Maintaining Academic Integrity (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

Purpose

The purpose of this discussion is for learners to explore academic integrity, crediting, and resources.

Course Outcomes

This discussion enables the student to meet the following course outcome:

CO 4: Apply concepts of ethics and professionalism to nursing practice, nursing roles, and academic development. (POs 5, 6)

Directions

Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
- Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
- Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
- Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
- Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
- Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
- Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
- Select different classmates for your reply each week.

Discussion

Maintaining your own integrity as a professional nurse is an essential part of your career. Despite knowing the consequences for an academic integrity infraction, why do some students still falsify their work?

What are the most challenging APA formatting issues for you? Why do you find these areas so challenging? What resources will you use to overcome these challenges?

ANSWER

Academic Integrity

Students may be fully aware of the consequences of academic dishonesty and still falsify their work. They may falsify their work due to fear of taking risks of failure with the work that they do by themselves. Others may have challenges with time management and believe that plagiarizing their work is the only choice. Some believe that the course, the consequences of cheating, the academic documentation conventions, and the assignment are unimportant. The projects that teachers present to students may also be overly generic, forcing the students to look for falsified responses. Other students may unwillingly falsify their work when they try in good faith to integrate ideas from others’ work and acknowledge them in their texts. The problem may be a natural part of learning and may be overcome with practice. It arises from the learning students’ errors when documenting the notes during research. It may also occur due to the different definitions of plagiarism that the students have learned from scholars and academicians in their current and previous learning institutions (Kent State University, 2022).

American Psychological Association is the most accessible referencing style used in most disciplines. However, I still face some challenges when trying to format it accurately. Including the running header in the APA 6 format is challenging for me because it has to be different on the first page and have a page number to the right. Determining the level of headings and formatting them is also a challenge because of the complexity of some assignments. I also find it sometimes challenging to match in-text citations to the references in the reference list. The American Psychological Association (2021) provides valuable resources that comprehensively guide a student through the formatting process. The APA Style website provides reference examples, sample papers, instructional aids, style and grammar guidelines, and a blog. Other authoritative sources include the Concise Guide to APA Style and the Publication Manual.

References

American Psychological Association. (2021). APA Style resources. https://www.apa.org/pubs/apastyle

Kent State University. (2022). Causes of plagiarism. https://www.kent.edu/writingcommons/causes-plagiarism