Knowledge (XXG)

Help:Referencing for beginners

Source 📝

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Inline citations are usually small, numbered footnotes like this. They are generally added either directly following the fact that they support, or at the end of the sentence that they support, following any punctuation. When clicked, they take the reader to a citation in a reference section near the
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A template window then pops up, where you fill in as much information as possible about the source, and give a unique name for it in the "Ref name" field. Click the "Insert" button, which will add the required wikitext in the edit window. If you wish, you can also "Preview" how your reference will
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acceptable as sources. These can include newsletters, personal websites, press releases, patents, open wikis, personal or group blogs, and tweets. However, if an author is an established expert with a previous record of third-party publications on a topic, their self-published work
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The word "source" in Knowledge (XXG) has three meanings: the work itself (for example, a document, article, paper, or book), the creator of the work (for example, the writer), and the publisher of the work (for example, Cambridge University Press). All three can affect reliability.
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at the top of the edit window, having already positioned your cursor after the sentence or fact you wish to reference. Then select one of the 'Templates' from the dropdown menu that best suits the type of source. These are:
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must be able to support the material. All quotations, any material whose verifiability has been challenged or is likely to be challenged, and contentious material (whether negative, positive, or neutral) about
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Whether a source is usable also depends on context. Sources that are reliable for some material are not reliable for other material. For instance, otherwise unreliable self-published sources
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are usually the most reliable sources. Other reliable sources include university textbooks, books published by respected publishing houses, magazines, journals, and news coverage (
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Reliable sources are those with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. They tend to have an editorial process with multiple people scrutinizing work before it is published.
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icon next to them. After filling in this field, you can click it to handily autofill the remaining fields. It doesn't always work properly, though, so be sure to double check it.
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to add sourcing information along with it. Material provided without a source is significantly more likely to be removed from an article. Sometimes it will be tagged first with a
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These are general guidelines, but the topic of reliable sources is a complicated one, and is impossible to fully cover here. You can find more information at
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to support uncontroversial information about the source's author. You should always try to use the best possible source, particularly when writing about
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If you are creating a new page, or adding references to a page that didn't previously have any, remember to add a References section like the one below
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This tutorial will show you how to add inline citations to articles, and also briefly explain what Knowledge (XXG) considers to be a reliable source.
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in your preferences. You will then be able to edit the source of pages while inserting citations using the automated tool of the visual editor.
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As an alternative to the RefToolbar, it is possible to insert citations in the source editor using a similar automated tool as the one
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template to give editors a chance to find and add sources, but some editors will simply remove it because they question its veracity.
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Often, you will want to use the same source more than once in an article to support multiple facts. In this case, you can click
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While editing a page that uses the most common footnote style, you will see inline citations displayed between
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to a source that directly supports the material. This also means that Knowledge (XXG) is not the place for
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Manually adding references can be a slow and tricky process. Fortunately, there is a tool called "
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Note: This is by far the most popular system for inline citations, but sometimes you will find
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It explains concepts or processes used by the Knowledge (XXG) community. It is not one of
