Academic Field

Introduction

In the academic field, the importance of professional writing cannot be stated enough. It is incumbent upon every student to be diligent enough and learn how to write properly and for this reason it is imperative that information concerning proper writing is referenced from credible sources.

Professional Writing

Some of the viable resources that would be of help in improving my professional writing would be the American Psychological Association manual, the Purdue Owl, and the university library database. The American Psychological Association for example since its inception in 1929 has always set out to improve on the field of scholarship through the provision of rigorous standards which guide scientific communication (American Psychological Association, 2009). Professional writing is important for every field of academia and the nursing profession is not an exception. It is especially imperative that nurses be able to write well for one and get information from credible sources, for example when patient have to transfer from one department to other department, have ability to write well, analyze and summarize symptoms are accuracy and efficiency to communicate with colleagues, and responsible for patient to get right healthcare. Also, have ability to write scholar paper it will developing critical thinking skill. Critical thinking skill is important when nurse make decision and present work to other people.

APA Format

There are various online resources on APA style and formatting. However, for proper and up-to-date information on APA format, the Purdue OWL stands among the rest (American Psychological Association, 2009). This is because the information presented on this website is always revised to the latest APA edition. It, therefore, reflects any changes that have been incorporated in the manual. Among the features making this resource helpful is the easiness of using it. There are search options where one can search and find areas that he or she needs guidance alongside icons for different aspects of APA paper formatting. While other resources could provide general formats, or do not have search options, the Purdue Owl carries almost all aspects, and categories or writings. There are also examples to illustrate the point. With this resource, it is always easy to find what you are looking for as there are clear and precise presentations for all categories of writings. Furthermore, the Purdue Owl website is uniquely organized with different icons serving different purposes. If you are looking for a style format of a book resource, for instance, you will not have to flip through the entire website looking for such information. Instead, there is a specific icon for reference or citation style for books. This is the same case for electronic sources, print sources, websites, journal articles, periodicals, magazines, among others. This website, therefore, makes the whole process of seeking referencing and citation format quite easy.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious academic dishonesty, students will lose credit once university found out. Based on my understanding, plagiarism is the use of another person’s work or idea without quotation marks and reference. In American Psychological Association (2009)’s view, “Authors do not present the work of another as if it were their own work.” (p.16) can be defined as plagiarism. It can also be considered as stealing or imitating the thoughts or language from another author without giving credit to the actual author and without receiving his or her authorization (Serviss, 2015). It is important to note that when reference to another person’s idea has been made, proper credit needs to be given such that when this is not done the work will be said to have been plagiarized. Besides, there is another form of plagiarism, as state in UWM Library, “reusing work you did for a previous assignment” (UWM Libraries, n.p). For students, plagiarism may result in stringent disciplinary measures while for general writers; it may lead to legal actions.

Plagiarism can also occur unintentionally when a person may draw an idea or words from another’s work with the aim of crediting the original author once he or she completes the work but may fail to remember or forget to properly cite some areas. Students must be made to realize that phrases or ideas borrowed must be rightly cited and referenced. The difference of this with intentional plagiarism is that one passes another author’s ideas as his or her own. Despite this, both of them are still considered academic dishonesty. In avoiding unintentional plagiarism, it is important for students and other writers to learn proper ways of referencing and citations from their mentors or teachers before embarking on the process of research and writing (Kenny, 2007). Proper citation is important because it recognizes the intellectual effort made by individuals whereby the reverse would be akin to stealing by violating the intellectual rights of the owner of an idea.

Information Literacy

With research tools such as CINAHL, it is possible to access quality resources which will not be accessible in an otherwise free to use tools such as Google (UWM Libraries, n.d). With such a tool, you will not need more subscriptions to access articles as this is done only once. Furthermore, only quality articles are placed on the tool, unlike Google where there is a diversity of them that requires one to check for quality.

If I were working on finding information concerning maintenance of care for teenagers with type 2 diabetes, I would use the following keywords to find articles related to the subject on CINAHL. Management of teenagers with type 2 Diabetes, care maintenance for type 2 Diabetes for teenagers, type 2 Diabetes among teenagers; what to do, and lastly, Type 2 Diabetes among teens; dos and do not. A combination of the search terms such as care management of teenagers with Type 2 Diabetes, and the dos and don’ts in the management of type 2 Diabetes among teenagers generates more precise results in CINAH than when the search words are used independently. In fact, these are the terms that gave me the most relevant results on this subject. The main comparison between CINAHL and Google research tool is that both starts with the most quality articles preceded by the less quality one. However, one major difference is that CINAHL only transmits peer-reviewed and scholarly resources. This is unlike Google where all forms of resources, both scholarly and article are found. In nursing practice, it is important to have a high standard for the information used since quality care depends on current evidence-based practice (Spring, and Neville, 2014). Conclusion

Having quality standard information is important in clinical practice so as to maintain order and decorum in this healthcare industry. Thus, APA style paper can help nurse students develop communication skill and accurately in writing scholar paper, health plan and other research project. This happening will ensure that only those who are competent enough are allowed to take up this noble profession and continue with the service to humanity.