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EndNote: Ref Types

1. What Is a Reference Type?

In EndNote, a Reference Type defines:

  • What kind of source a reference is (book, journal article, thesis, etc.)
  • Which fields are available for that source
  • How those fields are interpreted by citation styles

💡 In short:

Reference Type = “Template” that tells EndNote how to store and format a reference

Examples:

  • Journal Article → has Journal, Volume, Issue
  • Book → has Publisher, Place Published
  • Thesis → has Degree, University

2. Why Reference Type Matters (Very Important)

Choosing the correct reference type affects:

① Citation Formatting Accuracy

  • APA, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver, etc. depend on reference type
  • Wrong type = missing or misplaced elements

② Field Availability

  • Fields differ by reference type
  • Example:
    • Book → Publisher
    • Journal Article → Journal
    • Web Page → URL, Access Date

③ Export & Compatibility

  • Bibliographies exported to Word, LaTeX, or other tools rely on reference type

3. Core Reference Types You Must Know

3.1 Journal Article (Most Common)

Use when: The source is published in a scholarly journal.

Key fields

  • Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • Journal
  • Volume
  • Issue
  • Pages
  • DOI

Correct example

Author: Smith, John
Year: 2022
Title: Language acquisition in adults
Journal: Applied Linguistics
Volume: 43
Issue: 2
Pages: 210–230
DOI: 10.xxxx/xxxx

❌ Do NOT use for:

  • Conference proceedings
  • Magazine articles (unless academic)

3.2 Book

Use when: A whole book written by one or more authors.

Key fields

  • Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • Publisher
  • Place Published
  • Edition

📌 For translated books:

  • Use Translated Title for the translated name
  • Original title often goes in:
    • Original Title (if available), or
    • Title (original) + Translated Title

3.3 Book Section (Book Chapter)

Use when: One chapter in an edited book.

Key fields

  • Author (chapter author)
  • Year
  • Title (chapter title)
  • Editor
  • Book Title
  • Pages
  • Publisher

⚠️ Common mistake:

❌ Using Book instead of Book Section

3.4 Conference Paper / Proceedings

Conference Paper

  • Individual paper presented at a conference

Conference Proceedings

  • Whole published proceedings volume

Key fields

  • Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • Conference Name
  • Place Published
  • Publisher

3.5 Thesis / Dissertation

Use when: Academic degree work.

Key fields

  • Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • Degree
  • University
  • Place Published

Example:

Degree: PhD dissertation
University: University of Cambridge

3.6 Web Page

Use when: Online-only sources without formal publication structure.

Key fields

  • Author / Corporate Author
  • Year
  • Title
  • URL
  • Access Date

⚠️ Use sparingly for academic writing if a better type exists.

3.7 Report

Use when: Institutional or government publications.

Key fields

  • Author / Institution
  • Year
  • Title
  • Report Number
  • Publisher
  • URL (optional)

Examples:

  • OECD reports
  • Government white papers

4. Less Common but Useful Reference Types

Reference Type Use Case
Magazine Article Popular magazines
Newspaper Article Newspapers
Preprint arXiv / bioRxiv
Dataset Research data
Software Software tools
Patent Patent documents
Manuscript Unpublished work
Map Cartographic material
Audiovisual Material Videos, films

5. How EndNote Chooses Fields (Behind the Scenes)

  • Each reference type has a fixed field structure
  • Citation styles decide:
    • which fields are used
    • in what order
    • with what punctuation

Example:

  • APA style:
    • Uses DOI for Journal Article
    • Ignores URL if DOI exists

6. Custom Reference Types (Advanced)

You can customize reference types, but with caution.

Where to configure:

EndNote → Settings / Preferences → Reference Types

You can:

  • Rename reference types
  • Enable / disable types
  • Add custom fields

⚠️ Best practice

  • Do NOT heavily customize if:
    • You sync across devices
    • You collaborate with others
    • You submit manuscripts to journals

7. Choosing the Right Reference Type (Decision Guide)

Source Correct Type
Journal PDF Journal Article
Book (whole) Book
Chapter in edited book Book Section
arXiv paper Preprint
Government PDF Report
Blog post Web Page
Master’s / PhD work Thesis
Conference presentation Conference Paper

8. Common Mistakes (Very Common)

❌ Using Journal Article for everything

❌ Putting journal name in Publisher

❌ Using Web Page for published PDFs

❌ Mixing Book and Book Section

❌ Ignoring DOI field

9. Expert Best Practices

✔ Always choose the most specific reference type

✔ Fill all relevant fields, not just the minimum

✔ Keep one consistent rule for translated works

✔ Use DOI whenever available

✔ Fix reference type before writing the paper

10. Final Mental Model

Reference Type = Structure

Fields = Data

Citation Style = Presentation