Techniques for managing references in electronic document system are provided. The techniques proceed by storing managed references and associated metadata on a database, determining whether a user account is authorized to use a managed reference based on the associated metadata, requesting approval to use the managed reference from an owner account of the managed reference when determined the user account is not authorized to use the managed reference, and updating database to include the user account in notification about documents that use the managed reference and displaying managed reference with special visual treatment when receiving approval to use the managed reference.