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The University of Otago Research Outputs Database (ROD) currently has 29 categories for recording various types of research and publication/outputs. 25 of the categories are PBRF-eligible.

Publications/outputs can be either Quality Assured (QA) Yes or No, i.e. they do not have to be Quality Assured for inclusion in the ROD.

Quality Assurance definition:
A quality-assured research output is defined as any research output that successfully completed a formal quality-assurance process before its final version was first made available in the public domain.

This means the output has been subject to formal, independent scrutiny by those with the necessary expertise or skills or both, to assess its quality. This may include, for example, its rigour, logic, clarity, originality, intellectual significance, impact, applications and artistic merit.

Formal quality-assurance processes vary between different disciplinary areas and output types. They include, but are not limited to:
- peer-review or refereeing processes undertaken by journals and book publishers
- other review processes employed by editors, editorial committees or publishers
- the selection of conference papers or abstracts and the refereeing of conference papers
- review processes specific to Māori or Pacific research processes or methodologies
- review processes undertaken by major galleries, museums and broadcasters
- review processes employed by users of commissioned or funded research (including confidential research) including commercial clients and public bodies.

A non-quality assured research output is one that:
- has not been subject to quality-assurance process
- is currently in the process of being quality-assured
- has been unsuccessful in completing a formal quality-assurance process (for example, it has been peer reviewed and rejected).
(Tertiary Education Commission Guidelines for tertiary education organisations participating in the 2018 Quality Evaluation)

Citation style is based on the APA style and adapted for University of Otago conventions as required e.g. citing University of Otago staff members where the journal article lists a particular research group or organisation as the author on a journal article.

Publications/outputs from any year can be entered with the current year given top priority, followed by the current PBRF assessment period, then all other years as workload permits.

Contact us to discuss:

  • specific conventions
  • inclusions/exclusions for various sub-categories and categories
  • confidential research publications, or a publishing embargo
  • verification evidence required for external audit processes
  • Quality Assurance processes

The University Guidelines for Publications and Research Outputs can be found under the following link:

University of Otago Publications Guidelines (PDF format, 604KB)

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