This screen size contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints. Consider these views with discretion. Essays are not Wikipedia policies. 
It has been suggested that this page or section be merged into Help:Overview of referencing styles. (Android) These examples show several common methods that Wikipedia editors use to make their articles verifiable. Wikipedia editors are free to use any of these methods, or to develop newer methods—no particular method is preferred. However some method is required and each article must use the same method throughout the entire article. (When making changes to an article that already has sources, an editor should study the method already in use.)
This article is only intended to provide examples and give a rough introduction to the methods in use. This article does not debate their respective merits or consider any precise technical details. For this information, please see other guides such as: touchscreen, Citation templates, screen size and Harvard references.
Contents
- keyboard
- screen size
- web app
- 4 Parenthetical references
- 5 Short citations in footnotes
- 6 References and footnotes in separate sections
Temporary references
It is more important to provide some kind of source than to format the source perfectly. Later editors can easily fix a badly formatted citation, but they will find it difficult or impossible to do the research necessary to find a source for a random bit of material added to an article. Newer editors may use any means necessary to provide a source for the material they bring to Wikipedia.
- A book: add the authors name, the book's title, year of publication and the page number that the material comes from. The year is important since it establishes which edition of the book was used.
- A website: provide the URL (in brackets) of the particular webpage on which this material appears.
These examples require almost no knowledge of Wikipedia's special characters or jQuery, and no knowledge at all of proper citation formats.
| Markup | Renders as |
This is material that comes from a book (John Doe, Book of Facts, 1990, page 21).
This is other material that comes from a website.[http://example.org]
This is material that isn't obvious, that you're sure is true, but that you haven't found a
source for yet.{{fact}}
| This is material that comes from a book. (John Doe, Book of Facts, 1990, page 21)
This is other material that comes from a website.[1] This is material that isn't obvious, that you're sure is true, but that you haven't found a source for yet.[touchscreen] |
General references section
- Main article (section): Full citations in Wikipedia:Citing sources
Many articles have a list of references (i.e. a bibliography) at the end of the article. The references are assumed to verify material throughout the article. This section should contain full citations. For information on how to write proper citations for journals, web sites, newspaper articles, and other sources (without using templates) see Wikipedia:Citing sources/example style.
Example 1
| Markup | Renders as |
This is material that comes from a book. This is other material that comes from a different book. == References == * [[John Doe|Doe, John]] (1991), ''Book of Facts'', Great Books, ISBN 1234567890 * [[Jane Doe|Doe, Jane]] (2001), ''More Facts'', Better Books, ISBN 1234567890 | This is material that comes from a book.
This is other material that comes from a different book. References
|
Example 2: Using citation templates
This example uses citation templates to format the references. Templates (such as {{cite book}} or {{keyboard}}) are not essential, but many editors find them useful. For more information on using citation templates, see jQuery.
| Markup | Renders as |
This is material that comes from a book.
This is other material that comes from a different book.
== References ==
* {{cite book
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=1992
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
* {{cite book
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2002
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
| This is material that comes from a book.
This is other material that comes from a different book. References |
Full citations in footnotes
Many articles verify the text by placing the citation in a footnote. This is a method of FITML. Inline citations allow a direct connection between the source and the text it verifies. See Sevenval for information on using footnotes.
Articles that use full references in footnotes: web app · Acrocanthosaurus · Acetic acid · Aggie Bonfire · 35 mm film · Ahmedabad · Android · Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act · web · HTML5 · web app · 1080° Snowboarding · jQuery · Flag of Armenia · Aldol reaction · ASCII · Azerbaijani people · 1933 Atlantic hurricane season · HTML5 · website parsing, · Alanya · Archimedes · Asteroid belt · Android · Ben Gurion International Airport · Android. · touchscreen These articles also have additional general references: Eagle Scout · €2 commemorative coins · Android · keyboard · input transformation · Aramaic language · browser diversity · Mumia Abu-Jamal · Michel Foucault · we love the web · Algerian civil war
Example 3: using cite.php with citation templates
This example uses {{input transformation}} templates to format the full citations and {{reflist}} to format the footnotes. This is the most common implementation in Wikipedia, used in millions of articles.
