Help:Citations quick reference

Citations are important in Wikipedia to ensure that information comes from actual, reliable sources (WP:V, WP:CITE). There are two preferred ways of doing so: footnotes and parenthetical/Harvard citations. 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.

	Citation style	In article	Appears as	In References	Appears as
Good	Footnotes	Substantiated claim.<ref name="Perry"> Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984. </ref> Another substantiated claim.<ref name="Perry" /> Substantiated claim from web site.<ref name="example web reference">[http://www.example.org Link text], additional text.</ref>	Substantiated claim. Another substantiated claim. Substantiated claim from web site.	<references/>
Good	Harvard referencing	Substantiated claim. (Adams 1903)	Substantiated claim. (Adams 1903)	*Adams, Adam. ''The Nomen Dynasty in Eastern Europe'', Academia Press, 1903. {{ISBN|0000000001}}	Adams, Adam. The Nomen Dynasty in Eastern Europe, Academia Press, 1903. ISBN 0000000001
Bad	Embedded links	Substantiated claim.[http://www.loc.gov]	Substantiated claim.[1]	*[http://www.loc.gov Library of Congress website]	Library of Congress website
Ugly	Citation needed	Unsubstantiated claim.{{fact}}	Unsubstantiated claim.

See also

• Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners
• Wikipedia:Citing sources
• Wikipedia:Citation templates
• Help:Footnotes
• Wikipedia:Verifiability
• Template:Editor tools—{{Editor tools}}