasonable (once I was fined 10% for not using the right format, however, the total pay for the order was $54, so 10% isn’t all that earth shattering, one less Big Mac I suppose). Although, the guy who referred me to AR told me that if you get busted for plagiarism, the fine is rather large, which to me is expected since plagiarism would be really embarrassing for them and the students – if caught that is.

  The Admin people, I’d have to say not native speakers, but I don’t care so long as I get paid for my effort. Located in the US or India, doesn’t matter to me. Times are tough now and I need some extra money. I should add though that the grammar of the Administrators is often shockingly better than that of clients. Go figure.

  While on that note, my biggest problem with working for AR, doesn’t actually come directly from the company, but rather clients. Some of these kids have no idea what they want and when you ask for clarification you sometimes have to wait a long time for a response. When they do reply, I often can’t understand what they’re talking about or they give very little guidance. It’s like pulling teeth sometimes.

  Anyway, my advice to anyone thinking about AR – try it, but I definitely would not want to try to make a living off of it. I tried that at first and found that it was unmanageable. Sometimes, you’ll get a client who sets a revision 3 or 4 times, which just messes you up for all the other orders you have going on. This leads to late and “low quality” fines because you’re constantly under the gun. If you do it that way, it’s a horrible snowball effect. Now, I just use AR to supplement my day job and I have no serious complaints.

  Last thing, Iakul, I don’t know what posts you’ve been reading, but this thread is by no means a beauty pageant of English grammar, whether the position is for or against AR. Maybe some of us simply save our best effort for our paid writing.

• iakul
  March 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

  Thank you Scott for your comment. I do appreciate feedback form the other side of the camp. And I do expect writers to make the occasional typo and mistake in an informal setting such as this. However, it’s a long stretch to “say some of us simply save our best effort for our paid writing” when the comment I was referring to has numerous grammar mistakes and misuses several words and yet still claims “punctuality and quality are the two most important step stones of AR”. Like using the words “important step stones” instead of “cornerstone”, for instance. It actually takes a lot of effort for someone proficient in English to come up with a comment like that, considerably more than the effort expended on an article suitable for “a beauty pageant of English grammar”

• iakul
  May 5th, 2009 at 9:03 am

  Thank you Donk for your comment. However, you seem to have misinterpreted and taken both my article and my previous comments out of context.

  1) My previous 2 comments pointed out that Paul’s comment with the phrase “punctuality and quality are the two most important step stones of AR” lacks credibility since on the one hand it’s saying AR values punctuality and quality and on the other hand, the comment itself shows a very poor grasp of English.

  2) It’s not AR employing writers who do not have perfect English that I’m having an issue with. It’s them telling both writers AND customers that they only employ good writers but going ahead and employing anyone who comes along.

  3) It’s true paper mills aren’t exactly legit, but even compared to their competitors, AR is especially shady.Funny you should pick Essaywriters.net to compare it to, given their shared history. AR was started by someone who left Essaywriters.net, and while it’s just slightly better than Essaywriters.net in terms of trustworthiness, that doesn’t say much, given the state of Essaywiters.net

  4) It’s one thing to not be a squeaky-clean legit company with a legit and easily accessible US office. It’s another thing altogether if you tell your writers your office is in a place where it isn’t and a bunch of other lies to attempt to appear to be a legit company. While you appear to be one of the writers who know what they are signing up for, it might surprise you that quite a number of writers writing for AR actually believe that they are working for a legit company (At least for the first few months)

  5) Good to hear that somehow, you have not had any major non-payment issues or fines. The fact still remains that there are a fair number of writers who have given up on expecting payment.

• DONK
  May 6th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

  that’s cool, iakul. I know that AR was started by former EW managers; that’s what drew me to them in the first place– someone else obviously couldn’t stand it at EW anymore, and had to leave. although supposedly, now EW is under new management.

  it may be that I’ll be eating my own words, too– AR might just be suckering me in until they can withhold a really big payment. this fear is at the back of my mind most of the time, in fact.

  but I still have an issue with your complaining about AR misrepresenting itself, and again, it’s because of the industry. every single term-paper mill I have ever worked for has misrepresented itself in some capacity. why pick out AR, when there are much better targets? I interviewed at a mill a few years ago that paid a flat rate of $4 per page, for all work, even next-day rushes. why not them? EW is pit of vipers, as you seem to know; why not them? at least AR tries, pays on time, and sometimes they even work things out, remove penalties, support the writer over the customer, etc.– behaviors that would never fly at a lot of their compo. so, my issue is mainly, when you have so many fish in a barrel to shoot at, why aim for AR? they all hire hacks. I think maybe you have a personal axe to grind, and so I just wanted to defend them a little bit.

  no offense. we hacks need to stick together. if we formed a union, they wouldn’t be able to treat us like this. but as it is, we’re scattered across the globe… the new “global proletariat,” exploited to the nth degree…

• Theodore Greenberg
  May 21st, 2009 at 5:41 pm

  Hi iakul,

  I just finished working for Academia-Research

  Phew I finished this and I feel better!

