While writing academic papers, students should never miss adding a list of references and a bibliography at the very end, even after the conclusion. These two words are often used interchangeably; however, holds two different meaning. Students should not use these terms interchangeably or list down references as a bibliography.

The fundamental difference between the two is references include sources that have been directly cited in the assignment. For each source, you will have at least one in-text citation in the main body of your academic paper. On the other hand, bibliographies contain all the references that you have used for your paper, whether they are directly cited or not. In a bibliography, you should include all of the materials you consulted while preparing the assignment.

Apart from these, here are some more parts highlighted that draws the line between bibliography and references-

• Style

Citation or reference list can be formatted using Chicago, MLA, APA, Harvard, and Vancouver styles. Any style that the university has asked the students to cite their paper is also the formatting style for the list of references. There are various online citation generator tools that students can use to create a flawless list of references.

On the contrary, Chicago and Oxford citations are the two citation styles that are used to make bibliographies.

• Arrangement

In the academic assignments, the list of references can be arranged alphabetically or numerically. Universities allow the flexibility to the students to sort their sources of information the way they want it to be.

However, when it comes to bibliography, there is no flexibility and students can arrange the sources only numerically. Both reference lists and bibliographies appear at the end of a written work and are usually organised alphabetically. A paper can have both a reference list and a bibliography.

1. Objective of use 

The main objective of adding a reference list at the end of the document is to improve credibility, support an idea used in the assignment, or support arguments and counter-arguments.

As against, the bibliography is not used for supporting an argument. It is just the list of sources that students have visited to choose a suitable topic, to refer to an idea, researched to gain information and insights associated with the topic, and so on.

1. Places of application 

While we have previously said that every academic assignment can have a reference and bibliography list, here are some more specifications. A reference list is a must when it comes to thesis and dissertation assignments.

If you are working on a generic assignment, case study, research work, report paper, and journal, it should not miss placing a list of bibliography after writing the main body of the assignment.

To sum up, references and bibliography are almost the same, but there are a handful of subtle differences that makes the two different. Hope you will find it useful.