 | This help page is ahow-to guide. It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels ofconsensus. |
Citations are important in Wikipedia to ensure that information comes from actual, reliable sources (WP:V,WP:CITE). There are three preferred ways ofciting sources:
Citations can also be placed asexternal links, but these are not preferred because they are prone tolink rot and usually lack the full information necessary to find the original source in cases of link rot. In cases where citations are lacking, the template{{fact}} can be added after the statement in question.
The following table shows examples of these ways of citing sources, categorized as "the good, the bad and the ugly".
| Citation style | Articlewikitext | Appears as | References sectionwikitext | Appears as | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Footnotes | Substantiated claim.<refname="Robinson">{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Arthur Howard|authorlink=Arthur H. Robinson|date=1995|origyear=1953|title=Elements of Cartography|edition=6th|location=New York|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|isbn=0471555797|oclc=30976558}}</ref>{{rp|13}}Another substantiated claim.<refname="Robinson"/>{{rp|42}}Substantiated claim from web site.<refname="example web reference">{{cite web|url=http://www.example.org|title=Example|website=www.example.org|accessdate=5 September 2020}} Additional text about the link.</ref> | Substantiated claim.[1]: 13 Another substantiated claim.[1]: 42 Substantiated claim from web site.[2] | ===References===<references/> or ==References=={{reflist}} | References
|
| Good | Footnotes with list-defined references | Substantiated claim.<refname="Robinson"/>{{rp|13}}Another substantiated claim.<refname="Robinson"/>{{rp|42}}Substantiated claim from web site.<refname="example web reference"/> | Substantiated claim.[1]: 13 Another substantiated claim.[1]: 42 Substantiated claim from web site.[2] | ==References==<references><refname="Robinson">{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Arthur Howard|authorlink=Arthur H. Robinson|date=1995|origyear=1953|title=Elements of Cartography|edition=6th|location=New York|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|isbn=0471555797|oclc=30976558}}</ref><refname="example web reference">{{cite web|url=http://www.example.org|title=Example|website=www.example.org|accessdate=5 September 2020}} Additional text about the link.</ref></references> | References
|
| Good | Shortened footnotes | Substantiated claim.{{sfn|Harris|Sanborn|2014|p=13}}Another substantiated claim.{{sfn|Harris|Sanborn|2014|p=42}}Substantiated claim from web site.{{sfn|Example|2020}} | Substantiated claim.[1] Another substantiated claim.[2] Substantiated claim from web site.[3] | ==Notes=={{reflist}}==References=={{refbegin}}*{{cite web|url=http://www.example.org|title=Example|website=www.example.org|accessdate=5 September 2020|ref={{harvid|Example|2020}}}} Additional text about the link.*{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Richard Jackson|last2=Sanborn|first2=Fred W.|date=2014|origyear=1994|title=A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication|edition=6th|series=Routledge Communication Series|location=New York|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9780415537049|oclc=785869181}}{{refend}} | Notes
References |
| Bad | Embedded links | Substantiated claim.[https://www.loc.gov] | Substantiated claim.[1] | *[https://www.loc.govLibrary of Congress website] | |
| Ugly | Citation needed | Unsubstantiated claim.{{fact}} | Unsubstantiated claim.[citation needed] |