A reference field stores a reference to a field on another table. For example, the Caller field on the Incident table is a reference to the User [sys_user] table.

When you define a reference field, the system creates a relationship between the two tables. Adding a reference field to a form makes the other fields in the referenced table available to the form.

Note: A reference field can refer only to records from one other table. To add a field that can refer to records on any table, use the Document ID element type.

Administrators can create new reference fields and configure several options for reference fields.

Tip: For troubleshooting information, see the Reference field is not showing the expected display value when selected or it appears blank [KB0693859] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.