OmniDocHow to apply the reference template: How to use the online template
Explains how to apply the ready-made reference template to the paper, including the complete steps of first checking the format requirements, retaining the style replacement entries in the online editor, unifying the layout and exporting, which is suitable for graduation thesis and journal submission scenarios.
Key points of this article
- First confirm the format requirements of the school or journal, and then choose a template. Templates are only a tool to put specifications into documents and cannot replace specifications.
- When applying, the style and numbering settings of the template are retained, and only the entry content is replaced, avoiding the need to manually adjust the font and indentation one by one.
- The citation numbers in the text should correspond one-to-one with the reference list, and check them one by one after completing the template.
- Edit in a Word-compatible online editor to keep the template's style unchanged after export.
Whenever the paper is finalized, many people get stuck on the references: they don’t understand the formatting instructions given by their tutors, the fonts in the templates downloaded online are messed up when opened, and they have to manually adjust them one by one when there are too many entries. If you are looking for ways to use the Reference 2026 template online, this article is for you.
After reading this article, you will know how to first determine which template to choose, then apply the template to your paper in the online editor, and ensure that the format is not distorted after exporting. The method in this article does not rely on a specific software and is also applicable to other online editors or desktop office software.
The following will first give the conclusion, then explain the writing method part by part according to the structure of the template, and finally give the operating steps and common problems in the editor.
How to choose and apply a reference template? One sentence conclusion
Subject to the format requirements of the school or journal first, and then select the corresponding template. When applying, only the entry content will be replaced and the style settings will be retained. Templates are tools for putting specifications into documents, and the specifications themselves cannot be omitted.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| The school or journal has given a specified template | Use the template provided by the other party directly, do not look for another one | The format is subject to the other party’s requirements, eliminating the need for rework. |
| Only text version format instructions | Follow the instructions to create a new style in the editor, and then insert the items into it. | Text descriptions need to be converted into specific settings such as font, indentation, numbering, etc. |
| The paper has been written, only the references have been changed | Unify the entry information first, and then replace it into the template style as a whole | The entry information is not uniform, and format inconsistencies will still appear after applying the template. |
| Need to revise with tutor or classmates | Edit and preserve styles with a Word-compatible online editor | After the style is retained, collaborators will see the same layout when they open it. |
| The same manuscript needs to be submitted to multiple journals | Save an unformatted list of items and reapply them for each journal | Different journals have different formatting rules, so it is safer to handle them separately. |
Template structure overview
Reference templates usually consist of the following parts, which can be checked one by one when applying.
| part | what to write | Space suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| title | "References" or "References", the font size is consistent with the title of the text | 1 line |
| Reference order instructions | Numbered according to citation order, or sorted by author's pinyin or alphabet | 1–2 paragraphs, in most cases placed at the beginning of the text or in the appendix |
| Entry list | Each entry contains author, title, source, year, volume, issue, page number and other elements. | According to the actual number of documents, there is no fixed length |
| Format supplement | Hanging indent, line spacing, Chinese and English fonts, punctuation habits, etc. | 3–5 items |
| Number identification | Numbers in square brackets or superscripts are consistent with the text citations. | Automatically generated with the number of entries |
How to write part by part
Title and location
The title should be consistent with the style of other first-level titles of the paper, usually on a separate page or in another paragraph, and should not be mixed with the main text. The title style in the template should be used directly and should not be temporarily changed to another font.
Example: The title should keep the four words "References", the font and size should be the same as the title "[Chapter Name]", and the spacing before and after the paragraphs should be set according to the template.
Reference order
It is common practice to number items according to their first appearance in the text, starting with [1] and arranged consecutively. If the journal requires sorting by author surname, the entries need to be sorted and numbered before applying the template.
Example: When the text cites a document for the first time, it is marked as [1], and then it is cited as [1] again. The first item in the list is the document.
Entry format
Entries are the core of the template and must be written according to the same rules. Common elements include: author, title, source (journal name or publisher), year, volume or edition, page number, and DOI. Different document types (journals, monographs, dissertations, web pages) have different elements and should be filled in according to the requirements respectively.
Example: [Serial number] [Author 1], [Author 2]. [Title] [J]. [Journal name], [Year], roll: [Start and end page numbers].
Hanging indent and font
Entries usually use hanging indentation, that is, the first line is top space and subsequent lines are indented for easier reading. Chinese and English fonts, font sizes, and line spacing must be set uniformly according to the template. If there is a mixture of Chinese and English in the entry, the English author name and journal name are generally in English fonts, and punctuation marks must be in Chinese and English formats.
Example: The entry font size is unified to [font size], the line spacing is [numeric value] times, and the hanging indent is [numeric value] characters.
The serial number corresponds to the text quotation
After applying the template, check one by one whether the reference numbers in the text are consistent with the list. This is an error-prone step: after deleting or adding a document, the subsequent serial numbers will change and need to be updated as a whole.
Example: After deleting the [serial number] item in the list, all references greater than [serial number] in the text will be reduced by 1 accordingly.
Layout in the editor
- Open the UniDoc web editor of app.unidoc.top, or use the UniDoc document editor in the OmniDoc desktop client, and import your thesis file (Word format is sufficient).
- Apply the reference titles and entry styles in the template to the references section of the paper, retaining the font, indentation, and line spacing settings in the template.
- Replace each item with your own document information. Only change the content of each item, not the style, to avoid manual format adjustment.
- Check the citation numbers in the text and confirm that the numbers correspond to the list, especially after adding or deleting documents.
- Set the table of contents and page numbers, check whether the references are on separate pages after the main text, and the page numbers are continuous.
- Save or export in Word format and open it in the target environment to check it again. After the file has been converted several times, it is recommended to recheck the style against the template.
If you need to export PDF, you can first confirm the layout in the editor, then use the common PDF export method to generate the file. After exporting, check whether the title, indentation and page number are normal.
Common writing problems
- The punctuation in the entry is a mixture of Chinese and English, and the format of commas and periods is not uniform.
- Only the indentation of the first item was changed, and subsequent items were not changed accordingly.
- The in-text citations use superscripts, while the lists use square brackets, which is inconsistent.
- The case names of authors and journal names in English documents are not handled as required.
- The serial number was not updated after deleting the document, resulting in mismatch between the main text and the list.
- The sample text in the template has not been deleted and remains in the final draft.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. The reference template can be used online. Can it be directly applied to an already written paper?
Can. Import the paper into an online editor that supports Word format and apply the reference style in the template. After application, you should focus on checking whether the entry format and text serial number are consistent.
2. The school does not provide a template, only text instructions, what should I do?
Create a new reference style in the editor according to the text description, and set the font, font size, line spacing and hanging indent. Then apply the items one by one, and finally check them against the instructions.
3. After applying the template, the export format changes. Why?
Common reasons are that styles are converted when importing or exporting, or that manually set formats are mixed into the entries. It is recommended to clear the manual formatting of the entries, use template styles uniformly, and then re-export the inspection.
4. Are free reference templates reliable?
When choosing a template, you should look at three points: whether it is consistent with the format requirements of the school or journal, whether it retains editable styles, and whether it can still be opened normally after exporting. The format specifications are subject to the other party's requirements, and the template is just an auxiliary tool.
5. Does the document information processed by machine translation or OCR need to be checked?
need. Machine translation and OCR may contain typos, author name recognition errors, or title breaks. Please check each item against the original text, especially the author's name, volume, issue, and page number.
📝 Summary
The key to applying templates to references is to first determine the formatting basis, then retain the template style and replace only the entry content. After applying, check the text serial number and entry format one by one, and check the layout again before exporting to ensure this step is stable.