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One of the key policies of Knowledge (XXG) is that all article content has to be
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that directly support the information presented in the article. Now you know
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This page assumes you are using the source editor. Alternatively, learn
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Some fields (such as a web address, also known as a URL) will have a
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Knowledge (XXG):VisualEditor/User guide § Adding a new reference
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in the toolbar, and select a previously added source to re-use.
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Knowledge (XXG):VisualEditor/User guide § Editing references
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Help:Referencing for beginners with citation templates
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Help:Referencing for beginners without using templates
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Take a quiz on reliable sources 552:with information on their reliability. 497:Academic and peer-reviewed publications 259: 1111:short, stand-alone, offline documents 911:Converting between references formats 183:If you are adding new content, it is 7: 42:, and may reflect varying levels of 1653:Knowledge (XXG) quick introductions 926:Guidance on source reviewing at FAC 865:Referencing without using templates 860:Referencing with citation templates 432:. For this, you need to enable the 618:Knowledge (XXG):Citation templates 477:to add sources to an article, but 360:for references to general websites 111:shows underlying wiki markup like 14: 469:Knowledge (XXG) articles require 603:Help:References and page numbers 546:Knowledge (XXG):Reliable sources 412: 399: 370:for newspapers and news websites 339: 123: 91: 21: 916:Reference display customization 247:being used in an article. This 598:Help:Citations quick reference 424:Using the 2017 wikitext editor 147:. Wikipedians famously demand 1: 683:Biographies of living persons 550:list of commonly used sources 542:Knowledge (XXG):Verifiability 1506:Citation Style 1 noticeboard 1492:Citation Style documentation 119:works like a word processor. 921:References and page numbers 855:Introduction to referencing 659:Knowledge (XXG) referencing 471:reliable, published sources 269:What is an inline citation? 239:==References== {{reflist}} 101:referencing in VisualEditor 1676: 1468:Citation Style 1 templates 870:Referencing dos and don'ts 443: 284: 201: 137:"Wikipedian protester" by 51: 1607: 1527: 1503: 1015:Parenthetical referencing 850:Citations quick reference 817:Punctuation and footnotes 430:used in the visual editor 769:Citation Style Vancouver 481:sources should you use? 1658:Knowledge (XXG) sources 1537:Policies and Guidelines 997:Knowledge (XXG) Library 666:Policies and guidelines 380:for references to books 221:bottom of the article. 1648:Knowledge (XXG) how-to 935:Template documentation 875:Citing Knowledge (XXG) 573: 529:are usually acceptable 492: 466: 325: 307: 271:. Wikipublisher. p. 6. 152: 1532:Starting introduction 572: 505:mainstream newspapers 491: 465: 323: 306: 267:Wales, Jimmy (2024). 136: 1181:public mailing lists 705:Scientific citations 678:No original research 512:Self-published media 434:2017 wikitext editor 335:To use it, click on 149:citations for claims 30:This help page is a 1416:Cite AV media notes 1395:Audiovisual-related 1251:unpublished reports 822:Shortened footnotes 185:your responsibility 1329:Preprint templates 1230:Cite press release 1125:edited collections 837:Help for beginners 789:Citation templates 741:Referencing styles 574: 548:. There is also a 493: 467: 326: 308: 161:. This means that 153: 1635: 1634: 1512: 1511: 1293:technical reports 1223:online newsgroups 1174:Cite mailing list 1153:academic journals 1118:Cite encyclopedia 1097:conference papers 1023: 1022: 827:Nesting footnotes 731:Combining sources 321: 189:"citation needed" 131: 130: 86: 85: 1665: 1516: 1496: 1490: 1453: 1447: 1442: 1436: 1431: 1425: 1420: 1414: 1409: 1403: 1387: 1381: 1376: 1370: 1365: 1359: 1354: 1348: 1343: 1337: 1318: 1312: 1304: 1298: 1290: 1286:Cite tech report 1284: 1276: 1270: 1262: 1256: 1248: 1242: 1234: 1228: 1220: 1214: 1206: 1200: 1192: 1186: 1178: 1172: 1164: 1158: 1150: 1144: 1136: 1130: 1122: 1116: 1108: 1102: 1094: 1088: 1080: 1074: 1057:Citation Style 1 1050: 1043: 1036: 1027: 982: 976: 971: 965: 960: 954: 949: 943: 891:Cite link labels 804:Inline citations 794:Reflist template 764:Citation Style 2 759:Citation Style 1 688:Reliable sources 652: 645: 638: 629: 561: 559: 464: 456: 440:Reliable sources 419: 418: 417: 416: 415: 411:Named references 403: 402: 389: 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Index

how-to guide
Knowledge (XXG)'s policies or guidelines
consensus
Shortcuts
WP:REFB
WP:REFBEGIN
WP:REFSTART
referencing in VisualEditor
source editor
VisualEditor

A cartoon of a political rally, with someone in the crowd holding up a banner reading ""
Randall Munroe
xkcd
citations for claims
verifiable
reliable sources
living persons
original work
your responsibility
"citation needed"
Shortcut
WP:INTREF2
near the end
other styles
is acceptable
Shortcut
WP:INTREF3
RefToolbar
cite web

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