Meta-reference is a form of self-reference occurring in various media, such as films, books, and video games, where an artifact comments on itself, its medium, or media in general from a "meta-level." This technique makes the recipient aware of the work's artificial nature and production, thereby triggering a consciousness of its medial quality that distinguishes it from general self-reference.

While the concept is ancient, evidenced in works like Homer's Odyssey, the unified term "meta-reference" is relatively new. Earlier discussions often used specific terminology, including "metafiction" by William H. Gass and Robert Scholes, "meta-painting" by Victor Stoichita, and "metatheatre" by Lionel Abel; it's also colloquially known as "breaking the fourth wall" in drama. A 2007 publication by Hauthal et al. first underscored the necessity for cohesive, transmedial terminology, which was then established and popularized by subsequent works from Nöth, Bishara, and Wolf. Meta-reference is easily observed in literature, painting, and film, but it is much harder to create or detect in non-verbal media like music, sparking debate on whether it can be truly explicit outside the confines of lyrics.