List three examples of plagiarism and discuss how plagiarizing as a student affects the integrity of a baccalaureate degree, the public perception of the nursing profession, and evidence-based practice. Describe two things you will do to ensure academic integrity in your work.
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Introduction
Academic nursing research is crucial to providing quality nursing care because it gives the foundation for evidence-based practice (EBP) that is often the catalyst for changes that impact patient outcomes. Learning to navigate databases to acquire sound evidence is the foundation for writing academic prose that illustrates the learner’s grasp of concepts. It is equally essential for RN-BSN students to learn to format academic writing properly, as well as understand how to avoid plagiarism and its repercussions. In addition, learning how to write without plagiarizing upholds the principle of trustworthiness that is a central element to the professionalism of nursing. Understanding academic research, literature review, scholarly writing, academic integrity, and academic dishonesty are the framework for a baccalaureate education, which also contribute to the professionalism of nursing. Additionally, learning to research relevant nursing topics forms critical-thinking skills necessary to provide excellent patient care.
Case StudyJulia, a 52-year-old nurse, returned to school for the first time in 30 years to get her bachelor’s degree at the prompting of her employer. Unfamiliar with writing papers, she had difficulty settling into the academic world. With the help of the university librarian and an online academic writing tutorial, she finished her first three online courses. Because she did not know how to find applicable articles or how to format her papers properly, she barely passed her first course. After completing the third course, the school contacted her to discuss one of her papers. After investigation, the university determined that Julia’s paper was largely plagiarized. An incident report was filed, placing Julia on academic probation. Devastated, Julia admitted that she was not certain what plagiarism truly was, but she certainly had no intention of doing anything dishonest. Julia said that many of her colleagues have spoken about getting papers and advice online and did not see the harm in it or consider it cheating. After thorough counsel from the faculty, Julia learned that the repercussions of such behavior go far past failing courses. She began to understand that plagiarism has a stark impact on the nursing profession and that dishonesty in academia can lead to dishonesty as a professional nurse. Such behavior jeopardizes patient care and can threaten the nursing license that she worked so hard to earn. Julia committed herself to learning how to avoid plagiarism and finding guidance on constructing strong academic papers for the rest of her baccalaureate education to help her uphold and model the principles key to the nursing profession.
Academic Writing
Academic writing is the analysis of material and the ability to express understanding in an eloquent and informative way while properly acknowledging sources (Hunker, Gazza, & Shellenbarger, 2014). Nonacademic writing does not use scholarly sources to substantiate claims made within the writing and is written at a more informal level that is easy for any reader to understand. Basics of academic writing, such as style, formatting, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary, are often considered common knowledge. These concepts are also worth reviewing if they have faded from memory. In order to feel more prepared to tackle writing assignments with confidence, students often state the need for frequent review of such topics, particularly in the area of applying style and formatting according to the APA Style Manual (O’Brien, Marken, & Bennett Petrey, 2016). In fact, O’Brien, Marken, and Bennett Petrey (2016) discovered that the incorporation of mini studies on basics of writing throughout the length of a course led to improved writing and improved overall student perception related to writing assignments. This echoes the significance of exposure to the fundamentals of scholarly writing to set up students for success early in the academic process.
A well-written, scholarly paper requires more than basic structure; it also needs an educated description of the topic that reflects the student’s critical thinking and comprehension (Borglin, 2012). Such comprehension is a stepping stone to formulating an evidence-based argument to support clinical reasoning in nursing practice and advocate for changes. Another key to this process is the students’ ability to evaluate relevant articles to support and substantiate the claims within their writing. Locating relevant articles is not sufficient; students must also be able to examine and fully understand the articles’ purpose and how it supports their writing (Hunker et. al., 2014). Blended together, these components contribute to the development of scholarly writing that is expected of students attaining a baccalaureate degree.
Tools for Success
The proper use of online databases is crucial to obtaining relevant data that can be used to support the students’ work. Grand Canyon University (GCU) has an online library system that allows for ease of access to such databases, including CINAHL and Ovid. The GCU Student Success Center contains a wealth of knowledge, providing detailed step-by-step processes instructing students on how to conduct effective database searches. Locating credible articles is crucial to substantiating claims made within pieces of academic writing. Information literacy can be defined as the learner’s ability to search for, access, and evaluate peer-reviewed articles (Brettle & Raynor, 2013). Peer-reviewed articles are research studies that have been evaluated by experts in the field prior to publication.
Becoming information literate is a crucial skill for students to master early on to lay a framework for success throughout the baccalaureate program. Throughout the program, students will be challenged to expand their knowledge and expertise by investigating new research and demonstrating their understanding of key concepts through scholarly academic writing and elaboration of ideas in discussion forums. When the basics, such as information literacy, are learned early, the process of academic writing becomes seamless and achievable. Not only is this helpful throughout the program, but it also contributes to the nurse’s ability to understand EBP and its impact on patient care. By learning how to evaluate articles for relevance and credibility, baccalaureate students will have the opportunity to understand EBP changes they see in their daily work during and after their baccalaureate experience.
