Registration of the list of used literature

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.

References, Bibliography, or Works Cited?

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
  

Author

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.