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About

Answers with authority

Oxford Reference is the home of Oxford’s quality reference publishing, bringing together over 2 million entries, many of which are illustrated, into a single cross-searchable resource.  With a fresh and modern look and feel, and specifically designed to meet the needs and expectations of reference users, Oxford Reference provides quality, up-to-date reference content at the click of a button. Made up of two main collections, both fully integrated and cross-searchable, Oxford Reference couples Oxford’s trusted A-Z reference material with an intuitive design to deliver a discoverable, up-to-date, and expanding reference resource.

Find out more by watching our short video:

 

Oxford Quick Reference: Quickly check a fact, or find out key information about a concept, person, or term

  • A collection of over 125 core academic subject, language, and quotations dictionaries providing carefully vetted quick results that users can trust
  • Monthly updating programme to maintain currency of content
  • Full content releases 3 times a year with new titles and updated editions
  • Collection available by annual subscription to individuals and institutions worldwide

Oxford Reference Library: Research a term, concept, or person in-depth with articles and essays

  • Pick and mix from over 180 in-depth and specialist titles from Oxford’s award-winning Encyclopedias and Companions, and a critical selection of partner publishers’ specialist scholarly works
  • Delve deeper into a subject, furthering your research needs
  • New titles added and available for purchase throughout the year
  • Available for purchase by institutions on a title-by-title basis

Visit the Title Lists page to view a complete list of titles available in Oxford Quick Reference and the Oxford Reference Library

Key Features

  • Overview pages: Over 300,000 pages defining each unique term in Oxford Reference, together with clever onward navigation, all completely free and discoverable from the open web
  • Timelines: 270 free Timelines organized by time period, area, and theme, with each event linked to a free entry in Oxford Reference
  • Intuitive design and functionality: Navigate to content quickly and easily with enhanced linking and Overview pages
  • Quotations title: Oxford Essential Quotations
  • Library widget: Log in to Oxford Reference quickly and easily, and choose whether to see results from all of Oxford Reference or only full text entries available via your library
  • Quick & Advanced search: Catering for all levels of user, and allowing you to save time with fast, simple searching, sorting and filtering across broad or specific search terms
  • Annotation functionality: Select text to highlight and annotate with your own notes. This feature is activated by signing in to your 'My Work' account where your annotations can be stored and managed
  • Oxford Dictionaries Online widget: Double click a word and see the free definition in Oxford Dictionaries Online
  • Leave Feedback: You can now leave feedback about how useful you found entries in Oxford Reference using the box at the bottom of every entry
  • Customization: Keep your research organized by saving your research journey, favourite titles, and entries, saving valuable research time
  • Share content: With integrated tools including social bookmarking, email, and citation export
  • Discoverability: MARC 21 records are available at title level, and Open URL increase discoverability and usage of library resources. The Oxford Index Underbar offers a free search and discovery service showing links to related content from all Oxford University Press online content. So if you’re searching “modernism” in Oxford Reference, the underbar will draw from a variety of Oxford resources to give you a selection of relevant works, from research guides to critical essays. Click on the arrows located at the bottom of your browser to expand the underbar and see how it can enhance your search experience. For more information about the Oxford Index watch our video or go to www.oxfordindex.oup.com
  • Illustrations: Many illustrated entries and articles, including colour photographs, line diagrams, maps, flags, and tables

Coming soon

  • Mobile-optimized site

To find out how to register for free trials and to request price quotations please visit Subscriber Services.

Featured Themes

Oxford Reference publishes regular features and articles covering topical anniversaries through the entire spectrum of its quality reference content. Read the features and articles on the Featured Themes page.

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