Template:Citation needed/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Citation needed. It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

{{Citation needed}} is a template used to identify claims in articles, particularly if questionable, that need a citation to a reliable source. The template produces a superscripted ^{[citation needed]}.

Usage

{{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=December 2024}}

Notes:

• To automatically add the current date, you can use substitution: {{subst:Citation needed}}.
• The date parameter consists of the full English name of the current month with initial capital, a space, and the year, not full dates; e.g., "January 2013", but not "jan13". Any deviation from these two rules will result in an "invalid date parameter" error.
• The |reason= parameter is optional but often helpful. It is displayed as a tooltip in some browsers (hover the mouse here ^{[citation needed]} to check behaviour of your browser).
  • If double quotation marks are used within the |reason= parameter, the reason will not be displayed as a tooltip; use single quotes or the HTML code " instead.
  • Use only plain text for the |reason= parameter. It does not support wiki markup like wikilinks, which can mess up the tooltip.
• Use of this template places the article into Category:All articles with unsourced statements.
• Remove the template when you add a citation for a statement or proved the statement is indeed incorrect.

Example

This sentence shows the template used at the end.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=December 2024}}

This wikitext will be rendered as follows:

This sentence shows the template used at the end.^{[citation needed]}

However, make note to place where the template should be carefully. Placing it at the end of a sentence could suggest the entire sentence needs referencing, whereas placing it somewhere in the middle would suggest the wording needs to be analysed.

When not to use this template

The {{Citation needed}} template is intended for use when there is a general question of the verifiability of a statement, or when an editor believes that a reference verifying the statement should be provided. Being specific about the nature of the problem will help other editors correct it. If you have the time and ability to find a reference, please do so. Then add the citation yourself, or correct the article text. After all, the ultimate goal is not to merely identify problems, but to fix them.

Within a lead section that is clearly written as a summary of a substantially sourced article,

• statements that are supported with citations within the body of the article should not be tagged,
• statements that are not supported in the article body should be tagged.

While an editor may add this template to any uncited passage for any reason, many editors object to what they perceive as overuse of this tag, particularly in what is known as "drive-by" tagging, which is applying the tag without attempting to address the issues at all (hit-and-run). Consider whether adding this tag in an article is the best approach before using it, and use it judiciously. We don't expect everything to require reliable sources of common well-known facts (e.g., "Yabusame Houlen and Tsubakura Enraku are the protagonists."), neither that citations be repeated through every sentence in a paragraph. All direct quotations and facts whose accuracy might be challenged (e.g., statistics) require citations.

Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced should be removed immediately. Do not tag it; immediately remove it. This includes material that is doubtful, harmful, or possibly libelous. See Wikipedia:Verifiability.

Do not use this template to tag policies or guidelines.

How to respond to this tag

The addition of this tag is a request for an inline citation to support the tagged statement. If you are able to provide a citation to support the statement, then please do so.

See also

• Wikipedia:Citing sources, especially Unsourced material
• Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources