Difference between source and reference
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Hello, nationi.
Both "source" and "reference" can refer to some book or article that you consult when you make a factual statement about something.
At the end of many books, you'll find a list of "references", which are the books, etc. the author used in writing his or her book.
I think it's a little more common to talk about "sources" rather than "references" when people are talking about the sources of information that they rely on for facts: I read that the world will have nearly eight billion people in it by 2050. Oh yeah? What is your source for that number?
Both "source" and "reference" can refer to some book or article that you consult when you make a factual statement about something.
At the end of many books, you'll find a list of "references", which are the books, etc. the author used in writing his or her book.
I think it's a little more common to talk about "sources" rather than "references" when people are talking about the sources of information that they rely on for facts: I read that the world will have nearly eight billion people in it by 2050. Oh yeah? What is your source for that number?
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A reference is a mention of a source.
From the WR dictionary:
source
any thing or place from which something comes or is obtained; origin
source - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
reference
a direction of the attention, as in a book, to some other book, passage, etc.
reference - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
The source of a quotation is the place (book, newspaper, website etc.) from which you took the material quoted.
The reference is your listing of the source.
The list at the end of an article or book could be called either "references" (i.e. the author's list of sources) or "sources" (the books etc. themselves which the author used in doing research).
From the WR dictionary:
source
any thing or place from which something comes or is obtained; origin
source - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
reference
a direction of the attention, as in a book, to some other book, passage, etc.
reference - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
The source of a quotation is the place (book, newspaper, website etc.) from which you took the material quoted.
The reference is your listing of the source.
The list at the end of an article or book could be called either "references" (i.e. the author's list of sources) or "sources" (the books etc. themselves which the author used in doing research).
In academic books, references to sources such as books, journals, articles, etc. are often given in short form – e.g. "Smith et al. 1982" – in the main text (and/or in footnotes or endnotes), with full details of them listed in a bibliography at the end of the book. There are also cross-references in the text, such as: "(see fig. 8 on p. 139)".
Hello everyone
I wonder if my take based on these words "source" "reference" "bibliography"
based on my experience is correct. If not, please kindly let me know where I am mistaken:
Case one:
The "list" / "mention" at the end of a book used by the author to write a book / article can be called: "references" or "sources" or "bibliography".
Case two:
The place of a quotation (book, newspaper, website etc.) from which you took the material quoted can be called: "references" or "sources". (Bibliography) does not work here.)
Case three:
The materials (books) you have to study to pass an exam just can be called: "references". (To me, "sources" and "bibliography" do not work in this sense.)
I wonder if my take based on these words "source" "reference" "bibliography"
based on my experience is correct. If not, please kindly let me know where I am mistaken:
Case one:
The "list" / "mention" at the end of a book used by the author to write a book / article can be called: "references" or "sources" or "bibliography".
Case two:
The place of a quotation (book, newspaper, website etc.) from which you took the material quoted can be called: "references" or "sources". (Bibliography) does not work here.)
Case three:
The materials (books) you have to study to pass an exam just can be called: "references". (To me, "sources" and "bibliography" do not work in this sense.)
Your explanation suggests that you misunderstand these words.
A bibliography is a full list — nearly always placed at the end of an academic book, along with other endmatter such as index, appendixes, glossary, list of picture credits, etc. — of all the publications referred to and/or mentioned in the main part of that book. (Any word with “biblio” in it refers to books.)
The words source (the book/article/speech etc. that a quote or piece of information came from) and reference (a mention of a particular source) should not be confused. See #3 and #4.
A bibliography is a full list — nearly always placed at the end of an academic book, along with other endmatter such as index, appendixes, glossary, list of picture credits, etc. — of all the publications referred to and/or mentioned in the main part of that book. (Any word with “biblio” in it refers to books.)
The words source (the book/article/speech etc. that a quote or piece of information came from) and reference (a mention of a particular source) should not be confused. See #3 and #4.
Hence, the "bibliography" is the list of the books used by the writer, the "source" is the book etc. that an excerpt has taken from and the books themselves used for an author to write a book or a student to pass an exam would be a reference. Right?
A reference is any mention of a source in the main text of the book — where, for the sake of brevity, references are often made in short form.
Full listing of an article in the bibliography:
French, A. (1972), “Topical Influences on Herodotus’ Narrative”, Mnemos, 25, 9–27.
References to it in main text and notes:
(French in Mnemos, 1972)
Full listing of an article in the bibliography:
French, A. (1972), “Topical Influences on Herodotus’ Narrative”, Mnemos, 25, 9–27.
References to it in main text and notes:
(French in Mnemos, 1972)
Point taken regarding "source" and "bibliography", but still the one which is used to call the several books which should be studied to pass an exam e.g. a university entrance exam is not clear to me lingobingo.