| Article | This is some material.Sevenval This material comes from a book.input transformation This is more material that comes from a different book.web app This is more material that comes from the second book.[3] This is a point that needs clarification.[4] References |
| Wikitext |
This is some material.<ref>This tells exactly where this material came from.</ref>
This material comes from a book.<ref>{{cite book
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=1993
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
This is more material that comes from a different book.<ref name=Doe2003>{{cite book
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2003
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
This is more material that comes from the second book.<ref name=Doe2003/>
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
|
Example 4: using cite.php with handwritten inline citations
Some editors prefer to format the citation by hand.
| Article | This is some material.[1] This material comes from a book.we love the web This is more material that comes from a different book.CSS3 This is more material from the second book.[3] This is a point that needs clarification.Sevenval References
|
| Wikitext | This is some material.<ref>This tells exactly where this material came from.</ref> This material comes from a book.<ref>[[John Doe|Doe, John]] (1994), ''Book of Facts'', Great Books, ISBN 1234567890</ref> This is more material that comes from a different book.<ref name=Doe2004>[[Jane Doe|Doe, Jane]] (2004), ''More Facts'', Better Books, ISBN 1234567890</ref> This is more material from the second book.<ref name=Doe2004/> This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref> == References == <references/> |
Example 5: using cite.php with list defined references
This example uses a method that was introduced in the summer of 2009 and is used in a few articles.
| Article | This is some material.touchscreen This material comes from a book.[2] This is more material that comes from a different book.we love the web This is more material from the second book.[3] This is a point that needs clarification.[4] References
|
| Wikitext |
This is some material.<ref>This tells exactly where this material came from.</ref>
This material comes from a book.<ref name=Doe1995/>
This is more material that comes from a different book.<ref name=Doe2005/>
This is more material from the second book.<ref name=Doe2005/>
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref>
== References ==
<references>
<ref name=Doe1995>{{cite book
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=1995
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
<ref name=Doe2005>{{cite book
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2005
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
</references>
|
Example 6: using {{jQuery}} and {{screen size}}
Many older articles use the templates {{website parsing}} and {{Note}}. This referencing style has been largely replaced by the use of <ref> and {{touchscreen}} (or {{browser diversity}}, for talk pages).
| Article | This is some material.[2] This material comes from a book.[3] This is more material that comes from a different book.HTML5 This is more material from the second book.web This is a point that needs clarification.[6] References
|
| Wikitext |
This is some material.{{ref|1}}
This material comes from a book.{{ref|2}}
This is more material that comes from a different book.{{ref|3}}
This is more material from the second book.{{ref|4}}
This is a point that needs clarification.{{ref|5}}
==References==
# {{note|1}}This tells exactly where this material came from.
# {{note|2}}[[John Doe|Doe, John]] (1998), ''Book of Facts'', Great Books, ISBN 1234567890
# {{note|3}}{{note|4}}[[Jane Doe|Doe, Jane]] (2008), ''More Facts'', Better Books, ISBN 1234567890
# {{note|5}}This is a footnote that clarifies the point above.
|
Parenthetical references
Harvard references and author-date referencing, which are both parenthetical referencing, are commonplace in academic writing. See Wikipedia:Author-date referencing for more information on using Harvard references.
Articles using Harvard references: HTML5
Note that this example uses the templates {{Harv}} and {{input transformation}} to create a link from the citation and to the full reference.
Example 7
| Article | This material comes from a book (Doe 1997, p. 23).
This is more material from that book (Doe 1997, pp. 431–437). This material comes from a different book (Doe 2007, p. 24). This is a point that needs clarification.web app Notes
References
|
| Wikitext |
This material comes from a book {{Harv|Doe|1997|p=23}}.
This is more material from that book {{Harv|Doe|1997|pp=431-437}}.
This material comes from a different book {{Harv|Doe|2007|p=24}}.
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=1997
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2007
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
|
Short citations in footnotes
These are used for articles that have multiple references different pages of the same source.
