How to set the format for graduation thesis references

Key points of this article

The reference format follows the school's standards. Before starting, confirm the standard version and citation format (sequential coding or author-publication year system).
Main text citations and subsequent entries must correspond one-to-one; where the main text contains references, they must appear at the end, and the main text of the later literature should also be cited.
Using Zotero to uniformly store literature information and insert citations reduces manual sorting and missed citations.
Spot check citations, sorting, punctuation, and document type codes before submission to identify issues faster than reading through each article.

When writing a graduation thesis, references are usually the last part to be dealt with, but they are also prone to errors. Many students have finished reading the documents, but they are stuck on "which format should be used, how to write subtitles in the text, and how to sort dozens of documents", and they have to rework repeatedly when revising the manuscript.

This article is intended for undergraduate and graduate students who need to submit manuscripts according to the university's requirements. After reading, you will know how to set the reference format for your graduation thesis: who to confirm the standard with, how to keep citations consistent with the following entries, and how to use literature management tools to reduce manual editing.

One thing needs to be explained first: the format specifications issued by the school or college are the final basis. The national standard GB/T 7714 is a reference adopted by many schools, but specific methods, such as whether to adopt a coding system or an author-year of publication system, and whether to retain document type codes, must be subject to the requirements of the school.

How to format the references for graduation thesis? One sentence conclusion

First, answer in one sentence: first find the standard recognized by the school, then unify the reference list and main text citations according to that standard. The two must correspond one-to-one.

Your situation	Recommended recipe	The reason
The school explicitly requires GB/T 7714	Arrange according to national standard bibliographic items and document type codes, with the main text marked according to the university's standardized format	Defenses and blind reviews are subject to school regulations
The school only wrote "According to national standards"	Confirm with your instructor or academic department whether it is a sequential coding system or an author-year publication system.	The main text writing and sorting methods of the two standards differ
There is a large amount of English literature	Enter the author's name, journal name, volume, issue and page number according to the English template provided by the school.	English description details are easily confused with Chinese
Mixed Chinese and English literature, large quantity	Use reference management tools to save them together and insert citations.	Manual maintenance is prone to missed or misordered entries
The school has no regulations	Select one standard and unify it throughout the text, and explain it in the introduction if necessary	Consistency in format is more important than choosing which one

Before you start: First, confirm these points

Standard version. GB/T 7714 has versions from different years, and the school template may point to one of them. Request format requirements directly from the college to avoid relying on outdated versions.
Citation Standard. The sequential coding system is numbered according to the order in which a document first appears, with the main text written as [1]; Author - Publication Year Author and Year. The sorting rules for the two formats differ; if you choose the wrong one, you usually have to redo the entire process.
Whether to retain the document type code. National standards commonly use codes such as [M], [J], and [D] to represent monographs, journals, and theses. The school template may require retention or removal.
Is the literature information complete? Journal papers should include volume, issue, and page numbers; The thesis must include the awarding institution and the year; Online literature must have access dates. If information is missing, formatting may be reverted.
Does the tool output comply with the template. Some school templates do not fully match the built-in styles of the tools, and after exporting, manual checks must still be made against the templates.

Steps to organize literature and insert citations in OmniDoc

The OmniDoc desktop client includes a literature workspace connected to Zotero, where you can search for PDFs and translated papers. It helps you collect and read literature, and the formatting rules are still based on the school.

Install Zotero and create a dedicated library for your thesis, making unified management easier later.
Download the OmniDoc desktop client from download.omnidoc.top and connect Zotero in the Literature workspace.
In the workspace, search for the paper PDF, add the references you want to cite to the Zotero library, and complete fields such as author, year, journal, etc.
When reading English papers, you can use the translation function in the Literature Workarea to help understand the paragraph content. Machine translation may contain errors; before quoting, you should return to the original text to verify key conclusions.
Check whether the entry type for each document is correct; for example, journal articles should not be recorded as webpages.
Use Zotero's citation plugin in Word to insert citations, selecting the style corresponding to the school's national standard or template; If there is no ready-made style, manual adjustments must be made according to standards.
After generating the reference list, compare each item with the school template, focusing on punctuation, case and case type, and document type codes.
Back up the Zotero library and original PDF before finalizing the draft to facilitate tracing sources during revisions.

After completion, check each item one by one

Inspection items	How to see it	What should you do if there's a problem?
The main text citations correspond to the entries at the end of the text	Randomly select 5 locations to see if the same entry can be found in the references for the corner mark or author year	Refresh the citation field or manually fill in missing entries
Check if the order is correct	Sequential coding system checks whether the numbers are arranged according to their first appearance; Author-publication year depends on the order of the author's surname	After adjusting the order, recheck each annotation in the main text
Punctuation and case notification	Check the commas, periods, and uppercase and lowercase letters of each item in the school template	Modify uniformly according to the template, and keep a backup before making changes
Document type code	Check whether the codes for journals, monographs, theses, and online literature match the type	Go back to Zotero to correct the entry type and regenerate it
Chinese and English mixed format	Whether the English author name and journal name are retained in the original text; Check for extra spaces between Chinese and English	Batch search and replace, then randomly check each item after replacement
Is there any omission in citing?	Whether the viewpoints and data mentioned in the main text have corresponding literature	Supplement the literature, or remove unsourced statements

📊 Core Comparison

Project	Sequential coding system	Author - Publication Year
Main text noted	Square bracket numbers, such as [1], [2-3]	Author and Year, such as (Zhang San, 2020)
Reference sorting	According to the order in which the main text is first cited	Ordered by the author's surname, pinyin or alphabetical order
Modification impact	Adjusting the position of the main text will alter the numbering and requires a complete rearrangement	Additions and deletions usually only affect the corresponding position
Common situations	Science and engineering papers are relatively common	Humanities and social sciences papers are relatively common

The specific format to use still depends on the school's requirements.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is GB/T 7714?

GB/T 7714 is a recommended national standard specifying the format and citation methods for references at the end of the text. Many schools use this as a basis to set thesis guidelines, but the detailed rules are based on the templates published by the schools.

2. What is the difference between references and citations?

Citations are marks in the main text, such as corner marks or author years; References are the complete entries at the end of the text. The two should correspond one-to-one: references cited in the main text must appear after the text, and the main text of the references listed at the end of the text should also be cited.

3. What tools are convenient for managing English literature citations?

You can use reference management tools to centrally save entries and insert citations, such as Zotero. When choosing, pay attention to whether you can export the style required by the school and whether you can insert references directly into Word.

4. Should references be listed with DOI and access dates?

It depends on the school's standards. Some templates require journal papers to include a DOI, while online literature requires the access date. If unsure, ask your advisor and keep the text consistent.

5. What if you can't find all the literature information?

First, complete the information on the main page, copyright page, or journal page of the document itself. If still missing, handle according to school regulations; do not fabricate volumes or page numbers.

📝 Summary

How to set the format for graduation thesis references? The key is to first determine the standards recognized by the school, then ensure that citations in the main text correspond one-to-one with the following entries. Using literature management tools to organize sources can reduce rework later on. Before submitting, check each item according to the checklist; most formatting issues can be resolved in a single revision.

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