diff --git a/modules/manage/pages/schema-reg/schema-reg-api.adoc b/modules/manage/pages/schema-reg/schema-reg-api.adoc
index 6a8f7546e..f9c3dfbfb 100644
--- a/modules/manage/pages/schema-reg/schema-reg-api.adoc
+++ b/modules/manage/pages/schema-reg/schema-reg-api.adoc
@@ -648,7 +648,23 @@ A successful registration returns the schema's `id`:
 
 == Reference a schema
 
-To build more complex schema definitions, you can add a reference to other schemas. The following example registers a Protobuf schema in subject `test-simple` with a message name `Simple`.
+To build more complex schema definitions, you can add a reference to other schemas. A reference identifies another schema using a `name`, `subject`, and `version`. The meaning of `name` depends on the schema type:
+
+[cols="1,2"]
+|===
+| Schema type | Reference name
+
+| Protobuf
+| The import path used in the `.proto` file (for example, `import "simple";` uses name `simple`)
+
+| Avro
+| The fully qualified schema name, combining the namespace and record name (for example, `com.example.Address`)
+
+| JSON Schema
+| A URI used in `$ref` to identify the referenced schema
+|===
+
+The following example registers a Protobuf schema in subject `test-simple` with a message name `Simple`.
 
 [tabs]
 ====