  First my English sucks, was born in LA LA City School District High School graduate San Diego State University BS 1979 Technion Institute MSc 1999
  I took an early retirement in 2001 and a certification Microsoft MCSE 2000

  I tried to pickup mostly scientific work, I did a few IT things and and a legal equity essay.I read the listings daily some really wacko stuff and the page charges were nominal to fair. But like any business they have seasonal issues and their idea of what plagarism is and mine are quite different. I make no qualms to my students about cut past of open-source information, deliver a product. They used the plagarism late payments and alot of trivial repairs to make me more than happy for getting that dreaded 3rd warning. They sat me on 2 warnings for a long time.

  My big question was this material real!! Were they manufacturing assignments to fill their Available order board and make there boards full. It seemed like technicians were writing these assignments. I got compliment letters twice for the 14 orders I did .

  When I went to school we knew our professors, you did work they knew if it was yours or not. My wife took an ethical exception from day 1 when I started the job. She flipped when I woke and got that first plagarism notice. This is why I studied Science because knowledge and information is open source and we use the internet to dispense knowledge. Of course when my original work appears on someone else’s site I don’t like it. I never felt bad helping student’s for pay and I always asked them to be sure they understood what I wrote them, I tried to get the customers to participate in the paper being written. I feel I have been cheated for the long work I put in to produce these papers and I am looking to form an academia settlement group who want to take recourse on them

• Ahmed
  June 6th, 2009 at 4:20 am

  It’s very naive when they respond you in grammatically wrong enghlish, only to tell you that ur grammar is incorrect. HahaHaHa…These people sucK…

• Sandy Openshaw
  August 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 am

  Hi there,

  I recently found AR and was excited at the prospect of being able to legitimately work from home doing what I love. After reading these posts I am no longer sure if I have made the right decision. Are there ANY legimitate writing sites on the internet? If you know of any please let me know on sandy@solmatrix.co.za. I really want to be able to write from home and make some extra money.
  Regards
  Sandy

• dhart2
  August 12th, 2009 at 9:54 pm

  People can say what the want about academia but I have worked with them for about 3 years now. I agree that some of the customers have no idea what they want.

  My only complaint is that they do not pay on time. They used to pay on the 10th and 25th like their webpage states, but they usually pay after the 10th and the 25th because of their billing company.

  I have not only written with them, but I have emailed and I get on the phone if they haven’t emailed. The number on their website is legit…it just takes awhile to get in.

  So, you can say what you want but they ARE legit…I’ve done over 200 papers for them and I have been paid…

• shirley
  August 12th, 2009 at 11:36 pm

  Hi. I work for AR for a year now..my complaint is not the delay of payment but rather the RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL manner by which the admin team treats the writers. Most of the time, I was made to feel that I am sub-human, and those people who runs AR are superhumans.. weird. Can someone be kind enough to share information on sites/companies that hire freelance online writers? I really need a job from home, as I have my kids to attend to. email me at sg_lao8@yahoo.com Thank you very much!

• Syn
  August 16th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

  Hi,
  I was also planning on joining Academia, but I’m having second thoughts after reading this article and comments.
  Erm, I was actually trying this (freelance writing online) out for the first time and clearly these comments have not given me any assurance that working with Academia is going to be worth my time.
  And since I’m very new to this doing stuff online, I can’t comment on whether they are a scam or not. But for those who desire to work from home, I have been doing a bit of researching of my own. And you might want to check http://www.about.com and type in freelance writing jobs or just abut anything related to that subject. I’m not guaranteeing it will answer your prayers, but it might give you some ideas.

  Hope it helps
  Cheers

• tonijane
  August 24th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

  Hi. I saw that it’s my mylot post, and to be honest, I felt bad. You did apologize but I still find it offensive.

  I worked in AR for a year, and I have been paid every month, without delays. My account is still active but I haven’t found time to work again. Or maybe I would no longer work there after reading all those comments.

  As for essaywriters.net, I was afraid when I saw posts saying that it was a scam. I have $400 yet to be paid. I waited and after 7 working days, it was credited to my bank account. Right now, I haven’t accepted any order because of my hectic schedule.

• iakul
  August 26th, 2009 at 9:57 am

  The editors at Triond have edited my article, taking out my first point, after tonijane raised obejections to her post on MyLot, a public forum, being linked to.

  So for those of you obervant enough to notice and wonder why the line “So now they are not only lying to writers they hire about hiring standards, they are also lying to customers.” reads like that, it’s because there used to be another 1st point in front, detailing the requirements that Academia research supposedly impose on writers who apply and providing proof that Academia research just posts those requirements to convince writers that they have gotten a prestigious job. and will hire just about anyone who applies.

• Amanda
  September 2nd, 2009 at 1:09 pm

  Hi,
  There are so much of discussion on how Admin (in A-R) and Support (Essaywriters.net) staffs respond. How good they are with grammer, punctuation, bla bla and may be this comment will also be judged by the so called writing experts here.
  This is my fourth year with Academia-research and more than three years with Essaywriters.net. Like any working organisation, these two have their problems and issues. I have written almost 3000 pages. I had experienced payment delays 3-4 times in last four years of my work which I feel is acceptable. The communication and response has been timely and we have been informed about the payment delays in advance.
  I do not think any company in the market place has not fabricated in its marketing or communication strategies. These two companies are not exception. People like to talk about bad issues and blogging etc has provided a platform to reach thousands of people.
  Now do not blame me to be advocate of any of these company. I am working with both and I do not have that bad experience in any area of payment, communication or revision that I would terminate my account/relationship with them.
  warm regards

• Lien
  September 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

  Who am I suppose to believe with all these comments? I’m planning to sign up for AR and now I’m having a second thought about it. HAIST…!

