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Oxford referencing

Free Oxford referencing generator

Paste a URL, ISBN or DOI and get an Oxford style footnote reference in seconds. The documentary note system used across UK humanities courses.

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When you use Oxford referencing

Oxford referencing is a footnote system. A superscript number in your text points to a note at the bottom of the page carrying the full source details, and a bibliography at the end lists everything alphabetically. If your course in the UK or Australia asks for footnote referencing and it is not law, this is usually what it means.

Like Harvard, Oxford is a convention rather than a single published rulebook. Different universities print slightly different versions, and the name gets used loosely for documentary note styles in general. The core is stable though: author in normal order, title in italics for books, publication details in parentheses, then the page you are citing.

One more naming trap worth clearing up. If you are a law student, your course almost certainly wants OSCOLA, which is a specific Oxford-published standard for legal citation with its own strict rules. OSCOLA has its own generator and guide on this site. This page covers general Oxford footnote referencing for history, politics, literature and similar subjects.

The formats, with real examples

Paste your source into the tool above and it fills these in for you. If you would rather see the pattern, here is exactly what each one looks like.

Book (footnote)
Author First Last, Title of Book (Publisher, Year), page.
EXAMPLECharles Brown, The History of Everything (Oxford University Press, 2021), p. 87.
Journal article (footnote)
Author First Last, 'Title of Article', Journal Name, vol. x, no. x (Year), page.
EXAMPLEMaria Garcia, 'Rewriting the Gothic', Studies in the Novel, vol. 54, no. 2 (2022), p. 148.
Website (footnote)
Author First Last, 'Title of Page' (Site Name, Year) <URL> accessed day month year.
EXAMPLEJane Smith, 'How Climate Change Affects Oceans' (National Geographic, 2023) <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/oceans> accessed 14 August 2026.
Bibliography entry
Author Last, First, Title of Book (Publisher, Year).
EXAMPLEBrown, Charles, The History of Everything (Oxford University Press, 2021).

In-text citations

Parenthetical: Oxford does not cite in parentheses. A superscript number in the text, usually after the punctuation, points to the footnote.
Narrative: The first footnote gives full details. Repeat citations shorten to the author's surname and a short title with the page: Brown, History of Everything, p. 92.

The bibliography inverts the author's name for alphabetical sorting and drops page numbers. Footnotes keep the name in normal order and always give the specific page.

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Mistakes people make in Oxford referencing

COMMON SLIP
Using the same format in footnotes and the bibliography.
WHAT TO DO
Footnotes put the author in normal order and cite a specific page. The bibliography inverts the surname for sorting and covers the whole work with no page number. Same facts, two layouts.
COMMON SLIP
Writing the author's name inverted in a footnote, like Brown, Charles.
WHAT TO DO
In footnotes the name reads naturally: Charles Brown. Inversion exists only so the bibliography can alphabetize.
COMMON SLIP
Leaving the accessed date off online sources.
WHAT TO DO
Oxford web citations end with the URL in angle brackets and an accessed date, like <URL> accessed 14 August 2026. Pages change, and the date anchors which version you used.
COMMON SLIP
Assuming Oxford and OSCOLA are interchangeable because both use footnotes.
WHAT TO DO
OSCOLA is a strict legal standard with special forms for cases and legislation and almost no punctuation. General Oxford referencing is looser and covers ordinary books, articles and websites. Law essays need OSCOLA specifically.

Questions students actually ask

What is Oxford referencing exactly?
A documentary note style: superscript numbers in the text, full source details in footnotes at the bottom of each page, and an alphabetical bibliography at the end. The first note for a source is complete, and later notes use a short form with the author's surname, a shortened title and the page.
How do I reference a website in Oxford style?
Author, 'Title of Page' (Site Name, Year) <URL> accessed day month year. The URL sits inside angle brackets and the accessed date is written out in full, like accessed 14 August 2026. If no author is named, begin with the page title.
What goes in the bibliography if the footnotes already have everything?
Every work you cited, listed alphabetically by surname, in the inverted name form and without page numbers. The bibliography shows the marker your research base at a glance, while the footnotes tie each claim to an exact page. Most courses require both.
Is Oxford referencing the same at every university?
No, and that is normal. Oxford is a family of footnote conventions rather than one official manual, so guides differ on details like whether to include a publisher place or p. before page numbers. The structure here matches common practice; your department's guide wins on the small stuff.
Is this Oxford generator free?
Yes. Free, no account, no daily limit, like every style on FreeCitation. Ads cover the costs.

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