Imitation games. Review of the book “Ethnography of Bogus. Who and How Writes Custom Academic Papers in Russia” by A. Davydov and P. Abramov

The reviewed book is based on field research supported by the Khamovniki Foundation for Social Research. The unique nature of the material is emphasized, since this type of activity cannot be viewed externally, representing illegal practices in Russian higher education. The review briefly outlines the main sections of the monograph. A social portrait of authors of commissioned works is described in detail (in the terminology proposed by Aleksandr Davydov and Pavel Abramov – scriptors, i.e. literally the creators of text arrays). Methods identified by the authors for searching customers and the rules for interacting with them are presented. The basic approach of the authors is discussed. They consider imitation practices, including the presence of custom-made works, as a reflection of the shortcomings of higher education in Russia. The review concludes that the approach proposed by the authors certainly deserves public discussion. At the same time, the reviewer expresses confidence that the practices under study are not widespread; the atmosphere existing at a university plays a big role, especially informal internal rules of behavior of students and professors, the level of teaching staff, etc.