• bushuru
  September 8th, 2009 at 6:41 am

  i just signed up for AR today and i haven’t even had a response but with these comments implying the nasty experience, am rethinking. i cant risk a whole months….

• Karimi
  October 30th, 2009 at 7:10 am

  Ahem… am now rethinking… I really want to work online, but I’d hate a nasty experience. At least I don’t want to waste my time. Somebody kindly help this lady in Kenya! Which is the legit company to work with? I choose to rule out Academia research – which was my good option until I bumped on this article on google. Kind one, you might need this: gadsyder@yahoo.com
  Thanks

• James
  November 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 am

  Karimi did you fine a legitimate firm?Please let me know the name…

• Subhakar
  November 18th, 2009 at 3:12 am

  Thank you for this information. I was looking for a good site to write articles and stumbled on this one. So I wanted to check if the site is paying or not. The site does not talk anything about minimum payout or payout time in the FAQ and the site is not much informative. I think I will not join this site. Thank you once again and keep posting …

• Andrew Mellon
  November 28th, 2009 at 2:24 am

  Better to work for companies via The Language Mall.

  at http://www.thelanguagemall.com

  An honest directory of writing jobs.

• B.K.J
  December 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am

  Do thet charge something to sign up?I have seen data entry sites promising pots of gold for a penny!
  If they don’t loot you in suttle overtones then a little risk or sweat can only be good exercise for the brain.

• SHANKAR
  December 20th, 2009 at 5:06 am

  Never believe this Academia research institute.Without ascertaining the capability of the writer, some employee sitting in the site decides whether to reply or not.Genuine writers they are not interested.They want oly bogus writers who are writing for only money sake and not quality.

• Kanti Mohan Pandit
  December 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 am

  Perhaps I am one of the latest victimes of Academia-research. I have been working for them since 2007. First year they paid well. Second year they delayed payment without reason. After many requests and begging they paid after six months after a huge deductions. In third year my membership is deactivated all of a sudden when I completed 16 articles in 20 days and the company owed $600 to me. I have written many emails but there is no reply. After reading so many comments from writers on this site it appears they have no intention to pay and I became a victim of fraud. I request some of the local writer based in New york to complain to the cyber crime cell about these frauds. We all writers should provide evidence about the scam.
  KantiPandit
  kanti.pandit@gmail.com

• louchris
  January 20th, 2010 at 8:18 pm

  Lucky me. Do I get to do the first posting of 2010?

  I was on the verge of pressing the submit button on the AR website and sending my application and I throught (as others have): For a freelance writing site, why is the grammer so bad. I better Google.

  Sure enough, something is rotten in Denmark. But I see mixed emotions in this thread. And I have received email responses from AR. So I might give it a try.

• chrisitne
  January 21st, 2010 at 4:35 pm

  i was thinking of applying at AR but now i have been discouraged.the best writing company is freelance writing center.they pay on time and they do not fine you for anything.all you have to do is meet the dealine set and follow clients instructions.i have never had my payment delayed and they pay me after a week if i want.the only thing is that they are very very very strict in hiring and it is hard to be selected.

• iakul
  January 21st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

  @chrisitine That “best writing company” you are recommending has the same traits as Academia Research, namely bad writing, being a paper mill site, and people claiming that they have very high hiring standards. It even has pretty much the same system that Academia Research uses. I’m not sure how many companies in the paper mill industry look like Academia Research, but a guess that this is Academia Research under another name likely won’t be off the mark.

  And it’s quite obvious that you are affiliated with Freelance Writing Center.

• Chasmodai
  January 28th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

  I haven’t had any problems with A-R’s payment myself. They do go through dry spells though, which is really annoying.

  They have no hiring standards, by the way. I’ve been writing for them since last year, and I’m a junior in high school.

• ella
  April 6th, 2010 at 2:12 pm

  Thank you. I’m a technical writer who found a link to academiaresearch.com through a legitimate job website. It seemed suspect so i did a few googles. I’m glad i did..

• Ronnie
  April 13th, 2010 at 8:23 am

  Thanks! I’m glad I’ve read these comments about AR. Now I know what to do. I’m a new applicant by the way.

• Rox
  May 5th, 2010 at 6:02 am

  AR duped me, too. Threw all kinds of accusations at me such as my powerpoint presentation weren’t submitted! And to think I even exchange correspondence with the client who, initially, couldn’t open the file and was able to after second try. How can they claim the file was never sent???? They totally did not pay me on the jobs I did for them. Such rude HR people, too!!

• C.E. Watson
  May 20th, 2010 at 1:23 pm

  I had never heard of that site but I’ll be sure to stay far away from it. Thank you!

