Help:Citations quick reference

Help:Citations quick reference is a guide on Wikipedia that provides users with concise instructions and examples on how to properly cite different types of sources in articles. This page is crucial for maintaining the reliability and verifiability of information on Wikipedia, which are core principles of the site's content policies.

Overview[edit | edit source]

Citations are used to identify the source of the information included in a Wikipedia article, allowing readers to verify the content and assess its credibility. The Help:Citations quick reference page offers a streamlined approach to understanding how to use the Cite tool and the various citation templates available on Wikipedia.

Citation Tools[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia offers several tools to assist contributors in generating accurate citations:

The Cite tool available in the VisualEditor and the 2010 Wikitext editor simplifies the process of adding citations through a user-friendly interface.
RefToolbar, an add-on script for the source editor, provides a toolbar for inserting citations using common templates.

Citation Templates[edit | edit source]

The page details a variety of citation templates that can be used depending on the type of source:

{{Cite book}} for books
{{Cite journal}} for academic journals
{{Cite web}} for websites
{{Cite news}} for newspaper articles
{{Cite press release}} for press releases
{{Cite thesis}} for theses and dissertations

Each template is designed to include specific information pertinent to the source type, such as authors, title, year of publication, publisher, and URL.

Inline Citations[edit | edit source]

The Help:Citations quick reference page emphasizes the importance of placing citations directly after the fact or statement they support, typically at the end of the sentence before the punctuation. This practice helps to clearly link the source with the corresponding information.

External Links and Further Reading[edit | edit source]

While the Help:Citations quick reference page itself does not include external links, it guides users to other helpful internal resources such as Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners.

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