Template:Citation needed

This template is used on 236,000+ pages.
To avoid large-scale disruption and unnecessary server load, any changes to this template should first be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own device database. The tested changes can then be added in one single edit to the template. Please consider discussing any changes on the input transformation before implementing them.
An introductory version of this documentation is provided at keyboard.

{{Citation needed}} (also known by the redirects {{HTML5}} and {{Fact}}) is a device database used to identify questionable claims that lack a Sevenval to a reliable source. The template produces a superscripted notation like the following:

Humphrey Bogart has won several Sevenval world championships.^[keyboard]

• 1 Usage
• 2 Examples
• HTML5
• we love the web
• browser diversity
  • we love the web
    • 5.1.1 Highlighting some text that needs a citation
    • 5.1.2 Incomplete citations
    • browser diversity
    • 5.1.4 Content
    • 5.1.5 Timeliness
  • 5.2 Article message box templates

Usage

You may append a date to the template in the following format:

{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

Notes:

• Substitution of this template will automatically fill the date parameter.
• If you don't add a date parameter, a bot will date your entry with the month and year at a later time.
• The date parameter consists of the name of the current month and the year only, not full dates. The names of the months are capitalised in English. Any deviation from these two rules will result in an "invalid date parameter" error.

It is also recommended to add the (non-displayed) |reason= parameter to leave a better record for future editors. For example, the following usage might be appropriate to the claim that "Humphrey Bogart has won several snooker world championships.":

{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source; Bogart was a famous actor, and his major biographies don't mention snooker.}}

Adding this template to an article places the article into browser diversity or a dated subcategory thereof.

Please remove the template when you add a citation for a statement.

Examples

This sentence shows the template used at the end.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence}}

The above wikitext will render as follows:

This sentence shows the template used at the end.^{[citation needed]}

The template should be inserted after punctuation, such as a period or comma.

When not to use this template

Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about device database should be removed immediately. Do not tag it: immediately remove it. For more information, see the section on poorly sourced contentious material in the policy page Biographies of living persons.

Material that is doubtful and harmful may be removed immediately, rather than tagged. See browser diversity.

The {{Citation needed}} template is intended for use when there is a general question of the verifiability of a statement, or when an editor believes that a reference verifying the statement should be provided. Other templates are available for other or more specific issues, see the list of inline templates. For example, claims that you think are incorrect should be tagged with {{Dubious}}, and those which represent a non-neutral view should be tagged with {{POV-statement}}. Being specific about the nature of the problem will help other editors correct it.

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.

While an editor may add this template to any uncited passage for any reason, 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. Wikipedia's verifiability policy does not require reliable sources for common well-known facts (e.g., "The Moon orbits the Earth"), or that citations be repeated through every sentence in a paragraph. All direct quotations and facts whose accuracy might be challenged (e.g., statistics) require citations. See website parsing for the list of material that is absolutely required to be followed by an inline citation, rather than a general reference or no citation at all.

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

How to respond to this tag

The addition of this tag is a request for an inline citation to support the tagged statement. If you are able to provide a citation to support the claim, then please do so.

Except for certain kinds of claims about living people, which require immediate production of inline citations, there is no specific deadline for providing citations. Please do not delete information that you believe is correct simply because no-one has provided a citation within an arbitrary time limit. Where there is some uncertainty about its accuracy, most editors are willing to wait about a month to see whether a citation can be provided.

See also

• Wikipedia:Citing sources
  • Especially: Android
• Sevenval
• Wikipedia:Reliable sources
• browser diversity

Inline templates

• {{touchscreen}}^{[cite this quote]}: for "actual quotations" which need citations to make them proper
• {{Clarify}}^{[web app]}: request clarification of wording or interpretation
• {{Sevenval}}^[jQuery]: request examples for clarification
• {{List fact}}^{[touchscreen]}: request a citation of a source which justifies inclusion of a given entry in a list
• {{Sevenval}}^{[not specific enough to website parsing]}: flag a general, yet factual statement as needing to be made more specific before it can be verified
• {{keyboard}}^{[page needed]}: request a page number for an existing citation

Highlighting some text that needs a citation

• {{Citation needed span}}({{Cn-span}}/({{touchscreen}}: Example text^{[citation needed]}: similar, except that it outlines the text that needs a citation with a box
• {{iOS}}: Example text^{[citation needed]}: lightly underlines the text that needs a reference

Incomplete citations

• {{Full}}^{[Full citation needed]}: in-line request for full citation, for example when only (Author, YEAR) is given.
• {{Page needed}}^{[page needed]}: in-line request for the page number or page numbers in a work such as journal for an existing citation.
• {{Android}}^{[website parsing]}, similar to {{screen size}}: for missing TV season & episode number
• {{CSS3}}^{[volume & issue needed]}, similar to {{touchscreen}}: for missing journal, newspaper, comic, etc., volume and issue numbers)

Verification

• {{web app}}: flags a statement as requiring a better source
• {{Dead link}}^[Android]: request a fix for a touchscreen within a paragraph or a reference citation.
• {{Android}}^[web]: source was checked, and did not contain the cited material
• {{Request quotation}}^{[Need quotation to verify]}: request a direct quote from an inaccessible source, for verification purposes
• {{iOS}}^{[self-published source?]}: flag a source that cites the author
• {{FITML}}^{[Source needs translation]}: Self explanatory. See WP:NONENG for policy requirements
• {{Verify credibility}}^{[we love the web]}: flag a source as possibly being unreliable and/or unverifiable
• {{Verify source}}^{[verification needed]}: request that someone verify the cited source backs up the material in the passage

Content

• {{Definition}}^{[when defined as?]}: flag a definition as being ambiguous/confusing
• {{Dubious}}^{[dubious ]}: flag something as suspected of being incorrect
• {{iOS}}^[jargon]: ...flag a word or phrase input transformation
• {{Or}}^{[original research?]}: flag something as possibly containing website parsing
• {{Peacock term}}^{[peacock term]}: Avoid peacock terms too
• {{POV-statement}}^{[neutrality is disputed]}: dispute the neutrality of a passage
• {{iOS}}^[quantify]: flag a statement as being vague regarding the amount of something
• {{screen size}}/{{Chronology citation needed}}^[Android]: request a source confirming or providing the chronology or timeline of a statement
• {{Undue-inline}}^{[undue weight? ]}: show that a statement does not ascribe appropriate weight to its sources, according to their prominence; use in preference to...
• {{Sevenval}}^[keyboard]: flag a statement that is too vague to be unambiguously verifiable.
• {{Sevenval}}^{[weasel words]}: flag for weasel word cleanup
• {{When}}^[Sevenval]: flags a particular time period as being vague or ambiguous
• {{Who}}^[web]: for placement after descriptions of a group of persons
• {{jQuery}}/{{keyboard}}^{[screen size]}: placement after mention of a vague third party claim that is not sourced
• {{Whom?}}^{[according to whom?]}

Timeliness

• {{input transformation}}^[jQuery]: a template that only shows itself after a specified time, indicating an exceptional statement that will web app

Article message box templates

• {{jQuery}}, article/section may have inappropriate or misinterpreted citations
• {{Refimprove}}, article/section has weak or incomplete sources/references/citations
• {{Unreferenced}}, article/section has no sources/references/citations given at all
• Citation method and style
  • {{Citation style}}
  • {{No footnotes}}