Oxbridge Essays founder cleared
Philip Malamatinas, the founder of Oxbridge Essays, has been cleared of bringing his university into disrepute. Philip, a geography finalist at the University of Birmingham, launched the company a fortnight ago to provide essays written by students at Oxford and Cambridge. The University of Birminghamhad been investigating whether Philip was guilty of bringing his university into disrepute by offering the tailor-made essays.
Recent media attention had focused on the potential plagiarism and cheating the company encourages. Malamatinas said, “What we are doing is perfectly legitimate. The university wrote to me saying that they wanted to discuss precisely what my company does. We had a talk and they then cleared me of any charges. I am no longer under investigation.” The company states that the essays, on sale for up to £800, are for “research only.
Their website said that “the essays are intended to be a source of inspiration, of good style and of professional referencing for your work. “We prohibit you from handing in these essays as your own. If you do, you will be breaching the copyright for this essay which will be held exclusively by Oxbridge Essays.” While Malamatinas has been cleared of charges from Birmingham University, there has been an angry response from Oxford and Cambridge.
A spokesperson from Oxford University said, “This site and its attempts to recruit current students have been brought to our attention. We have concerns about Oxford students being targeted to take part in an enterprise which might distract them from the academic work they are required to do, and which appears to encourage plagiarism.” If a student was found to bring the university into disrepute they would be fined or more serious action might be taken.
Although no action was taken against Malamatinas, Kate Dodd, Director of Student Life at Birmingham University, said, “There would be a separate issue around plagiarism if one of our students passed off work done by someone else as his or her own. Part of the investigation is to see if any of our students are involved in plagiarism.” Malamatinas told The Oxford Student, “I am now carrying on with my finals as normal”.
4th May 2006