Core Insights - A complete chain of academic paper fraud has formed, involving online stores, social media, AI workflows, and cross-border outsourcing, with low-cost writers producing papers that are sold for thousands of yuan [1][12] Group 1: Industry Overview - The investigation revealed a thriving gray industry of academic paper ghostwriting, which operates on the edge of legality and generates significant profits [1][12] - The industry utilizes AI tools to automate the writing process, allowing non-experts to produce papers across various disciplines quickly [7][12] Group 2: Business Operations - A company named Wuhan Zhiyu Culture Co., Ltd. disguises its ghostwriting services as "plagiarism check" products on e-commerce platforms, with a customer service representative admitting to avoiding sensitive terms in conversations [6][12] - The annual sales volume of one store exceeds 40,000 orders, and a writing group has over 1,300 members, with writers earning up to 8,000 yuan per month [5][12] Group 3: Technology Utilization - Companies employ an industrialized model of fraud, where employees fill in templates and use AI to quickly generate papers, regardless of their academic background [7][12] - AI tools can produce initial drafts in as little as five minutes, significantly increasing the efficiency of paper production [7][12] Group 4: Market Dynamics - The gray market for academic writing is expanding, with social media platforms like Xiaohongshu hosting accounts that covertly sell ghostwriting services under the guise of tutoring [9][12] - Ghostwriting services are offered at high prices, with quotes for publishing in academic journals reaching up to 30,000 yuan, promising publication without the author's involvement [10][12] Group 5: Ethical Implications - This gray industry undermines academic integrity and highlights regulatory gaps, as e-commerce platforms and social media evade scrutiny by presenting their services under misleading labels [12]