What goes into a reference list
A reference list gives the full details of every source you cited, so a reader can find it. Most styles need the same core facts: who created it, when it was published, what it is called, where it appeared, and how to retrieve it (a DOI or a URL). What changes between styles is order, punctuation, capitalisation and abbreviations.
| Style | List order | Title capitalisation |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Alphabetical by author | Sentence case for articles and books |
| Harvard (Cite Them Right) | Alphabetical by author | Sentence case, title of book in italics |
| IEEE | Numbered in order of citation | Article titles in quotation marks |
| AMA 11 | Numbered in order of citation | Sentence case for articles, journal abbreviated |
References for a thesis or dissertation
Theses often have 80 or more references collected over months. Add sources as you read them, not at the end: paste the DOI while the paper is open, check the fields once, and the entry is ready. Export the list as .ris every few weeks so you have a copy outside the browser, and import it into a reference manager if your faculty requires one.
For a thesis written in Indonesian, the Indonesian edition of the generator uses Indonesian terms in references; see About for the two editions.
References for a journal manuscript
Journals publish author guidelines that name a style, often APA, AMA, IEEE or a house variant of one of them. Generate your list in the closest standard style, then check the guide for differences such as the number of authors before "et al.", whether DOIs are required, and how journal names are abbreviated. The IEEE citation generator and the AMA citation generator cover the two most common numbered styles.
Finding the details a reference needs
- Journal articles: the DOI is usually on the first page or the article web page; paste it and Crossref fills the rest.
- Books: the ISBN is on the back cover or the copyright page; the ISBN citation generator uses Open Library.
- Web pages: paste the URL; if the page lists no date, styles use "n.d." and the form leaves the date empty.
- Reports and theses: use the manual form and add the institution and report or publication number.
Do not cite a source you have not read. If you found a claim in a secondary source, cite the source you actually read and follow your style's rule for secondary citations.
Consistency beats perfection
Markers notice inconsistency faster than small errors: one entry with full first names among many with initials, DOIs on some articles but not others, a city on one book only. Generating every entry with the same style removes most of those differences. Then scan the list once from top to bottom looking only for odd ones out.
If nobody tells you which style to use
Look at the reference lists in the readings your course assigns, or the journals in your field. Psychology and education lean towards APA, medicine towards AMA or Vancouver, engineering towards IEEE, history towards Chicago, and many British business schools towards Harvard. When in doubt, ask; consistency within one document matters more than the choice itself.