Help:Overview of referencing styles
 | This help page is a how-to guide. It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus. |
 | This help page is an overview and gives concise examples of several systems. Please refer to the linked main articles for details. |
Wikipedia uses various systems to include and present citations of reliable sources that support assertions in the article content and to add explanatory and supplementary material.
In-text cites
The in-text cite is the element placed in the text that indicates or links to the full citation that supports the preceding content.
Footnotes
Wikipedia footnotes are a specific method of creating in-text cites and reference lists using the Cite software extension. This should not be confused with the concept of footnotes in general.
The in-text cite is placed in the content, usually after punctuation, is created by enclosing the citation or note within <ref>...</ref> tags. Each in-text cite is formatted as a superscripted alphanumeric character called the cite label and is enclosed by brackets; example:[1]. The cite label has an HTML link to the full citation in the reference list. In-text cites are automatically ordered by the cite label starting from the first use on a page. The cite labels default to decimal but can be styled as alphabetic, Roman or Greek. The in-text cite may be defined with a name so they can be reused within the content and may be separated into groups for use as explanatory notes, table legends and the like.
The reference list shows the full citations with a cite label that matches the in-text cite. The cite label is a caret ^ with a backlink to the in-text cite. When a named in-text cite is invoked multiple times, multiple alphabetic back links are created after the cite label in the reference list.
The reference list is created by use of the <references /> tag or the {{reflist}} template. Example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is an in-text cite.<ref>citation</ref> <references /> |
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Shortened footnotes
In this short example, note that an in-text cite such as [1] links to the shortened citation in the Notes list, which in turn links to the long citation in the References list:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
The brontosaurus is thin at one end.{{sfn|Elk|1972|p=5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{sfn|Elk|1972|p=6}}
The Norwegian Blue Parrot will not move if its feet are nailed to the perch.{{sfn|Praline|1969|p=12}} Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians.{{sfn|Praline|1969|p=16}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Praline |first=Eric |title=[[Dead Parrot sketch]] |date=December 7, 1969 |ref=harv}}
{{refend}} |
The brontosaurus is thin at one end.[1] Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.[2] The Norwegian Blue Parrot will not move if its feet are nailed to the perch.[3] Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians.[4] Notes
References
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Footnote3
Footnote3 is a deprecated but still used method of referencing.