Accuse of plagiarism

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Just stated 4510 at OU, this is the four week. During the first week, Personal statement essay,got a zero because two of my sentences was not cite and word to word of someoneelse statement. I almost passed out! What happen? The first week of class, I was very stressed and was also starting a new accelerated program at work. Not to be an excuse, my 9 year old son was also recovery from heart surgery. I wrote my assignment and asked a friend who came to visit to read and give me advice. He added those two sentences when I was busy taking care of million things in the house. Big mistake! I never thought that they came from some web source. I realize now that I am guilty, and I am very sorry for that. My first feeling was to drop the class and move on; but to be a good nurse; I need to be responsible and accountable for my actions. My question is what is next? My TA told me that I will be watched extremely closely-- all assignments. I will be brought before the judiciary committee, my name has been flagged and, in the event that I am allowed to continue in the program, I'll be watched until completion.It was devastating for me to be accused of plagiarism. I have always been proud to be a good student and never thought that the word plagiarism could be applied to me. I'm a 3.65 to 4.0 GPA student. Always sit from of the teacher,never cheat before. I want to be strong but I don't know if I want to move with this program. This is my first class. Please need help, any advice will be welcome.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

Ouch! That had to hurt. I think I would just stand up and take the punishment. You're right, it was an accident and you had a lot of stressful things going on. You weren't paying attention and you made a mistake. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. Even though the plagiarism was inadvertent, it was plagiarism just the same. Rather than backing down, I think you need to hang in there. What's the worst they can do, kick you out of the program? MAybe they will and maybe they won't. You will gain nothing by quitting prematurely. Perhaps after listening to your side of it they will be inclined to go lenient with you. I'm sure they will watch you like a hawk from now on--just the cost of staying in the program. I would be careful about changing schools because that plagiarism charge is going to follow you and may prevent you from getting in to another program. I think your chances of sticking it out are higher with the program you're already in.

Best of luck to you.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

You are getting off very easy, so take the punishment and learn from the mistake. That's a bad one.

I assume English is not a first language? In this case your writing is unique and any differences will be noted quite easily.

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Like the others said just take the punishment. You stated that someone else added those sentences in, and even if you were to tell them this, that is still viewed as cheating. YOU are supposed to write the paper, not anyone else, so for your friend to add the sentences,whether you knew or not is still cheating and dishonest.

Your comments about your name being flagged and being watched suggest to me that you are embarrassed and don't want your name to be blacklisted in school which is why you say you should leave. I say that only makes you look even more guilty. That looks as if you did cheat, got caught, and then left because you were caught. Stay there and tough it out. You said it's your first class, it's the beginning of the semester, and there is plenty of time to redeem your name.

This may be on your record, and when you try to go to another school, they may ask why you left, and it an come up. It looks really bad for you to just leave after being accused.

My advice: don't wimp out, take whatever punishment and learn from this whole experience. You will make mistakes as a nurse as well, and it's not like you will just walk away from your patient or job because you made an error and people know you did.

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Specializes in Pediatric, ED.

jtboog2003 is right - whether someone else slipped couple of words or half a page, you are still held accountable for your own work. I think others gave you a great advice to sticking it out and continue to keep doing well in school. We've all made some kind of mistake or had a set back but we kept going. Remember the effort and hard work you have put in to get to where you are. You can do it. Don't let this stop you from following your dreams. Put it all behind you and keep going. There are plenty of opportunities to show your quality work. By the way, writecheck.com is a great website to get your work checked prior to turning it in. It's saved me a ton!!!

Good luck!!!

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Bless your heart all for your answers. I needed your support and you gave it to me. I will take your advice and stay. I did not know that it was so obvious that english was not my first language.. LOL. My first language is Baham, second one French. I love the support that nurses are given to each other in this website. It's were a get a advice to go to OU in the first place.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

You have very good English...... but there is a certain cadence in writing when English isn't the primary language with prepositions and in the present and past tense forms of words themselves......that give a unique signature to your writing. Stay strong!

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

I hate citing. I truly do not understand how one never plagiarizes. I suppose in your case you must cite every single thing you write and carry on. Accept that they will look closely. Does your school have safeassign? It is supposed to detect plagerism prior to submission.

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My school is same way, I had never had to cite before, and like you my papers are all zeros. I wasn't taught this in school, I haven't been to a college class until now for over 7 years. I have asked for help and I am not getting any response. Apparently, in my school I could be facing expulsion. Wish they could have told me all this before class started. I was so general in my papers, and stated we had heard it all before from multiple media outlets. I don't know why they didn't put me in a writing class before, now I don't know what to do either. This is my first term, I am 37 years old, feel like I had the ball dropped on me.

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Specializes in nursing education.

What to do: take yourself to the university library. They surely have a Writing Center and/or a computer center where you can get help with anything from APA format (including how and when to cite sources), research, and students or tutors who can help you with your writing. Take advantage of the librarian's services as well. This will be time well spent. I got a few good writing books too that cover citations, including things like when you paraphrase someone else's unique ideas- you should cite the author as well. With computer programs that search for phrases and such, it is important to be very vigilant. You may think something is not plagiarism when it is, indeed.

You are absolutely right, being a professional nurse means taking accountability for your actions. You sound like you have a great attitude!! Best wishes in your studies.

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Specializes in PICU.
I hate citing. I truly do not understand how one never plagiarizes. I suppose in your case you must cite every single thing you write and carry on. Accept that they will look closely. Does your school have safeassign? It is supposed to detect plagerism prior to submission.

The thing about safe assign though is that while it does generate a report it simultaneously submits the paper. So really, there is no way of checking unless it is already submitted.

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