Reference Types in Citavi

The following list shows you the reference types Citavi provides specific templates for.

Archive Material: Written, pictorial, or audiovisual material stored in an archive. Typical defining characteristics of archive material are their uniqueness and that they are housed in an archival collection. If these characteristics are present, use this reference type for documents that might otherwise be added as a Journal Article; Audio, Video, or Film Document; Manuscript; Map; Newspaper Article; File; Statute or Regulation, etc.

Audio Book: Audio recording of a reading of a text, published on media such as cassette, CD, or audio file. See: Radio Play. (since radio plays are sometimes adaptations of literary texts, these reference types can easily overlap). Readings which were only broadcast on the radio and are not available for sale should be cited with the Radio or TV Broadcast reference type.

Audio or Video Document: Any recording of a documentary nature using audio, moving images, or both, which is published on tape, DVD, CD, film, etc. (e.g. educational and documentary films and slideshows as well as historical recordings of speeches and other events). See: Audio Book, Radio Play, Movie, Radio or TV Broadcast.

Book: A single independent, complete work, written by one author or a team of authors who share the responsibility of the text (in one volume or a finite set of volumes). See: Edited Book, Collected Work.

Book, Edited: A single or multi-volume work with discrete contributions from various authors which is compiled by one or more editors. Includes dictionaries and encyclopedias. An edited book which does not have a publisher should be added with the Report or Gray Literature reference type. See: Conference Proceedings, Special Issue, Collected Work.

Collected Work: A selected or complete collection of the work of an author in one or more volumes. This can range from a small anthology of fiction to a collection of an author's scholarly writings, or to a historical-critical edition of the complete works of an author. To cite a single work from a collected work, use the Contribution reference type. See: Book and Edited Book.

Conference Proceedings: A collection of papers from a scholarly conference in one volume. See: Edited Book, Special Issue.

Contribution: A discrete piece of writing (including editorials, afterwords, etc.) in an Edited Book, Conference Proceedings, a Special Issue, or in a Report or Gray Literature; an entry in an encyclopedia; or an individual work in a Collected Work. Before you add a contribution, add the parent reference first. See: Contribution in Legal Commentary, Journal Article, and Newspaper Article. Please note: to be able to add a contribution, you first need to add the work the contribution is in to your Citavi project.

Contribution in Legal Commentary: An interpretation and explanation of one or more articles or paragraphs of a law (as a contribution in a commentary). Before you add a contribution, add the Legal Commentary first.

Court Decision: A ruling or decision handed down by a court to conclude proceedings.

File: A collection of related documents resulting from administrative or economic activity (not computer files). A file normally comprises multiple documents. Closed records which are stored in an archive should be referenced as Archive Material. See: Manuscript.

Internet Document: A text, image, or multimedia document (Web page, Office, or PDF file, etc.) offered primarily on the Internet. Internet documents which are also available in print but not published by a publishing company should use the Report or Gray Literature reference type. Books in electronic form should not be added as Internet Documents. The Internet address can, however, be noted with the original work in the Companion website field. Use the Thesis reference type for theses and dissertations that are available online.

Interview Material: An unpublished recording of or notes from an interview. Published interviews should be cited in the bibliography according to the format in which they were published (Newspaper Article, Radio or TV Broadcast, etc.).

Journal Article: An article by an author or a team of authors published in an academic or scholarly journal or other periodical. See: Newspaper Article, Contribution.

Lecture: Notes or a handout from an unpublished speech, talk, or lecture, or a recording of it. Published lectures should be cited in the bibliography according to the format in which they were published, e.g. as a Journal Article or as a Contribution.

Legal Commentary: A commentary on one or multiple laws, published as one or more volumes or as a looseleaf collection.

Manuscript: An unpublished document written by hand, on a typewriter, or on a computer. A manuscript is still a manuscript if it is duplicated privately (e.g. photocopies). If a manuscript is published on the Internet, add it as an Internet Document; if it is published privately, add it as a Report or Gray Literature. See: File, Report or Gray Literature.

Map: A map or collection of maps, such as an atlas. Unique pieces such as hand-drawn maps can be cited in the bibliography as manuscripts, or as archive material if they are housed in an archive.

Movie: A motion picture of primarily fictional nature intended for public distribution or viewing. See: Radio, TV Broadcast, Audio or Video Document.

Music Track: A single piece of music (song, sonata, small symphony, etc.) which is published along with other pieces of music on an album. Before you add a music track, add the Musical Work or Music Album first.        

Musical Work / Music Album: A larger piece of music (symphony, opera, etc.) or a collection of multiple pieces (album) published on an audio recording medium.

News Agency Report: A news report written by a news agency and provided to the media. See: Press Release.

Newspaper Article: An article by an author or team of authors in a daily or weekly newspaper. See: Journal Article, Contribution.

Patent: Documentation of a patent (the legal right to exclusive use of an invention such as a design, process, or method) or a patent application.

Personal Communication: Information communicated via letter, fax, e-mail, telephone, or in person. This reference type is appropriate for personal use, but also to collect information as raw material for scholarly or journalistic work. Published letter exchanges should be referenced as a Book or as a Collected Work; personal communication housed in an archive should be referenced as Archive Material.

Press Release: Official text and image material provided to the press by a company, organization, government official, etc. See: News Agency Report.

Radio or TV Broadcast: A program produced for and broadcast on the radio or on TV. See: Audio Book, Radio Play, Movie, and Audio, Video, Film Document.

Radio Play: A dramatic work presented using only sound and broadcast on the radio or sold as a recording. See: Audio Book.

Report or Gray Literature: Printed matter not published by a commercial publisher and not available from a bookseller, but instead published and distributed by the authors or editors themselves. Examples: Reports from universities and research institutions; papers from organizations, agencies or companies; flyers; and advertising brochures. Such papers are often solely or additionally published on the Internet as a PDF document. However, they should not be cited in the bibliography as an Internet Document, but as Report or Gray Literature (including the URL).

Software: A computer program, whether published on a storage medium or available on the Internet. See: Internet Document.

Special Issue: An issue of a periodical published in addition to the regular issues, with its own editor, and typically devoted to a specific topic. See: Conference Proceedings, Edited Book.

Standard: A set of requirements and criteria (for example, quality, dimensions, materials, or protocols) agreed upon and passed by a standards body.

Statute or Regulation: An edict such as a law, ordinance, or regulation from a national or international legislative or administrative body.

Thesis: A document, typically presenting original research, submitted to fulfill requirements of a degree. Depending on the degree and country, it may be called a thesis, dissertation, etc. If a thesis is available only at the university library (or database of theses), use the thesis reference type. A published thesis should be referenced as a Book reference type.

Unknown: Use this reference type as a stopgap when you have unclear or incomplete bibliographic information from another source that doesn't clearly indicate the reference type. Check the original source as soon as possible and then assign the appropriate reference type.