A citation is a short summary of your research that is read out to the audience when you graduate as a research candidate.
Citations are required from all research candidates prior to submitting a thesis for examination and form part of completing the Nomination of Examiners form.
Your citation is one of the best opportunities you have to promote your research and its contribution to knowledge and/or society to a broad audience.
Your summary should be easy to understand, free of jargon and should convey:
Your audience is community members, stakeholders and other interested parties. The citation should be able to be understood by people who have no prior knowledge of the research field, or its practices or theories.
The citation is different from a research abstract where the primary audience are academics with some prior knowledge.
The citation should:
Your focus should be on summarising the research (i.e. the sample, what it investigated and the reason for this investigation), what was found, the implications of the findings and the significance or impact (current or anticipated) of this new knowledge.
Prior to the nomination of examiners, you should prepare your citation in consultation with your supervisor, who will review it for understanding and evidence of impact.
Once complete, you’re required to include the citation in the Nomination of Examiners form which is submitted to Research Assessments. Citations are noted by the Graduate Research Committee. An approved citation is required before your degree can be sent to the Progression Panel to be cleared for graduation.