• Omer
  June 11th, 2010 at 9:53 am

  I was going to work for my first assignment at academia research but this whole thread has discouraged me. Now I am quitting this site. What a waste. I have searched for a credible site for freelance and that also came out to be fake.

• sammy69er
  July 14th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

  Here is a transcript of a live chat conversation I had with Academia-Research.

  Make of it what you will, but I have some large suspicions of their activities after this converstaion.

  Note the grammar, or lack thereof.

  [brian] How does the site work?
  [Marilyn] hello
  [Marilyn] How may I help you?
  [brian] What is the street address of your business?
  [brian] Having trouble replying?
  [Marilyn] Albany, NY state, the USA
  [Marilyn] 41 State Street, Suite 106, Albany, NY 12207, USA
  [brian] Your address is listed as 15111 N. Hayden Road, STE 160, PMB 353, Scottsdale , Arizona
  [brian] Your current location is shown to be somewhere in the UKRAINE
  [Marilyn] it is the billing address
  [Marilyn] sorry ?
  [Marilyn] where?
  [Marilyn] it probably showes the bank
  [Marilyn] address
  [Marilyn] which is transferring money
  [Marilyn] form that department
  [brian] Is the business owner Alexey Vitchenko available?
  [Marilyn] you can talk to
  [Marilyn] operators only
  [brian] So you have 2 addresses for what purpose?
  [brian] While also listing an incorrect address referring to a location in New York which does not exist?
  [brian] Academia-Research Empire State Building, 350 5t 350 Str New York City, NY 10118 USA
  [brian] Too busy to reply?
  [brian] Or can’t think of a lie to tell?
  [Marilyn] Is there anything else I can help you with?
  [brian] I would like help with the questions I have asked.
  [brian] I would also like a clear answer as to my question above. Why did you list an incorrect address.
  [brian] The street address given as Scottsdale Arizona is occupied by your parent company – “Domains By Proxy”
  [brian] However, your actual location is far from the US. Isn’t it?
  [brian] Is your current address: Kotovskogo str. 5, #17 Kyiv, 04016 UA?
  [brian] You no longer wish to communicate?
  [brian] What happened to: “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

• evemelda
  July 16th, 2010 at 4:42 am

  hi, i was about to sign up as a writer for AR.. but wont after this. Does anyone know of any online writing site that does not scam its writers? I would immensely appreciate the help.

• AR writer.
  October 18th, 2010 at 1:45 am

  Hi,

  I read through each and every comment here. I have been working with AR for over a year now. I have not yet had any trouble with the payments. In fact, I have got three of my friends also to join them. There have been delays sometimes; but nothing which are not justified.

  For those who are looking for a suggestion; there is no harm in checking out the place. They are not so vicious as to eat you up overnight. You can start by taking less work in the beginning. If you are satisfied, you can continue; if you are not, you have no obligation, whatsoever, to continue working for them.

  There might be some truth in the negative comments given here. But, it is all about how you take it. The payments can get delayed due to many problems. As far as I know, AR releases them bang on time. You can never expect any online firm to get you the money on a particular date every month. Internet payments are subject to many kinds of delays.

  As for the admin’s lack of command over English, I would say, that need not be anybody’s worry as long as they don’t start replacing the writers.

  Also, it is not at all true that they accept all those who apply. I know for a fact that they don’t. I also know that the person who evaluates the test assignment is knowledgeable enough about the language to handle the task efficiently.

  If you are looking for a final answer about the legitimacy of AR, internet is not the best source of advice. You must decide what to take and what to throw while checking out reviews online.

  For all those are reconsidering their plan to apply for a place with the AR, be advised that they are definitely worth a try. And for all those who have changed their minds reading the negative comments, it is time to think it over once again.

• iakul
  October 20th, 2010 at 5:28 am

  At the risk of sounding like a broken tape recorder, I’m going to repeat what I have already mentioned a few times. Arguing that a “writing site” is legitimate and that it has hired you, while it is apparent that your grasp of English is lacking, is not going to help your case for the site.

• AR writer.
  October 26th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

  Whoever you are, iakul, your own grasp of english does not sound good enough to give you the right to comment on someone else’s language proficiency. and none other than you seem to be thinking of this as a ‘case for this site’. Most of them are just sharing their experiences while you are going on defending your arguments using repetitive comments.

• iakul
  October 28th, 2010 at 3:01 am

  AR writer, you are correct when you say that most of them are just sharing their experiences. However, I’m not the one “defending my arguments using repetitive comments” here. You are the one who is resorting to flaming, and if I had the inclination to do so, I could point out a number of areas in your previous comment where you are either outright lying or being terribly naive.

• odesk
  October 28th, 2010 at 7:23 pm

  whatever! I have my own online website that offers working at home. I am satisfied. the employers are very supportive to you and are nice.

• AR writer.
  October 29th, 2010 at 1:02 am

  Iakul, I am definitely not lying; the points mentioned in my first comment are all stated out of my experience.

  And please note, I am not arguing that they are legitimate; you will not find me saying so anywhere in any of my comments; I have no proof that they are. I am just asking people to try them out themselves before judging them.

  I find that fair enough; but that is just my perspective. I believe in, “Believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear”. All those who have a different view may skip my comments.

