Māori Studies: Referencing

Referencing acknowledges the sources you use in your work.

You must reference all sources including

• words and ideas
• websites and images
• videos and audio
• statistics, facts and figures

Good referencing gives credibility to your writing and enables the reader to locate the sources you refer to.

You must acknowledge the sources of information you use in your assignments.

Use a standardised citation style to cite your sources. If you are unsure which style to use:

• read your Course Outline
• ask your lecturer or tutor

A common style used in Te Tumu papers is Harvard. Harvard is an author-date style, with in-text citations and a reference list in alphabetical order, but there can be variations. Read more about this and other citation styles on the Referencing / Citation Styles subject guide.

If you do not cite the source of your information (whether book, article, website...) then you can be accused of plagiarism.

Examples of plagiarism include: 

• Paraphrasing or rewording someone else's work and presenting it as your own
• Using someone else's original ideas or data without citation
• Re-using your old essays and representing them as new

Follow the links below for more information or see the University of Otago Academic Integrity website.

• What is plagiarism and how is it dealt with at the University of Otago
• What sort of information needs to be cited?
• Is this an example of plagiarism?

The easiest way to manage references is to use reference management software.

These types of software can:

• store, organise, and format references
• insert citations into Word documents
• automatically generate a reference list or bibliography

Commonly used reference managers include:

• Endnote which is available to all University of Otago staff and students through ITS
• Zotero and Mendeley which are both free referencing tools

Check if your paper has an assignment writing guide.

These guides have tips and examples:

• Academic Writing Guide (Te Kawa a Māui - Māori Studies, Victoria, University of Wellington)

• Planning and Writing Assignments
• Writing a Literature Review (Student Learning Centre, HEDC, University of Otago)