Wikipedia talk:Citing sources/Archive 58

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Press releases

To what extent is a press release a reliable source? They are mentioned in passing in WP:RS, but I cannot track any direct comment on them.

In the case I have dealt with, I had excised comment on visitor numbers from Vasa (ship) with [1]. I have since seen statistics on museum visits in Sweden collated by a government agency ([2], table 23 in the spreadsheet). But the simplest "headline figure" that seems to encapsulate the number of visitors to the ship since her salvage is a Vasamuseet press release [3] giving a figure of 45 million to date. (Added with [4]) To my mind, this figure from the museum is validated by them having to report these numbers to a government agency. Simple arithmetic from the government agency report makes the 45 million entirely believable. For myself, I find the cited source totally sufficient. Clearly other press releases by other organisations may be different. In my specific example I have chosen not to contextualise the visitor numbers as "Scandinavia's most visited museum" which, I understand, is in their marketing material. I don't see marketing material as an RS, whilst a press release may well be.

I am wondering to what extent my decision-making is supportable by guidance on RSs. ThoughtIdRetired _TIR 19:57, 25 April 2025 (UTC)

A museum's press release wouldn't confer notability under WP:SIRS, but for confirming uncontroversial statistics like visitor numbers, there's no real reason to expect or need an independent source. The relevant section is WP:SELFSOURCE, where organizations' statements about themselves are acceptable in some cases. Your citation seems perfectly fine (although if you went with "most-visited museum" you might run afoul of the rule against unduly self-serving); after all, we have {{cite press release}} for this reason. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 19:17, 28 April 2025 (UTC)

Press releases are always Wikipedia:Self-published sources. They are almost always Wikipedia:Primary sources. They are usually not Wikipedia:Independent sources.

But: That doesn't mean they're WP:NOTGOODSOURCE. WhatamIdoing (talk) 19:29, 28 April 2025 (UTC)

Citing a US trademark registration

I used the Template:Cite web for a webpage on the US Patent and Trademark Office's TSDR, and I was wondering whether there is a special way to cite a US trademark registration in an article. I saw that there's a template for a patent (Template:Cite patent) and was curious if there was something similar for a trademark as well. Appreciate any guidance. (Guyinblack25 ^talk 03:04, 29 April 2025 (UTC))