Paraphrase, Synthesis and a Chatbot in the Next Tab: My Standards for Scholarly Writing and Academic Integrity as a Doctoral Nursing Student, Tested on a Paragraph I Wrote Badly
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
DNP/700: DNP Expectations Seminar
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The author is a composite doctoral student written for a model paper.
I teach new graduate nurses in a 400-bed hospital, and I grade their evidence-based practice posters. I often correct their citations, and I thought my own writing was strong. My first doctoral discussion post came back with a note from my faculty: "This is a summary of three articles, not a synthesis." This paper examines what the evidence says about plagiarism in nursing education, how AI writing tools change the integrity question, what doctoral synthesis requires and the standards I will hold myself to.
Plagiarism in Nursing Education
Lynch et al. (2017) conducted an integrative review of 20 studies on plagiarism among nursing students and identified six themes: prevalence, knowledge and attitudes, types of plagiarism, antecedents, interventions and the link between academic honesty and professional integrity. They found that plagiarism is common among nursing students, that students and faculty perceive it differently and that inadvertent plagiarism, often from poor paraphrasing or citation skills, should be distinguished from deliberate copying. They also raised concern that dishonesty in school may carry into clinical practice, where documentation must be accurate.
Why It Matters for Nurses
The link to professional integrity strikes me as an educator. A nurse who copies a care plan in school may later chart an assessment she did not complete. Honesty in writing and honesty in charting come from the same habit: reporting only what you did and crediting what came from others.
Inadvertent Plagiarism
Much plagiarism among nursing students is unintentional. It often happens when a writer changes a few words of a source sentence but keeps its structure, a form of patchwriting, or forgets to cite a paraphrased idea. I recognized my own habits in this: when I take notes, I copy sentences from articles, and later I cannot always tell which phrases are mine.
My faculty's comment was not that I had copied anyone; it was that I had not yet thought for myself on the page.
Generative AI and Integrity
Cotton et al. (2024) examined the opportunities and challenges that ChatGPT and similar tools present to higher education, including the difficulty of detecting AI-generated text and the risk to academic integrity, and recommended that institutions develop clear policies, redesign assessments and teach students to use such tools ethically. For doctoral nursing students, the risk goes beyond detection: AI tools can produce plausible text that misrepresents evidence or cites sources that do not exist. A fabricated reference in a DNP project could mislead clinicians who rely on it.
My Weak Paragraph
Here is the summary my faculty flagged, paraphrased: "Study A found that nurse residency programs improve retention. Study B found that mentoring reduces turnover. Study C found that new nurses leave because of workload." Each sentence reports one study. The paragraph does not compare them, weigh their strength or draw a conclusion.
The Revision
A synthesis organizes by idea, not by source: "Retention of new graduate nurses appears to depend less on any single program than on whether the first year provides structured support and a manageable workload. Residency and mentoring programs both address support, and both are associated with improved retention, though most evidence comes from single-site, nonrandomized evaluations. Workload, which neither intervention changes directly, emerges as a reason new nurses leave, suggesting that support programs alone may not be enough." This version states a claim, groups the evidence behind it, notes its limitations and identifies a gap.
Why Summary Feels Safe
Summary feels safe because each sentence can be traced to one source. Synthesis requires me to make a claim of my own and defend it, which feels riskier. Doctoral study asks me to take that risk.
Doctoral Writing Expectations
Doctoral writing is precise, concise and supported. Every claim needs evidence or reasoning, and every source needs accurate citation in the required style. Doctoral writers also acknowledge limitations, distinguish evidence from opinion and use active, clear sentences instead of padding. Revision is not a sign of failure; it is the method. The stakes are real: in a national survey of DNP program directors, students' scholarly writing skills were among the problems faculty linked to their dissatisfaction with DNP projects (Dols et al., 2017).
My Standards
First, I will keep notes in my own words, with any copied phrases in quotation marks and the page number recorded, so I never confuse my words with an author's. Second, I will cite every idea I did not originate, including paraphrases. Third, I will use a reference manager to keep citations accurate. Fourth, I will follow my program's policy on AI tools; where use is permitted, I will not submit generated text as my own, I will disclose use as required, and I will verify every reference in the original source. Fifth, I will use the university writing center for at least two assignments this term.
Using Sources Well
Doctoral writers choose sources deliberately. I will prefer primary research, systematic reviews and national guidelines over textbooks and websites, check that each study actually supports the claim I attach to it and read beyond the abstract before citing. A source cited for a claim it does not make is its own kind of integrity failure, even without copying a word.
Quotation and Paraphrase
Direct quotation should be rare in doctoral nursing writing and reserved for definitions or wording that cannot be improved. Good paraphrase changes both the words and the sentence structure and still carries a citation. I practiced this by rewriting three sentences from a study abstract without looking at the original, then checking that my version kept the meaning without echoing the phrasing.
Checking My Work
Before submitting, I will run my draft through the similarity checker my program provides, review flagged passages and rewrite any that follow a source too closely, even if cited.
Feedback as Part of Integrity
Applying faculty feedback honestly is also part of integrity. When I revise, I will address each comment directly rather than making cosmetic changes, and I will keep a log of recurring corrections, such as passive voice or missing page numbers for quotations, so that the same error does not appear in the next paper.
Teaching What I Learn
As an educator, I will share what I learn with the new graduates I teach. Next quarter, I will add a short session on paraphrasing and synthesis to our residency curriculum, using my own before-and-after paragraph as the example.
Conclusion
An integrative review shows that plagiarism is common among nursing students and often inadvertent, and that integrity in writing is linked to integrity in practice (Lynch et al., 2017). Generative AI tools create new risks that call for clear policies and ethical use (Cotton et al., 2024). Doctoral writing demands synthesis rather than summary. My revised paragraph and my five standards commit me to writing that is honest, accurate and my own.
References
Cotton, D. R. E., Cotton, P. A., & Shipway, J. R. (2024). Chatting and cheating: Ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 61(2), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148
Dols, J. D., Hernández, C., & Miles, H. (2017). The DNP project: Quandaries for nursing scholars. Nursing Outlook, 65(1), 84-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2016.07.009
Lynch, J., Everett, B., Ramjan, L. M., Callins, R., Glew, P., & Salamonson, Y. (2017). Plagiarism in nursing education: An integrative review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(19-20), 2845-2864. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13629
How this DNP 700 Week 2 example is structured
The DNP/700 Week 2 work usually addresses scholarly writing and academic integrity. This paper uses evidence on plagiarism and on AI tools, then demonstrates the difference between summary and synthesis with a real revision, ending in explicit personal standards. Students search this week as DNP 700 Week 2, DNP700 Wk 2 or DNP/700 Wk 2; all three are the same assignment.
DNP/700 Week 2 questions, answered
What does DNP/700 Week 2 usually ask for?
Many sections ask students to examine scholarly writing expectations and academic integrity at the doctoral level, often including APA style, paraphrasing, synthesis and appropriate use of sources and tools.
How common is plagiarism among nursing students?
An integrative review of 20 studies found plagiarism common among nursing students and noted a gap between how students and faculty perceive it, as well as the importance of distinguishing inadvertent from deliberate plagiarism.
Can doctoral students use AI writing tools?
Policies vary by program and course; students should follow their institution's rules, disclose any permitted use and never present generated text or invented sources as their own work.
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