a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"

a precise way of locating a quotation, or citing a work, or a part of a work relevant to the subject in question either in the text or in a footnote

An indication of where to find specific information, for example the references cited in scientific publications or bibliographic databases.

A quotation or indirect reference to someone else's work or ideas

A document cited by an examiner used to evaluate the novelty of the claims in the disclosed invention. A reference may include a patent, a patent application, a thesis, or any other printed publication.

A document that discloses subject matter that is material to a determination of the patentability of a claimed invention.