I just noticed the following behavior of \startbackmatter: A \placepublications needs a \chapter{...} before it, otherwise no bibliography is generated (i.e. p.2 is empty). Consistent with that behavior, \completepublications works fine without needing a \chapter beforehand. Here's the minimal file: \usemodule[bib] \setupbibtex[database=book] \starttext See \cite[van-Dyke:82] \startbackmatter %\chapter{References} \placepublications \stopbackmatter \stoptext With this .bbl file: \setuppublicationlist[samplesize={vD82},totalnumber=1] \startpublication[k=van-Dyke:82,t=book, a={{van Dyke}},y=1982, n=1,s=vD82] \author[]{Milton}[M.]{van}{Dyke} \pubyear{1982} \title{An Album of Fluid Motion} \city{Stanford, Calif.} \pubname{Parabolic Press} \stoppublication