  They may not be legitimate and I might have to eat my words, sooner or later, for all I know. But, so far, I have not had any trouble with the payment. And as for the management’s lack of proficiency in English, I have not had to deal with it as an issue, yet.

  I accept that I have been with them for just over a year and for the same reason, I am not in a position to argue about their legitimacy. But, so far, I repeat, so far, I have not had any trouble and that is all I wish to say.

  Cheers!!

• techywriter
  December 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am

  Interesting article, and even more interesting thread.

  Being with AR for only just a few months, I’m not in the position to argue either for or against the company. I’d like to point out however that some of the writers’ comments I’ve read are grammatically incorrect – certainly NOT quality writing. I hate to think that the clients (some of which are non-native speakers of English expecting to receive “quality” results, as the site claims) are actually paying for outputs that look anything like those comments.

• Brooke
  December 18th, 2010 at 10:13 am

  I’ve been working for AR for a little over 1-2 years now. I have had the same experience, where the payments were prompt at first and now I’m getting paid later every month.

  I also didn’t have any problems in the beginning with the Admin. Now, I am experiencing random problems like the admin putting papers in my box that I’ve already completed then saying they will fine me because it is seven days late, even though it was complete. This has happened to me at least 4 – 5 times in the past 3 months.

  There are other disputes where the same problem has happened. This has been combined with some scam papers that were in the site, which I’ve lost at least $300 from. I think I’ve lost as much money as I’ve gained. I’ve noticed this happens after I reach a certain plateau with my earnings.

  I’m not sure if scam is the right word for this site. I think a lack of professionalism and the inability to have a system that works is a more legitimate way is practical until proven otherwise. The concern is that there are a lot of unjustified problems that writer’s can’t do anything about because of the administration and way the site is run.

  There is a space called the Freelancers Union that I’m a part of and which is designed to protect writers and freelancers from these types of problems. (Honestly, I don’t know exactly how). I’m considering contacting them to see if something can be done about the unfair treatment and want to know if anyone else wants to give me some information or work with me on this. If so, contact me at brooke.hart97@yahoo.com.

• Subhan
  December 21st, 2010 at 3:33 am

  AR uses shameless tactics to make money by mean of unjustified fines. Angelina and Victoria are the biggest scam there. Their real names are not as such. They are Indians, but pose to be Americans with fake English names and fake office addresses. I know this as Angelina once wanted to marry with me. She shared a few things with me that was shocking for me. They are scams. Pay less and earn more. They do not even pay 30% to the writers for each order writer completes. On this, they find ways to put heavy fines on writers. I wish there is some online police who can teach them a good lesson legally.

• ts
  February 7th, 2011 at 1:06 pm

  Iakul,

  There is a capitalization error in the first sentence of this article and a subject-verb agreement error in the second. You may want to correct that.

• penny
  February 11th, 2011 at 12:06 pm

  Iakul
  You have been singing lores about grammar and language. You have not provided anyone with one ‘legitimate’ example/name. Where is the constructive part of your research??
  And ya, do you also belong to the HR of AR?
  Just trying to justify your rudeness!!

• Kent
  March 8th, 2011 at 5:53 pm

  Of all the posts from AR writers defending AR, I don’t believe I read one that sounds like it was written by a professional writer. If I sent a job to AR and it was written anything line this, I would want my money back too.

  All things considered, you writers should be grateful for the low number of complaints.

  Of the others that can write; and you know who you are, you should be intelligent enough to know what to do and what not to do.

• James
  March 12th, 2011 at 2:54 am

  I am satisfied with the pay scale, and select only papers I am able to complete. There are always two sides to every coin, unfortunately this means it tends to be the same coin.

• Maria
  April 16th, 2011 at 1:31 pm

  I have worked for AR on and off since 2006. Until this week, I have never had an issue with payment. At times, I have been chastised right on the client message board, for something out of my control. For example, I was told I had to revise a customer order. The customer added additional instructions and material after the project had been completed for a week. Just last week I was told to upload an order right away, because it was late. The order still had 12 hours left. I have been on time,, unless taking an order in which the deadline had already expired. I will never do that again. I have no fines or issues at the moment, but am still waiting for April 10th payment. Each time I inquire I get a reply email stating that the payment company has released payment. I have received 3 of these so far. The problem is that the payment company also has a poor reputation and is noted for problems, for both customers and merchants alike. I am beginning to believe some of the complaints I have read on the message boards, from both customers and writers. I have a Master’s degree and have some of my projects posted in my University’s database, as examples. I have been asked on occasion, to revise some very shoddy work by other writers. I don’t believe they all provide such poor quality. I don’t believe customers are always right. Knowing they have a right to a revision, if they forget to add some details or sources the prof has asked for, they sometimes take advantage. I have even had a customer request that the entire essay be redone, because he/she submitted the wrong format. ie: APA instead of MLA. Take the advice of someone who has been with AR for some time and is just now beginning to experience some issues, be very cautious.

• Maria
  April 16th, 2011 at 1:50 pm

  AR Writer,

  I will make a comment to your statement that internet sites do not always pay on time. I have worked for other companies (not writing) from internet sites (and still do). I receive my pay on time every time, like clockwork.