I don’t know of a specific term for that (apart from coursebook). Presumably you mean study materials for a particular course of study.
Study materials are those subjects that a student must study. (The subjects like math, literature, etc.)
But what I need is the "original books". For instance, let's say a professor teaches algebra which is one of ten materials that a student must know to pass the university entrance exam. He recommends to the students to read a book called "X". But for those who are more interested to know that subject much better than the other students or those who want to achieve a better ranking among other university entrance volunteers, recommends to read ................; Which book "X" was written based on them. Like:
1. The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel
2. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
3. The Colossal Book of Mathematics by Martin Gardner
4. Euclid in the Rainforest by Joseph Mazur
5. What is Mathematics Really? by Reuben Hersh
So, I wonder what would you call these five books here? A "reference" or a "source"?
They’re sources, as I explained in #9.
I got the point now lingobingo. But I misunderstood you in post #9.
So both these books and where someone takes a piece of information from are called "sources". Right?
Meanwhile, I would really appreciate if you do me another favor and simplify your definition in post #9. I mean:
- The words source (the book/article/speech etc. that a quote or piece of information came from) and reference (a mention of a particular source) should not be confused. See #3 and #4.
It would be great if you kindly paraphrase it.
Actually, what confuses me is that if:
The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel
2. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
3. The Colossal Book of Mathematics by Martin Gardner
4. Euclid in the Rainforest by Joseph Mazur
5. What is Mathematics Really? by Reuben Hersh
are called sources, then what is a reference?
I always called each one of these 5 items either a reference or a source. But now I got that they are called "sources" only!
I’ve been explaining specifically about the term references as used in the field of academic publishing (definition 1.1 here: reference | Lexico).
But the word reference is used in other ways too. You seem to be talking about definition 1.2.
But the word reference is used in other ways too. You seem to be talking about definition 1.2.
You understood my intention correctly lingobingo.
As Lexico says:
1.2. A source of information cited in a book or article.
Here, if I'm not mistaken, a "reference" is cited to be exactly the same as a "source".
This is exactly what I don't understand lingobingo, (as many other dictionaries mentioned to.)
I don’t use it that way myself.
"A-friend said PaulQ's book says "The River Nile has its source in Lake Victoria and the Nile is the longest river in the world"."
The reference to the River Nile is not Lake Victoria but is in PaulQ's book. -> a reference need not be the origin.
PaulQ's reference to the length of the River Nile is disputed (the words/facts of the reference)- the Amazon might be longer.
PaulQ says that his source for the claim that the Nile is the longest river in the world was the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.
The neutrality of the source is disputed.
The source of the River Nile is Lake Victoria. -> the original starting point; the origin.
The reference to the River Nile is not Lake Victoria but is in PaulQ's book. -> a reference need not be the origin.
PaulQ's reference to the length of the River Nile is disputed (the words/facts of the reference)- the Amazon might be longer.
PaulQ says that his source for the claim that the Nile is the longest river in the world was the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.
The neutrality of the source is disputed.
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I always understood the difference to be:
The sources of an author's information are all the books he has read while preparing his article. Sometimes entitled Further Reading.
The references are the specific page numbers of the quotations he uses. These are often numbered and refer to Notes or Footnotes
The bibliography is the alphabetic list of sources, or the numeric list of references, as the case may be.
The sources of an author's information are all the books he has read while preparing his article. Sometimes entitled Further Reading.
The references are the specific page numbers of the quotations he uses. These are often numbered and refer to Notes or Footnotes
The bibliography is the alphabetic list of sources, or the numeric list of references, as the case may be.
Thank you Paul
But I think there is something missing here as Owlman5 mentioned in #5:
Don't you think there is an AE / BE difference here?
I think to Americans "source" and "reference" are the same when they are referring to some original books based on which some other books have been written or from which e.g. a piece of information has been taken.
Don't you agree?
No. It is down to individual understanding. I think we are all agreed that sometimes a source and a reference are almost the same and in other contexts, they are not.
"My reference for my claim is the article in "Wikipedia". The source of that claim is a manuscript written c. 200BC."
"The source of, and the reference for, the quote are the same - I took it from "Hamlet" by Shakespeare."
Hello Keith and thank you very much for your participation in this discussion.
I have another question. Let's say you are talking face to face or chatting through a community application like Skype to someone about a scientific topic. You mention something as a claim to an important issue. The listener (second person) who you are talking to, fall into doubt and wants to know where is the book/article etc. you have taken than claim from. What shall he ask you?
- Please let me know about the "source" of this statement.
- Please let me know about the "reference" of this statement.
Bingo. So regarding the origin of a statement/claim they mean exactly the same.
Thank you very much Paul. 😍