A method, computer system, and a computer program product may perform document reference and reference update. One or more processors may assign marker information for a reference of a reference source. The reference may reference a target portion of a target document. The one or more processors may determine identification information for the target portion. The determined identification information may be based on content in the target portion and context information for the target portion in the target document. The one or more processors may generate a mapping of at least the marker information, the identification information, and a relative location of the target portion within the target document for use in the referencing of the target portion by the reference source.