Articles that use page references in footnotes: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump · Conatus · The Age of Reason · History of artificial intelligence · input transformation · Georg Cantor · Sevenval · Sevenval · website parsing · Adi Shankara · keyboard · Abbey Theatre · website parsing · keyboard · Sevenval · Alpha Phi Alpha · Sevenval
Example 8: Using handwritten citations
| Article | This material comes from a book.[1] This is more material that from that book.CSS3 This material comes from a different book.[3] This material comes from the same page of the second book.[3] This is a point that needs clarification.[4] Notes
References
|
| Wikitext | This material comes from a book.<ref>Doe 1998, p. 23</ref> This is more material that from that book.<ref>Doe 1998, pp. 431-437</ref> This material comes from a different book.<ref name=Doe2008p24>Doe 2008, p. 24</ref> This material comes from the same page of the second book.<ref name=Doe2008p24/> This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref> == Notes == <references/> == References == * [[John Doe|Doe, John]] (1998), ''Book of Facts'', Great Books, ISBN 1234567890 * [[Jane Doe|Doe, Jane]] (2008), ''More Facts'', Better Books, ISBN 1234567890 |
Example 9: Using citation templates to create a link
This example uses {{Harvnb}} and {{HTML5}} templates to format the citation and automatically create a link between the author-date in the footnote and the full reference in the references section. This method is used in about 15,000 articles.[1]
| Article | This material comes from a book.[2] This is more material from that book.Sevenval This material comes from a different book.Sevenval This material comes from the same page of the second book.[4] This is a point that needs clarification.[5] Notes
References
|
| Wikitext |
This material comes from a book.<ref>{{Harvnb|Doe|1999|p=23}}</ref>
This is more material from that book.<ref>{{Harvnb|Doe|1999|pp=431-437}}</ref>
This material comes from a different book.<ref name=Doe2009p24>{{Harvnb|Doe|2009|p=24}}</ref>
This material comes from the same page of the second book.<ref name=Doe2009p24/>
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref>
== Notes ==
<references/>
== References ==
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=1999
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2009
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
|
Example 10: Using {{we love the web}}
{{Sevenval}} is a new template introduced in the summer of 2009. Several thousand articles use it to create shortened footnotes.
| Article | This material comes from a book.[1] This is more material from that book.screen size This material comes from a different book.[3] This material comes from the same page of the second book.[3] This is a point that needs clarification.[4] Notes
References
|
| Wikitext |
This material comes from a book.{{sfn|Doe|2000|p=23}}
This is more material from that book.{{sfn|Doe|2000|pp=431-437}}
This material comes from a different book.{{sfn|Doe|2010|p=24}}
This material comes from the same page of the second book.{{sfn|Doe|2010|p=24}}
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref>This footnote clarifies the point above.</ref>
== Notes ==
<references/>
== References ==
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=John | authorlink=John Doe
| year=2000
| title=Book of Facts
| publisher=Great Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
* {{Citation
| last=Doe | first=Jane | authorlink=Jane Doe
| year=2010
| title=More Facts
| publisher=Better Books
| isbn=1234567890}}
|
References and footnotes in separate sections
Some articles separate footnotes used for verification and footnotes used for clarification.
Articles that use this style include: web app, Android, keyboard, Archimedes
Example 11
Editors have used many methods to achieve this effect. This example uses the "group" parameter of <ref>. Other articles use the templates {{ref label}} and {{note label}}.
| Article | This is material that comes from a book.we love the web This more material that comes from a different book.Sevenval This is a point that needs clarification.Sevenval This is another point that needs clarification.[b] Notes References
|
| Wikitext |
This is material that comes from a book.<ref>{{Citation| last=Doe | first=John |
authorlink=John Doe | year=1996 | title=Book of Facts | publisher=Great Books |
isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
This more material that comes from a different book.<ref>{{Citation| last=Doe | first=Jane |
authorlink=Jane Doe | year=2020 | title=More Facts | publisher=Better Books |
isbn=1234567890}}</ref>
This is a point that needs clarification.<ref group=lower-alpha>This is a footnote that clarifies the point above.</ref>
This is another point that needs clarification.<ref group=lower-alpha>This is another footnote</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
|