Template:Citation needed/doc

Purpose

This template is used in articles to identify sentences or short passages which need an inline citation. It produces a superscripted notation like the following:

Humphrey Bogart is the greatest actor that ever lived.Template:Fact

Use this template to "tag" information which may be questionable, so that other editors can know to back up the statement with citations, per Wikipedia:Verifiability. A bot will date your entry with the month and year.

You can also add "dummy" parameters to leave a better record for future editors. For example, the following usage might be appropriate to the arguable claim that "Humphrey Bogart is the greatest actor...":

{{fact|please give a reliable source for this assertion. How about Laurence Olivier?|~~~}}

~~~ automatically inserts your username without adding an additional date.

Adding this template to an article places the article into one of a family of categories identifying "Articles with unsourced statements". To find all such articles, see Category:All articles with unsourced statements.

When not to use this template

Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons should be removed immediately. Do not tag it; remove it. For more information, see the section on poorly sourced contentious material in the Biography of Living Persons policy.

Material which is doubtful and harmful may be removed immediately, rather than tagged. See Unsourced material.

If you have the time and ability to find an authoritative reference, please do so. Then add the citation yourself, or correct the article text. After all, the ultimate goal is not to merely identify problems, but to fix them.

Many editors object to what they perceive as overuse of this tag, particularly in what is known as "drive-by" tagging, which is applying the tag without attempting to address the issues at all. Consider whether adding this tag in an article is the best approach before using it, and use it judiciously.

This template is intended for specific passages which need citation. For articles or sections which have significant material lacking sources (rather than just specific short passages), there are other, more appropriate templates, such as {{Unreferenced}}.

Alternative names

Some find the name "fact" is unclear or non mnemonic, not referring to citations explicitly, so you can use {{Citation needed}} or {{Cn}}. These redirect to {{Fact}}, they are alternate names for the same template. Cleanup bots will often replace redirected templates, so {{Citation needed}} and {{Cn}} will often get changed to {{Fact}}.

See also

• Wikipedia:Citing sources
  • Especially: Unsourced material
• Wikipedia:Verifiability
• Wikipedia:Reliable sources
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check

In-line templates

• {{Citequote}}, for "actual quotations" which need citations to make them proper
• {{Page number}}, request a page number for an existing citation
• {{List fact}}, request a citation of a source which justifies inclusion of a given entry in a list
• {{Clarifyme}}, request clarification of wording or interpretation

Verification

• {{Verify credibility}}, flag a source as possibly being unreliable and/or unverifiable
• {{Verify source}}, request that someone verify the cited source backs up the material in the passage
• {{Failed verification}}, source was checked, and did not contain the cited material
• {{Request quotation}}, request a direct quote from an inaccessible source, for verification purposes

Content

• {{Dubious}} – flag something as suspected of being incorrect
• {{Original research}} – flag something as possibly containing original research
• {{POV-statement}} – dispute the neutrality of a passage
• {{weasel-inline}} – Avoid weasel words.
• {{who}} – for placement after descriptions of a group of persons.
• {{whom}} – placement after mention of a vague third party claim that is not sourced.

Article message box templates

• {{Unreferenced}}, article/section has no sources/references/citations given at all
• {{Refimprove}}, article/section has weak or incomplete sources/references/citations
• {{Citecheck}}, article/section may have inappropriate or misinterpreted citations