Elements of the reference list

The list of references provides publication details of the sources that have been used in the text. Unless a numbered reference style is used (in which case there is usually no separate list of sources), the sources are listed in alphabetical order (after authors' last name). Anonymous works are often listed under their title.

Depending on reference style, the list will usually be called 'References', 'Works Cited' or 'Bibliography'. As there are some differences between the use of these terms, it is important to use the one stipulated by the reference style used, and to follow the format of that style.

The terms bibliography, list of references and works cited are often used as if they were synonymous. There is one difference; a bibliography sometimes includes works used in preparing the text, although they are not referred to, whereas a list of references or a works cited list only contains sources that have been referred to in the text.

Although the format of references varies between different reference styles, they contain the elements listed below. Note, however, that not all elements are included in all types of publications and in all styles:

• Author
• Title
• Volume / Issue
• Place of publication
• Publisher
• Editor
• Date of publication
• URL/DOI

The author of the source text is identified by their last name and first name(s) or initial(s), depending on the reference style used. If there are several authors, reference styles provide information on how their names should be listed. Some styles list all writers in last name-first name order, whereas other styles invert the order after the first writer. The authors should always be listed in the same order as they appear in the source itself. Sometimes the names are listed in alphabetical order and sometimes according to the authors' level of contribution; in the latter case, the name of the main author will be listed first.

Periodical publications, such as scholarly journals, are published on a regular basis in instalments that are called issues. A volume usually consists of the issues published during one year, although the publication length may differ. When compiling a reference list, writers need to pay attention to the preferred format; most reference styles require not only the title of article and  journal should be provided, but also the volume of the journal (or book, if it is a multi-volume publication) and sometimes the issue as well.

For book entries in the reference list, some reference styles require the place (city) of publication. In references to publications from the United States, a two-letter abbreviation of the name of the state is often added after the name of the city. Some publishers and reference styles from the US also recommend that the country is provided if the place of publication is located outside of the US.

If the source is a text within an edited volume (such as a chapter in an anthology), it should be listed under the name of the author of the text used, not under the name of the editor. The name of the editor should be given in the bibliographic entry, however. 

Many sources are retrieved electronically and some reference styles require the url (the Internet address) from which the source was retrieved. To avoid complicated web addresses in bibliographic posts a DOI (document object identifier) is nowadays usually preferred if available.