  While I can understand a day or two, there is no legitimate excuse for being over a week late. This is especially true when you have been told the funds will be in your account within 2 days, then 2 days later you get another message that states the same thing, after a second inquiry. I am saddened by the company\’s behavior. I am saddened that I have been reprimanded for things that the customer has done, such as forgetting to add instructions or required material. Don\’t try to come back with \”if you know the subject you will know what the customer wants.\” Every professor is different, even in the same subject matter. I am saddened by the thought of customers getting very low quality work. I am saddened for being told I was late on an order that had 12 hours remaining. When dishonest people get screwed over, they probably deserve it. When honest people get screwed over, they have a right to do whatever they can, within legal means, about the situation.

  What doesn\’t make sense to me is why a company would not pay a writer who just finished two very large orders, one a request for the writer and the other for a friend the customer referred. Isn\’t that like shooting one\’s self in the foot? Seems like a poor business model for any company, reputable or not.

• Writer
  April 19th, 2011 at 1:46 am

  AR is one of the companies I work for. hey have never given me any fines or warnings for anything. They paid on time, and were the best paying of all the companies I worked for, until I got sick and was not able to work. Now they owe me nearly $500 and keep making excuses about why the payment is nearly two weeks late. I’m wondering if the payment will suddenly appear if I take some more assignments. However, I don’t know what people expect as far as “legitimate” term paper writing. It’s not exactly ethical work, so there are never going to be ethical companies providing this service that writers can work for. I hope they pay me, and if they don’t, I will be disappointed and not continue to work for them, but I knew I was signing up for something dodgy from the start. I can’t believe anyone goes to work for these companies and expects them to be 100% legit.

• Maria
  April 19th, 2011 at 10:53 am

  It seems this time there are other AR writers with the same problem. I tried accepting and completing another small order. Still no payment. Why would I want to continue doing work for a company that will not pay? Interesting to see what happens with April 25th payment, if they are already so late with the 10th. As far as ethical work, it is only unethical when customers use an essay and present it as their own. They are the ones that make it dodgy. However, I am sure that the essay writing companies know this, even if the post notices that urge customers not to turn in the work as their own. I have worked for one other writing service that did pay on time, every time. I understand that many writers submit poor quality work. For those who do not, there is no excuse for not paying. Yes, maybe I have learned a lesson from this. That will not stop me from taking further measures. If a company makes a claim about on time payment and states that it pays on certain days, it is a form of contract.

• Snickers
  April 22nd, 2011 at 5:44 am

  Hi Maria,

  I have the same problem. AR did not pay me for April 10 cut-off and has been putting up flimsy excuses to avoid payment. I am wondering as well what happens on the April 25th payment due. Can I contact you via email?

• Maria
  April 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 pm

  Snickers,

  contact me at bmbnowicki3@gmail.com

• Monica
  May 5th, 2011 at 3:15 pm

  I recently started working with this company as well. I have had complications with them concerning many factors within just a few weeks. Based on my communication with them, it is evident that they are a foreign company. But this isn’t really what bothers me. You can run a business that employs writers without knowing how to write, yourself. What bothers me is that they approve you for assignments, take your work, and then ‘cancel’ the assignment without paying you. They attribute this to the decision of the client to cancel the paper but the company should still be responsible for paying its employees. I fear that AR is taking writers’ work and profiting from it without compensating anyone at all. Has anyone experienced this in the year 2011? Maria, have you received a payment yet?

• Maria
  May 8th, 2011 at 10:55 am

  Monica,
  I have experience a little of everything. I think the excuse of the client canceling the order is just that. Payment has been very spotty for the past few weeks. Many writers have been fined after the customer left positive feedback. Just another way to get out of paying. I will not provide any more work for this company. I also want to warn other writers. Companies that make excuses not to pay what they owe or claim to have problems with payments are just trying to see what they can get away with. Be very careful if you continue to work for this company.

• King
  May 13th, 2011 at 6:32 pm

  People, I am a writer with AR and I have experienced almost every one of the problems discussed in this forum. But the fact is that I am yet to see any perfect company in this world. I read these forums before registering for the company and I seem to have experienced every bit of it but the truth is that those are not reasons to call the company a scam. I guess writers who are not hard working are the ones who will continue having problems with them but as far as one is ready to work hard, it shall be fine with the person. Patience for some little delays with payments also help because delayed payments are eventually paid. AR is never a SCAM!!!

• Maria
  May 18th, 2011 at 1:09 pm

  King,

  Your comment suggests that writers are not hard working. How would you know? If your definition of hard working is continuing to work, with no idea about when one might get paid for services already completed, you are wrong. That kind of thinking does not make sense from any point of view. Many are probably working more than one job, attending classes and have many other responsibilities. Yest, it is valid to say that a company that experiences long delays in payment is a scam. If employees at the cable company did not get paid for a week or two, beyond their regular pay date, they would walk out. Just because business is conducted on the internet, is no excuse for delayed payment. In fact, conducting business on the internet should be just as straightforward as conducting business by any other means. People do work. They get paid. No exceptions. No excuses. I could understand a delay of one or two days. But, a delay of weeks is not acceptable, ever. It does nothing to develop trust and establish a positive working relationship. There are plenty of companies conducting business on the internet, that do pay on time, every time. Most people work for a very good reason, to make a living. If they are lucky, they find work that is also satisfying and rewarding. However, they will still expect to be paid. I don\’t know what kind of world you live in. In my world, people expect to be paid for work, in a timely manner. The doctor expects to be paid for an office visit, on time. The utility company expects payment, on time. The financial institution expects the mortgage payment, on time. It only makes sense that a person who works would be paid, on time. Otherwise, the entire system fails. Slavery and servitude were outlawed in most countries decades ago. People simply do not work hard for free or to be paid at some unknown time in the future.

