Help:Citations quick reference

Citations are important in Wikipedia to ensure that information comes from actual, reliable sources. There are three preferred ways of citing sources:

1. Footnotes
2. Footnotes with list-defined references
3. Shortened footnotes

Citations can also be placed as external links, but these are not preferred because they are prone to link 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	Article wikitext	Appears as	References section wikitext	Appears as
Good	Footnotes	Substantiated claim.<ref name="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=[[w:Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=0471555797 |oclc=30976558}}</ref>{{rp|13}} Another substantiated claim.<ref name="Robinson" />{{rp|42}} Substantiated claim from web site.<ref name="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.:13 Another substantiated claim.:42 Substantiated claim from web site.	===References=== <references/> or ==References== {{reflist}}	References
Good	Footnotes with list-defined references	Substantiated claim.<ref name="Robinson" />{{rp|13}} Another substantiated claim.<ref name="Robinson" />{{rp|42}} Substantiated claim from web site.<ref name="example web reference"/>	Substantiated claim.:13 Another substantiated claim.:42 Substantiated claim from web site.	==References== <references> <ref name="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=[[w:Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=0471555797 |oclc=30976558}}</ref> <ref name="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. Another substantiated claim. Substantiated claim from web site.	==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=[[w:Routledge|Routledge]] |isbn=9780415537049 |oclc=785869181}} {{refend}}	Notes References "Example". www.example.org. Retrieved 5 September 2020. Additional text about the link. Harris, Richard Jackson; Sanborn, Fred W. (2014) [1994]. A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication. Routledge Communication Series (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415537049. OCLC 785869181.
Bad	Embedded links	Substantiated claim.[https://www.loc.gov]	Substantiated claim.[1]	* [https://www.loc.gov Library of Congress website]	Library of Congress website
Ugly	Citation needed	Unsubstantiated claim.{{fact}}	Unsubstantiated claim.

See also

• Help:Footnotes
• Help:References and page numbers
• Help:Citing sources
• Help:Citation templates