Staff and students of Unitec are responsible for acknowledging the sources used when writing research articles, books, assignments and projects. You must acknowledge what you have read in order to avoid plagiarism, and so that:
There are two parts to acknowledging another's work within your own:
The way in which these two parts are laid out is determined by a bibliographic style. Each department at Unitec requires you to use a particular style for citations and references. Your department may have their own handbook that you can use as a guide.
The most common styles and some examples of citations and references are found in this guide. The library has a number of published style guides available in the Reference Collection and some Unitec departments produce style booklets.
If you require more help with referencing than this guide can provide please contact the Student Learning & Achievement Team.
What is Plagiarism?
Unitec considers plagiarism a serious academic offence. Unitec's Student Disciplinary Statute 2020 (Appendix 1, section 3) defines plagiarism as "using others’ ideas or work and presenting these as one’s own without acknowledgement of the source". This may include, but is not limited to:
Consequences of Plagiarism
If you are caught plagiarising, there are a range of disciplinary actions that can be taken against you, from an oral or written warning to being excluded from any Unitec programme of study.
Take careful notes of where you find your information and always acknowledge the work of others, whether it be:
If you:
remember to note down the details you will need to cite the information in your assignment. The details you need may differ depending on what bibliographic style your department requires, but the minimal information to record should include:
You may find it useful to use bibliographic management software like Mendeley or Zotero to manage your references and citations. Talk to your Subject Librarian for more information on these options.