Research, Publishing and PBRF

Find information on scholarly communication, management of research identity and publishing, copyright, Creative Commons and relevant contacts

Academic Integrity at Unitec

Unitec commits to the values promoted by the International Centre for Academic Integrity (ICAI):

  • Honesty - Require intellectual and personal honesty in learning, teaching, research and service.
  • Trust - Foster mutual trust, encourage the exchange of ideas, and enable all to reach their potential.
  • Fairness - Establish clear standards, practices and procedures, and expect fairness in interactions with others.
  • Respect - Recognise the participatory nature of learning, and honor and respect other opinions and ideas.
  • Responsibility - Uphold personal accountability and depend upon action in the face of wrongdoing.

Unitec's Academic Integrity Policy

Referencing in Research

Referencing tells readers where ideas/data come from. We use others’ ideas/data in two ways, direct quotation or paraphrasing.

Why referencing?

  • To distinguish your own ideas from others
  • To reinforce your argument
  • To show different perspectives
  • To allow fact-checking
  • To ensure the rights of the author
  • To avoid plagiarism

What are the benefits of referencing?

  • Authors of the sources you used are given credit
  • Your research and ideas are evident and you are given credit for your work
  • Your work has credibility in the larger realm of scholarly knowledge
  • You have evidence of practicing academic integrity

What do we do in referencing?

There are two elements in referencing:

  • Citation (in the body of writing) when you quote or paraphrase another person's idea
  • References (reference list or bibliography) the list at the end of your writing of works used.

See Referencing and Citing Guide for in-depth information

Why are there different referencing styles?

Academic disciplines have different expectations for how to list citation information. Check which style is specified. Consistently use one style throughout your research. The purpose is to help readers who wish to consult the sources you used.

Referencing Styles

Reference Management Tools

At Unitec, we support Mendeley, and Zotero. Mendeley and Zotero are free, cloud based software. Mendeley works best with PDFs. 

Advantages of using reference management software, (read more):

  • Insert citations and reference lists automatically
  • Create bibliographies
  • Change referencing style easily
  • Collect resources from databases and websites