Knowledge

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 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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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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This tutorial will show you how to add inline citations to articles, and also briefly explain what Knowledge considers to be a reliable source.
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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 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 community. It is not one of
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that directly support the information presented in the article. Now you know
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One of the key policies of Knowledge is that all article content has to be
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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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in the toolbar, and select a previously added source to re-use.
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Knowledge:VisualEditor/User guide § Adding a new reference
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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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Knowledge:VisualEditor/User guide § Editing references
524:be considered reliable for that particular topic. 324:This screencast walks through how to use RefTools 1634: 623:User:Nick Moyes/Easier Referencing for Beginners 1036: 643: 487: 390:for magazines, academic journals, and papers 1468:Citation Style 1 specific-source templates 1043: 1029: 650: 636: 657: 309: 132: 558:Try it! Take a quiz on reliable sources 552:with information on their reliability. 497:Academic and peer-reviewed publications 1635: 613:Knowledge:Identifying reliable sources 1513: 1106:short, stand-alone, offline documents 1024: 906:Converting between references formats 631: 266: 183:If you are adding new content, it is 1050: 87: 42:, and may reflect varying levels of 17: 921:Guidance on source reviewing at FAC 860:Referencing without using templates 855:Referencing with citation templates 608:Knowledge:References dos and don'ts 432:. For this, you need to enable the 13: 568: 477:to add sources to an article, but 461: 360:for references to general websites 302: 111:shows underlying wiki markup like 40:Knowledge's policies or guidelines 14: 1664: 1514: 603:Help:References and page numbers 412: 399: 370:for newspapers and news websites 339: 123: 91: 21: 911:Reference display customization 247:being used in an article. This 598:Help:Citations quick reference 424:Using the 2017 wikitext editor 260: 147:. Wikipedians famously demand 1: 1648:Knowledge quick introductions 683:Biographies of living persons 550:list of commonly used sources 1501:Citation Style 1 noticeboard 1487:Citation Style documentation 618:Knowledge:Citation templates 119:works like a word processor. 7: 916:References and page numbers 850:Introduction to referencing 471:reliable, published sources 469:Knowledge articles require 269:What is an inline citation? 239:==References== {{reflist}} 101:referencing in VisualEditor 10: 1669: 1463:Citation Style 1 templates 865:Referencing dos and don'ts 546:Knowledge:Reliable sources 443: 284: 201: 137:"Wikipedian protester" by 51: 1602: 1571: 1540: 1522: 1498: 1476: 1455: 1389: 1323: 1058: 1010:Parenthetical referencing 1000: 984: 929: 878: 845:Citations quick reference 830: 812:Punctuation and footnotes 797: 749: 713: 665: 430:used in the visual editor 769:Citation Style Vancouver 481:sources should you use? 1532:Policies and Guidelines 666:Policies and guidelines 542:Knowledge:Verifiability 380:for references to books 221:bottom of the article. 930:Template documentation 573: 529:are usually acceptable 492: 466: 325: 307: 271:. Wikipublisher. p. 6. 152: 1527:Starting introduction 659:Knowledge referencing 572: 505:mainstream newspapers 491: 465: 323: 306: 267:Wales, Jimmy (2024). 136: 1176: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 1411:Cite AV media notes 1390:Audiovisual-related 1246:unpublished reports 817:Shortened footnotes 185:your responsibility 1324:Preprint templates 1225:Cite press release 1120:edited collections 832:Help for beginners 784:Citation templates 741:Referencing styles 574: 548:. There is also a 493: 467: 326: 308: 161:. This means that 153: 1653:Knowledge sources 1630: 1629: 1507: 1506: 1288:technical reports 1218:online newsgroups 1169:Cite mailing list 1148:academic journals 1113:Cite encyclopedia 1092:conference papers 1018: 1017: 992:Knowledge Library 822:Nesting footnotes 731:Combining sources 321: 189:"citation needed" 131: 130: 86: 85: 1660: 1643:Knowledge how-to 1511: 1510: 1491: 1485: 1448: 1442: 1437: 1431: 1426: 1420: 1415: 1409: 1404: 1398: 1382: 1376: 1371: 1365: 1360: 1354: 1349: 1343: 1338: 1332: 1313: 1307: 1299: 1293: 1285: 1281:Cite tech report 1279: 1271: 1265: 1257: 1251: 1243: 1237: 1229: 1223: 1215: 1209: 1201: 1195: 1187: 1181: 1173: 1167: 1159: 1153: 1145: 1139: 1131: 1125: 1117: 1111: 1103: 1097: 1089: 1083: 1075: 1069: 1052:Citation Style 1 1045: 1038: 1031: 1022: 1021: 977: 971: 966: 960: 955: 949: 944: 938: 886:Cite link labels 870:Citing Knowledge 799:Inline citations 789:Reflist template 764:Citation Style 2 759:Citation Style 1 688:Reliable sources 652: 645: 638: 629: 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1099:Cite document 1094: 1091: 1086: 1080: 1077: 1072: 1066: 1065: 1063: 1057: 1053: 1046: 1041: 1039: 1034: 1032: 1027: 1026: 1023: 1011: 1008: 1007: 1005: 1003: 999: 993: 990: 989: 987: 983: 974: 968: 963: 957: 952: 946: 941: 935: 934: 932: 928: 922: 919: 917: 914: 912: 909: 907: 904: 902: 901:Cite messages 899: 897: 894: 892: 889: 887: 884: 883: 881: 879:Advanced help 877: 871: 868: 866: 863: 861: 858: 856: 853: 851: 848: 846: 843: 841: 838: 837: 835: 833: 829: 823: 820: 818: 815: 813: 810: 808: 805: 804: 802: 800: 796: 790: 787: 785: 782: 780: 777: 775: 772: 770: 767: 765: 762: 760: 757: 756: 754: 752: 748: 742: 739: 737: 734: 732: 729: 727: 724: 722: 719: 718: 716: 712: 706: 703: 701: 698: 694: 691: 690: 689: 686: 684: 681: 679: 676: 674: 673:Verifiability 671: 670: 668: 664: 660: 653: 648: 646: 641: 639: 634: 633: 630: 624: 621: 619: 616: 614: 611: 609: 606: 604: 601: 599: 596: 594: 591: 589: 586: 584: 581: 579: 576: 575: 571: 562: 560: 553: 551: 547: 543: 538: 536: 535: 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guide 29: 15: 1584:Referencing 1553:Referencing 1444:Cite serial 1316:web sources 1295:Cite thesis 1267:Cite speech 1239:Cite report 896:Cite errors 76:WP:REFSTART 69:WP:REFBEGIN 1637:Categories 1622:Conclusion 1612:Navigating 1607:Talk pages 1456:Categories 1334:Cite arXiv 1134:interviews 1002:Deprecated 454:WP:INTREF4 330:RefToolbar 295:WP:INTREF3 281:RefToolbar 255:References 212:WP:INTREF2 158:verifiable 1378:Cite SSRN 1253:Cite sign 1197:Cite news 1162:magazines 1071:Cite book 1061:templates 940:Edit refs 807:Footnotes 376:cite book 366:cite news 54:Shortcuts 44:consensus 1309:Cite web 1274:speeches 1183:Cite map 1059:General 973:Refstart 774:Bluebook 693:Medicine 565:See also 446:Shortcut 356:cite web 287:Shortcut 204:Shortcut 1579:Editing 1548:Editing 962:Refref2 544:and at 503:) from 62:WP:REFB 1594:Tables 1589:Images 1563:Tables 1558:Images 1302:theses 951:Refref 779:Comics 229:tags. 115:. 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Index

how-to guide
Knowledge'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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