References with Discussion Boards

[HOPEforRNs, ADN, BSN, MSN]

I'm about to finish my MSN. My husband just finished his master's of science in computer science. I find it odd how different it is.

For example, we have to have at least one reference for every discussion board response we write. The school sent out the following note first semester when some students were not always citing a reference. "I do want to encourage you to please add a reference for your responses to peers if at all times. Since we are endeavoring to challenge one another, I fear that just exchanging thoughts is sometimes an exchange of opinions. But is there relevant research that will back up your thoughts? This will lead us into a much more professional and intellectual discussion."

My husband would get zero for having citations for his posting. His professors told him that any idiot can regurgitate work someone else did. They were encouraged to use critical thinking to come up with new ideas and new thoughts.

Why is a field like nursing so hellbent on citations for everything? Why is it so taboo to have your own thoughts and opinions on a topic? Why am I not allowed to have a thought on my own without finding someone else who had my same thought and researched it?

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Because nursing is research based. When doing research, you provide a source, or else it's called plagarism

[HOPEforRNs, ADN, BSN, MSN]

Obviously. But it's not a discussion if I regurgitate someone else's research. Am I not allowed to have my own thoughts? My own opinions? Discuss my own experiences? That is shunned in grad school. It is merely an exchange of other people's research.

I'm not asking why I have to cite. I'm asking why everything HAS to be someone else's research instead of sometimes having an open honest discussion with our own thoughts and opinions.

Because nursing is research based. When doing research, you provide a source, or else it's called plagarism

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Obviously. But it's not a discussion if I regurgitate someone else's research. Am I not allowed to have my own thoughts? My own opinions? Discuss my own experiences? That is shunned in grad school. It is merely an exchange of other people's research.

In my grad program, we were encouraged to provide our own ideas. We just had to have something to back us up. Not every single sentence was regurgitated research.

[AJJKRN]

How else would you get to learn APA format by heart!

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

In my grad program, we were encouraged to provide our own ideas. We just had to have something to back us up. Not every single sentence was regurgitated research.

Exactly...nursing is a life science based degree, which any idea has to have data to validate it for discussion. If not, anything you say in a discussion or theoretical argument would not necessarily be taken as credible

[HeartNursing3]

Does everything have to be proven as credible through a peer reviewed resource in a discussion? I understand a paper... But I am not even allowed to share my own experiences unless someone else had that same experience, researched it, and published it. I understand it takes away the purpose if the entire conversation is just things you "think" or "feel" but why can't SOME of the discussions involve personal experiences?

Exactly...nursing is a life science based degree, which any idea has to have data to validate it for discussion. If not, anything you say in a discussion or theoretical argument would not necessarily be taken as credible

[elkpark]

In my grad program, we were encouraged to provide our own ideas. We just had to have something to back us up. Not every single sentence was regurgitated research.

Ditto -- in my program, we were encouraged and required to think for ourselves and develop our own ideas. But they had to be developed from, built on, and supported by something legitimate and credible, not just some random interesting idea that popped into our heads. Otherwise, as your instructor noted, it becomes just an exchange of opinions. Documenting existing research that supports your ideas isn't "regurgitat(ing) someone else's research." It's just showing that you're not completely off in left field in your thinking.