  As for the other issues with AR, adding to insult, are the erroneous fines and verbal abuses by admin. Sending a message on the board, that an order well within the deadline is late, when it is not, is never acceptable. Chastising the same writer for defending his or herself, on the message board, is not acceptable either.

  When a person provides services for an organization, he or she is acting as a business/sole proprietor. As such, the person expects to be treated with some level of dignity and respect. If a plumber or electrician was treated this way by a customer, I can guarantee that he or she would not provide services in the future. This would be especially true, if the same customer delayed payment of services, making all kinds of excuses. People work for money, not for some hopes that future payment might be paid. Get real.

• Lorna
  May 29th, 2011 at 2:42 pm

  I was a victim of Academia Researchers ,after postponing my payments for two months, they eventually found reason to steal my hard worked for money. Having written close to a hundred papers, I was informed that two of them were plagiarized.I corrected and they were later accepted by the customers.Shockingly my account was closed and I lost $ 3800.
  Writers be aware of this site, I could not believe loosing such an amount of money. To me this is modern day slavery! The problem is that there is no where victims like me can turn to for assistance.

• Say
  July 3rd, 2011 at 1:09 am

  I agree with the 3rd point you mentioned. Lol. And second one too because that’s what they did to me! They terminated my account when they had to pay me for 4 completed orders giving baseless excuses. Yeah I messed up bibliography in one but they should’ve sent it to me for revision and paid me for other orders. hmph.

• Angie
  July 5th, 2011 at 10:55 am

  I’ve been writing with academia-research for over 3 years now. I saw this and just had to chime in. The first two months with the company were hell. They have MANY writers. I had to fight to get paid, to get answers, and even get assigned assignments– and even then I was in the $6 per page range.

  After two months, they made a quality review of my work, gave me ‘premium status’ and all problems ended. I regularly make $500-$2000 dollars per month, and work for $10-$22 per page. Its hassle free, and never once have they been late on a payment to me.

  I’ve heard they give ‘fines’ and refuse payment…. but it says right in their terms that they will if you don’t respond to your customers within 24 hrs and turn in orders on time. You hold up your end of the contract, they pay on time every time.

  I just can’t seem to see anything wrong with this, and I am a US writer. All the company asks is that you do what you say you’ll do, on time. Wouldn’t you do that for any customer?

  You will need to file your own tax forms, like a contractor– basically invoice it and treat it like any other client.

  Its just like any other job though, build a relationship with this company and they are an excellent source of work to fill inthe gaps in a freelance career during slow times, or to make extra income.

  I think this review is really harsh. Its a great company, the only down side is you have to build a relationship with them and (like many companies) their call center is outsources and barely speaks English. Communicate by email and you’ll be golden though.

• blaine
  July 11th, 2011 at 3:37 pm

  if you are working for one of these paper mills because you want to work from home, please remember: these people are shysters; they know that they are essentially helping students cheat and they’ll pay writers pennies on the dollars for their work. My guess is that the reason these companies get away with their con game is because they know that most writers are desperate for the money and embarassed by what they are doing. All of these firms are the same so please bear that all in mind.

  Crooks are crooks and if they do it with you, they’ll do it to you.

• Shakil Sharif
  August 15th, 2011 at 11:51 am

  I wrote an essay about macro-economics while I was working for Academia Research.I had no problem with receiving payment from them.Their requirement is not only proficiency in English but some knowledge on the subject you’re writing on. Academia research is a legit site. You can even make an Alertpay account on the spot for free and have your money transferred to you. Then transfer it from Alertpay to whatever else you want,literally. God bless.

• cheap shop
  October 4th, 2011 at 1:11 pm

  so what the truely site that paid us for post ?

• King
  October 6th, 2011 at 4:31 am

  Cheap Shop, Academia Research pays well. Just try them and don’t listen to the other people who refused to work hard when they were with them. I have been with them for 9 months and continue to recommend them to other people because they are good.

  The facts remain that if you do lazy and ill-researched work, you will be fined. But what I know is that you will never be fined under unreasonable circumstances. Believe it or not, there are times that customers have sent their works on dispute for poor quality but the company has judged me as innocent because the quality was goo. If the company was all about making money from its writers, it would never take its time to look into accusations of disputed work. They would only go ahead and fine the writer for the complain.

  Hope you try Academia-Research. I call their yellow colors ‘The City of Gold!’

• AB
  October 11th, 2011 at 1:25 am

  I worked for Academia Research for the past year. As I read the negative comments about them before joining, I undertook work occasionally while progressively adding more assignments.