Searching Databases
All nursing databases can be found in the “Find Journal Articles” and “Find Databases by Subject” section of the library under “Nursing & Health Sciences.” CINAHL Complete, PubMed, OVID Nursing Essentials, Cochrane Library, Nursing and Allied Health Collection, and ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source are recommended nursing databases; of these databases, CINAHL is the most widely recommended. The strategy when conducting research is to first identify the main concepts or keywords in the topic. Enter each concept in a separate search box. Then, add synonyms where possible to retrieve more search results. There are three Boolean operators that are used when searching in most library databases: AND, OR, and NOT. AND is used between each search box to connect different concepts. When using AND in a search, it will return results that use all keywords. OR is used to add synonyms, or similar keywords, to the search. Using OR in a search will return results that use at least one of the keywords provided. NOT is used to exclude keywords. Using NOT in a search will exclude the keyword provided from the results. When searching databases, using the truncation symbol (*), commonly referred to as an asterisk, can also be helpful in narrowing down search results. Truncation is used to include all possible endings on the end of the root word. For example, complian* will return results with the keywords compliance and compliant. Nurs* will return results that use the keywords nurse, nursing, nurses.
Scholarly writing requires students to support their research with current evidence published in reputable sources. When searching a database, students should click on the box limiting the search to only peer-reviewed journals. Students can limit search results to specific ranges of publication years as well. Typically, it is best practice to use articles that are no more than 5 years old; however students should check with their instructors to learn of any course specific requirements in terms of acceptable publication years.
Common Research Topic ExamplesTopic: Hand hygiene compliance to reduce the rate of infection1st Search Field: hand wash*2nd Search Field: AND compliant*3rd Search Field: AND infectionAnother way to search for this topic could include the following terms and operators:1st Search Field: hand hygiene2nd Search Field: AND adherence3rd Search Field: AND infectionTopic: Preventing diabetes through patient education1st Search Field: diabet*2nd Search Field: AND prevent* OR reduc*3rd Search Field: AND educat*Topic: Nurse shift reports to increase patient safety1st Search Field: nurs*2nd Search Field: AND shift report* OR handoff OR hand off OR bedside report*3rd Search Field: AND safe*
Review of the Abstract
After searching, the student can begin looking through the results to select which articles are most relevant to their topic of interest. Reading the subject line of each article is not enough to understand whether the article has the type of material the student may need. This is when reviewing the abstract comes in handy. The abstract gives a brief overview regarding the article’s content and design. In this way, students can get a basic understanding of whether this article is a good fit to support their topic.
Figure 1.1
Abstract Example
Writing and Editing
Once the appropriate articles are found, they must be read and reviewed for topics and facts that can be used to support the paper’s main points. Finding just the right words to express ideas on a given topic can be difficult, particularly when unsure about how to best explain challenging concepts, properly cite sources, or correctly format the information according to APA style (O’Brien, Marken, & Bennett Petrey 2016). The greatest guidance possible for a student is to use every resource offered to help make the writing process easier. GCU’s Writing Center offers resources for students preparing to write an academic paper, including a step-by-step overview of writing academic papers, and example papers for reference. Learning to write scholarly papers enables students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts while growing in their ability to communicate effectively. Students concerned about the amount of writing required in a baccalaureate program can rest assured that most students acclimate to the challenge and are eventually able to write excellent academic prose.
Frequently reviewing and editing content helps students ensure that they are developing readable content that conveys the information as intended. Tools such as Microsoft Word’s grammar and spell check can help students to catch typos and grammatical errors; however, repeatedly reading and reviewing the content will ensure errors are located and fixed before submission. Reviewing the content also ensures that topics and paragraphs flow and transition from one to the next. Peer review is also an excellent way of fine-tuning completed work and eliciting ideas that can make for a more well-developed paper. The expertise of knowledgeable peers can give students a new perspective on the topic, broadening their understanding and helping to add depth to their prose (Doncliff, 2016).
Example of a Well Written ParagraphThe evidence regarding the effectiveness of clinical education models for undergraduate nursing programs is notably limited due to a lack of high quality studies and a lack of important student learning outcome measures. This systematic review found limited evidence that the clinical facilitator model is preferable to the preceptor model based on students’ preference and learning outcomes. It is evident that CEU model provided greater engagement and an enhanced learning environment compared with a standard facilitation model. However, this finding should be applied with caution due to the quality of the included studies. There is clearly a need for well-planned high quality studies to examine the effectiveness of different clinical placement models to provide best evidence-based practice in nursing education. (Jayasekara et al., 2018)