Difference Between Essay and Reports
You are not the only one who is getting confused between essay and report, there are many others as well who are having ...
10 Jun, 2025
20 references are considered the minimum for a 3000-word essay that indicates an idea about using 1 reference per every 150 words. However, there are no official numbers for the references to use in your essay or assignment. Whatever number is told to you is the generalised number.
Yes, 20 references are enough to mention in your 3000-word essay. You can increase the number of references, but using fewer can cause you to get lower marks in your essay or assignment.
It varies with the word count. If you have an essay of 3000 words, then 20 to 25 sources are enough, but if you have an essay of 10000 words, then the number of references or sources will be high because you should mention one reference for 150 words, and now you have the essay of 10000 words, so use at least 60 references to verify your essay research and make it an authorised essay, citing your 70 sources in your 10000-word essay.
Most of the essay writing assignments are of 2000 words, and students get confused about how many references for a 2000-word essay will be required. So follow the generalised number of using references in your essay.
| Words Essay | Number of References |
| 150 | 1 |
| 1000 | 6-7 |
| 2000 | 13-15 |
| 3000 | 20-25 |
| 10000 | 60-70 |
First of all keep in mind that you should know the words count for your essay so that you can get the exact idea for the references usages. Suppose, you have an essay of 3000 words then the number of using references will be 20 it means you should use one reference per every 150 words.
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