  I got paid only twice. I am still owed two payments, and the company owes me around $500.

  First, they agree to pay you less then any other writing site on the web. Then they do not pay you. They are not what they claim they are.

  I would strongly recommend potential writers not to write for AR. However I believe that we need to expose these people in front of the customers as well. I am planning to use other forums to spread the message, forums that will get us closer to customers.

• Robin Williams
  October 12th, 2011 at 4:44 am

  academia-research cheats writers and clients alike. Avoid these scamsters.

  Robin

• Derrick Jones
  October 12th, 2011 at 4:52 am

  academia-research should be banned . They sell dissertations and thesis work to dumb university students. Once upon a time, we used to be proud of our education standards. They are buying phD thesis these days. This matter has been brought to the notice of the Education Commision . , and I hope the government cracks the whip and bans these websites soon.

  Derrick.

• Martina Jose
  October 12th, 2011 at 4:58 am

  academia-research are high class crooks. They sold my articles to clients and never paid me a penny, giving some excuse or the other. I did nt know that these notorious charecters have already been blcklisted. I should never have fallen into the trap. What a waste of time and energy !!

  MJ

• gloria
  October 12th, 2011 at 5:06 am

  Dont sell your creativity for pennies . Dont insult your talent. Academia-research sells your article at prices 1000 times the money they pay you. Many times they find excuses and dont pay you. Its better to start your own writing business then tie up with this notorious website. GA

• Robert Forsyth
  October 27th, 2011 at 8:33 pm

  Well, this is the truth about the site. You will get paid, but the pay is paltry. When you add in the number of hours required to do a paper on the site its not worth it. True, you will hear your just blinded by greed. Yes, I love money. I should be rewarded monetarily for my labor. Those who think otherwise wish to exploit their fellow man. If I am doing something for the sake of being appreciated I would write for another site, which gives me credit for my work. This site, due to its nature, is not going to do that. Therefore, the only reason to do it is money. If its pennies your getting paid it is not worth it.

• ROBIN
  October 31st, 2011 at 9:17 am

  I am just a passer-by on this site, but I have to say that I am a bit amazed at the quality of the posts here. I understand that this is only a message board, but if you people consider yourselves serious, reputable writers, you should make a little more effort on your posts. I’m not trying to offend, but I’m not surprised that many of you receive fines for your work…just sayin’

• andrew
  November 26th, 2011 at 6:07 pm

  for Iakul

  Ok…first of all – I followed all your links. The 3rd one is not working – however, it starts with http://www.helium.com. For those who don’t know, Helium is another big player on this market.
  The other three forums contain contradictory opinions. Some say that they work just fine with the Academia, others say that there were some delay problems but now everything is fine, others stopped after a month or so of waiting (bad luck )).

  Their website is ok. I noticed they exaggerate in some cases. So does anybody else who has an website, company or private. Nobody will tell you: our workers are lazy, we have cheap technology,our standards are low, we pay less then others, but hey… at least we are pleasent people.

  Everyone is the best! If you look at a market with 50 players, I bet that everyone of them will tell you he is the market leader…and so on. Companies always exaggerate. People always exaggerate.It’s our nature.

  Maybee some writers are really F****up, their english is very bad (like mine – i’m not a writer by the way – my wife is). But at the end of the day, it’s easier to point the finger, rather than
  admit that maybe yo’re not so good…maybe you should find something else to do.

  The last thing – any company can have headquarters and a lot of branches. If they have official headquarters in Arizona, nobody says they can’t have a brance or a rented office in NY, at the Empire State Building.

  So really, what’s your point ???

• iakul
  November 29th, 2011 at 8:39 pm

  Andrew: Thanks for telling me about the broken link.

  However,

  Helium is not “another big player on this market”. One is in the paper mill industry(Academia-Research), and the other one is an article directory site. That would be like saying drug peddlers and pharmacists are both in the same market since they sell drugs. You also seem to have been quite selective in what “opinions” you posted from the forums.

  Their website is better than it was 3 years ago. Now, just about every paragraph only contains a mistake or two. This is a, as they put it, a “freelance writing services” site. They tell you about the “premium quality of their work”, that writers have to go through “a serious writer evaluation process”. Not every website exaggerates(but that’s beside the point). This is a company that is telling you upfront a lie that you don’t have to look far to uncover, and they either don’t care or don’t know (or both). Either case is bad news.

  And no, they do not have an office or a branch at the Empire State Building.

• angatia
  April 29th, 2012 at 5:23 pm

  These guys can be inhuman.I wrote five orders.One Financial Maths assignment whose deadline was five days ahead was judged to be late.They started haranguing me to complete it.Then,they gave me two warnings and within 24 hours they deactivated my account.I pleaded with the morons but they never replied.In short,I lost about $ 50.I think they can improve if they improved on communications and integrity.

• Danes
  May 15th, 2012 at 12:37 am

  I’m a freelance research writer, and I recommend londonbrokers.net. Although the pay is not as high as others, THEY DO PAY ACCURATELY, AND ON TIME. Payments are made twice a week.

  I’m also looking for other legitimate online writing jobs, so if you guys know of any, please say so. Thanks!