Adoption of Bibcode
- The Bibliographic Reference Code (refcode) was originally developed for use in SIMBAD and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
- The code has become a de facto standard and is now used more widely, including by the NASA Astrophysics Data System.
- The term 'bibcode' was coined by the NASA Astrophysics Data System and is preferred.
- The code is used to uniquely identify bibliographic references in scientific literature.
- It consists of a fixed length of 19 characters.

Format of Bibcode
- The code follows the format: YYYYJJJJJVVVVMPPPPA.
- YYYY represents the four-digit year of the reference.
- JJJJJ is a code indicating where the reference was published.
- VVVV represents the volume number in the case of a journal reference.
- M indicates the section of the journal where the reference was published.
- PPPP gives the starting page number and A is the first letter of the last name of the first author.

Examples
- Example bibcode: 1974AJ.....79..819H.
- Reference: Heintz, W. D. (1974). Astrometric study of four visual binaries.
- Journal: The Astronomical Journal.
- Page range: 819–825.
- DOI: 10.1086/111614.

Related Identifier
- Digital object identifier (DOI) is another identifier used in scientific literature.

References
- M. Schmitz, G. Helou, P. Dubois, C. LaGue, B.F. Madore, H. G. Corwin Jr. & S. Lesteven (1995). NED and SIMBAD Conventions for Bibliographic Reference Coding.
- Book: Information & On-Line Data in Astronomy.
- Published by: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- ISBN: 0-7923-3659-3.
- The ADS Data, help page. NASA ADS.