Evolution of plagiarism processes in online graduate nursing programs

Abstract

Plagiarism is the most common academic integrity violation in nursing education. With a plethora of online graduate nursing education programs, nursing faculty are challenged to ensure that written work follows professional standards of originality and integrity. The evolution of developing a consistent process and departmental policy to address instances of student plagiarism helped current faculty mentor students and novice faculty. Strategies to help students included orientation sessions to outline expectations of academic integrity, duplication software, APA-style writing, and the department and university policies on plagiarism. The addition of a one credit-hour course as an introduction to the graduate program covered scholarly writing, proper citation, ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI), and use of the library database. For faculty, it was important to review and revise policies to align with those of the university, and provide ongoing education regarding similarity report interpretation and use of the software. Sessions also led to college-wide initiatives to educate non-nursing faculty on university policies and clarify the reporting processes within the college. Scrutiny of nursing policies and processes will ultimately assist both faculty and students with professional writing skills.