Research Outputs System: Verification of Publications and Creative Works Guidelines

These guidelines apply to all staff members and post-graduate students at the University.

This document provides guidelines on verification of research outputs records for publications and creative works.

It does not apply to professional activities.

• Purpose
• Role of Verifier
• Verification process
• Changes to records
• Queried items
• Process oversight
• Contact address

Purpose

• Verification of publications and creative works supports the University’s overall objectives in relation to maintaining quality research outputs information
• Verification activities ensure, where appropriate, that:
  • one master record exists for each unique publication or creative work
  • records for publications and creative works contain the necessary elements to complete a citation based on APA6 style
  • information in the citation is accurate and can be referenced in the public domain, such as on a University Directory profile
  • the information in the citation can be used to locate the item

Role of Verifier

• Verification of research outputs is carried out by Libraries and Learning Services’ metadata specialists
• Verification activities are ongoing
  Records requiring verification are prioritised based on anticipated use within institutional systems
• The authorisation procedure for the role of verifier is outlined in the Research Outputs: Third Party Access Guidelines

Verification process

• Records sourced from external databases that are integrated into research outputs are considered accurate for the purposes of verification
• Inclusion of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), URL, or other identifier in the manual record, and/or uploading of the full text in research outputs will assist with verification.
• The verifier can change verification categories from “Unverified” to:
  • “Verified”
  • “Cannot verify”
  • “Queried”
• Verified records are locked
• Any records containing insufficient citation details or citation information which requires further investigation will be marked “Queried”
• Staff members may be contacted by Libraries and Learning Services to confirm the existence and details of the published output
• The status will remain “Queried” until the requested information is received by the verifier
• If no information is received or the information received is still insufficient for the record to be verified, the status will be changed to “Cannot verify”
• The verifier may also make modifications to an individual’s search setting to optimise retrieval of records from external data sources

Changes to research outputs records

• Records may be modified by a verifier to include or amend:
  • author(s) – for multi-authored works the order of the authors will be verified, and relationships added for University of Auckland co-authors
  • publication date
  • title
  • URL – if available
  • correct output type and subtype, as outlined in the Research Outputs: Definition and Categories Guidelines
  • Additional metadata:
    • for journal items: journal title, volume and issue number, start and end pages, ISSN, DOI
    • for conference items: conference name or published proceeding name, place, start and end dates, publication date, editor, ISSN, DOI, start and end pages
    • for books: publisher, place of publication, ISBN, pagination, DOI, editor
    • for book chapters: book title, publisher, place of publication, ISBN, other identifier, pagination, editor, DOI
    • for other items: series, place, publication source, parent item, other identifier

Queried items

• If a manual record does not contain sufficient detail to generate a citation, and the detail cannot be obtained from other sources, it will be marked “Queried”
• If that record is required for a specific purpose, eg University Directory profile, researchers may be contacted to confirm the existence of the publication or creative work; the status may then be changed to “Verified”
• If there is no response the record will remain with the status “Queried”

Process oversight

• Libraries and Learning Services maintains oversight of research output’s data quality by receiving regular reports on metadata quality and ensuring manual input forms are reviewed regularly
• If there is a dispute the University Librarian will decide the accuracy of the details and the original record may be re-instated

Contact address

• People requiring further information on verification should contact the Staff Service Centre and tag their query as Research Outputs verification

The following definitions apply to this document:

APA6 style refers to the American Psychological Association’s reference style as set out in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed. (2010).

Publication and Creative Work in research outputs can contain one record from a data source or it can contain records from multiple data sources.

University means the University of Auckland and includes all subsidiaries.

Verification is the process to confirm the existence of a research output and the user relationships to that output. In addition verification ensures the metadata is of sufficient quality to produce an accurate reference that can be used in the public domain, such as the external University Directory profile, for reporting purposes, and to locate the item.

Further information can be found on the following webpage:

Te Waka Huia Rangahau I Research outputs

Content manager: Associate University Librarian
Owner: DVC (Research)
Approved by: Electronic Research Management Advisory Group; Research Committee
Date approved: Dec 2016
Review date: Dec 2019