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ReferringEntity (rfe)

The ReferringEntity names the resource from which the reference originated — typically the database record or page that contained the link.

The ReferringEntity is the resource that referenced the Referent. Where the Referent is the citation's destination, the ReferringEntity is its source: typically a bibliographic record, a database hit, or a web page from which the user clicked. The ReferringEntity is optional; in KEV form it uses the prefix rfe.

How it differs from the Referrer

Easy to confuse with the Referrer (rfr), but distinct:

  • The Referrer is the system that generated the ContextObject — a database, a search engine, a citation manager.
  • The ReferringEntity is the resource within that system that referenced the Referent — a specific record, a specific page.

A reference list on a publisher's article page might generate ContextObjects with the publisher as the Referrer and the article itself as the ReferringEntity.

How a ReferringEntity is described

Like every other entity, a ReferringEntity may be described by metadata, by identifier, or by reference. The most common form in practice is identifier-only: a DOI for the article in which the citation appears.

rfe_id=info:doi/10.1038/nature12373

Descriptive metadata is also possible, using the same format identifiers as the Referent:

rfe_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal
&rfe.atitle=A+Citing+Article
&rfe.jtitle=Some+Journal
&rfe.date=2023

Why include it

A resolver that knows the ReferringEntity can:

  • Use citation context to disambiguate ambiguous Referent metadata.
  • Log linking patterns for analytics — what kinds of articles are cited from where.
  • Offer the user a return path if the resolution fails.

The descriptor is optional and is omitted in the bulk of OpenURL traffic. Where it appears, it tends to be in OpenURLs generated by publishers exporting their own reference lists.

Sources