Template:Unreliable fringe source

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Usage

Use this template to "tag" dubious information or analysis which cites references produced by a fringe-theory or pseudo-science source, so that other editors can know to back up the statement with reliable citations or remove the claim, per Wikipedia:Verifiability.

It produces a superscripted notation like the following:

It is evidence of extraterrestrial life.^{[unreliable fringe source?]}

Articles tagged with this template will be categorized into Category:All articles lacking reliable references.

Place this template inline, {{Unreliable fringe source|date=May 2025}} following the questionable claim (and any punctuation attached to it). The template should be placed outside the reference (<ref> ... </ref>), within the article's text:

Potentially controversial statement.<ref>some alleged source for this</ref>{{Unreliable fringe source|date=May 2025}} Next sentence.

When to use and not use this template

This template should be used to express doubt about the credibility of a source for a claim that is or should be subject to scientific verification.

For improperly sourced medical claims, use the more specific {{Unreliable medical source}} instead.

This tag should not be used on unreliably sourced contentious statements about living persons; if the source is not reliable, the statement should be removed immediately.

For whole articles or article sections that rely on fringe sources, considering using just {{fringe theories}} or {{fringe theories|section}}, respectively, rather than individually tagging a large number of statements.

For sources unreliable for reasons other than promotion of fringe ideas, the more general template {{Unreliable source?}} can be used.

This tag should not be used to indicate that the sourced material could not be found within a given source. In that case, {{failed verification}} is a better template. For statements that have failed verification and have a questionable would-be source, consider removal of the source (and possibly the statement) over using both tags.

Parameters

The template has the following optional parameters:

date: should be set to the month and year when the article was tagged. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|date=May 2025}}
reason: a note explaining why you think the source is unreliable as per WP:FRINGE and WP:RS. Displays as a tool tip. Keep it short (one sentence) as longer material belongs on the talk page. It is good to reiterate the reason in your edit summary. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|reason=Your WP:FRINGE-based reason here.|date=May 2025}}
sure or certain: if set to "y" or "yes" will remove the question mark from the template's output to denote a degree of certainty that the source is unreliable. Please use this with a reason parameter. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|sure=y|reason=your WP:RS-based reason here.|date=May 2025}}

{{Better source}}, an alternative to {{Unreliable source|certain=y}}; especially useful for tagging sources that are low-quality but not necessarily wrong
{{Obsolete source}}, for when a source has been surpassed by more recent works
{{Unreliable medical source}}, for fringe medical sources in particular
{{Unreliable source?}}, for unreliable but non-fringe sources
{{Primary source inline}}, for misuse of primary source material
{{Dubious}}, for questionable claims that seem unlikely to be properly sourceable

More templates

{{Fringe theories}}, a banner template for flagging an entire article or section as relying on fringe sources
{{More citations needed}}, a banner template for flagging entire article or section as needing better sourcing generally
Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources
Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles

Policies, guidelines, essays, and wikiprojects

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Unreliable fringe source/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.