Template:Citation needed/doc

{{Citation needed}} (also known by the redirects {{Cn}} and {{Fact}}) 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 Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler.

Use

Template:Tnull

Notes:

• The date-substitution template may be used to automatically generate the date, e.g., {{Citation needed|{{subst:DATE}}}}. See Help:Substitution for more information.
• The Template:Para parameter need not be added by the editor: if not entered, a bot will soon add it. 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 Template:Para parameter is optional but often helpful. It is displayed as a tooltip in some browsers (hover the mouse here Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler to check behaviour of your browser). For example, the following usage might be appropriate to the claim that "Humphrey Bogart has won several snooker world championships":

  Template:Tnull

  • If double quotation marks are used within the Template:Para parameter, the reason will not be displayed as a tooltip; use single quotes or the HTML code " instead.
  • Use only plain text for the Template:Para 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 and Category:Articles with unsourced statements from December 2024 (example; past months are listed in Category:Articles with unsourced statements).
• Remove the template when you add a citation for a statement.

Examples

Example 1

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.Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler

Example 2

The template indicates that it may be that Humphrey Bogart played snooker at some point and it may be that he won some tournaments at some point but no reliable, published sources were given to verify it and the information is not considered common knowledge.

Humphrey Bogart has won several snooker world championships.Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler

Example 3

If it is considered that he might have won just one tournament, the template may be placed accordingly; and a reason for the need of a citation may be given, displayed when the mouse hovers on "citation needed":

Humphrey Bogart has won severalTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler snooker world championships.

When not to use this template

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. For some policy about this, see the sections "Remove contentious material that is unsourced or poorly sourced" at Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons and "Burden of evidence" at Wikipedia:Verifiability.

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. Other templates are available for other or more specific issues; see the list of inline templates. For example, claims that you think are incorrect should be tagged with {{Dubious}}, and those which represent a non-neutral view should be tagged with {{POV-statement}}. Being specific about the nature of the problem will help other editors correct it.

If you have the time and ability to find an authoritative 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.

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. Wikipedia's verifiability policy does not require reliable sources for common well-known facts (e.g., "the Moon orbits the Earth"), 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. See WP:MINREF for the list of material that is absolutely required to be followed by an inline citation, rather than a general reference or no citation at all. Also note that the burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material.

This template is intended for specific passages that need citation. For entire articles or sections that contain significant material lacking sources (rather than just specific short passages), there are other, more appropriate templates, such as {{Unreferenced}} or {{Refimprove}}.

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 claim, then please do so.

Except for contentious claims about living people, which should be immediately removed if not cited, there is no specific deadline for providing citations. Please do not delete information that you believe is correct simply because no one has provided a citation within an arbitrary time limit. Where there is some uncertainty about its accuracy, most editors are willing to wait about a month to see whether a citation can be provided.

Template data

The template is used to identify claims in articles, particularly if questionable, that need a citation to a reliable source.

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	date	Provides the month and year of the citation request; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	String	suggested
Reason for citation	reason	A reason as to why, or for what content, the citation is needed; use single quotes, if any	String	optional

See also

• Template:Citation needed (lead), a similar template specifically for the lead of articles
• Wikipedia:Citing sources, especially Unsourced material
• Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
• Template:Medical citation needed
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup#Verifiability and sources
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
• Wikipedia:Verifiability
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check

Inline templates

• {{Cite quote}}Template:Cite quote: for "actual quotations" which need citations to make them proper.
• {{Clarify}}Template:Clarify: request clarification of wording or interpretation.
• {{Examples}}Template:Examples: request examples for clarification.
• {{Nonspecific}}Template:Nonspecific: flag a general, yet factual statement as needing to be made more specific before it can be verified.
• {{Page needed}}Template:Page needed: request a page number for an existing citation.

Highlighting some text that needs a citation

• {{Citation needed span}}: similar, except that the text needing the citation is changed to a dark slate-gray color while being encapsulated in an off-white box with a pale pink outline. For example:

Beetles constitute Template:Citation needed span the largest order of insects, with Template:Citation needed span

Incomplete citations

• {{Full}}Template:Full: in-line request for full citation, for example when only author, year are given.
• {{Incomplete short citation}}Template:Incomplete short citation: in-line warning and request for enough information to allow the short citation to uniquely identify a long citation.
• {{Page needed}}Template:Page needed: in-line request for the page number or page numbers in a work such as journal for an existing citation.
• {{Season needed}}Template:Season needed, similar to {{page needed}}: for missing TV season & episode number.
• {{Volume needed}}Template:Volume needed, similar to {{page needed}}: for missing journal, newspaper, comic, volume and issue numbers, etc.

Verification

• {{Better source}}Template:Better source: flags a statement as requiring a better source.
• {{Dead link}}Template:Dead link: request a fix for a dead external link within a paragraph or a reference citation.
• {{Failed verification}}Template:Failed verification: source was checked, and did not contain the cited material.
• {{Request quotation}}Template:Request quotation: request a direct quote from an inaccessible source, for verification purposes.
• {{Self-published inline}}Template:Self-published inline or {{Self-published source}} Template:Self-published source: flag a source that cites the author.
• {{Source need translation}}Template:Source need translation: self-explanatory. See WP:NONENG for policy requirements.
• {{Verify credibility}}Template:Verify credibility: flag a source as possibly being unreliable or unverifiable.
• {{Verify source}}Template:Verify source: request that someone verify the cited source backs up the material in the passage.

Content

• {{According to whom}}Template:According to whom
• {{Definition}}Template:Definition: flag a definition as being ambiguous / confusing
• {{Dubious}}Template:Dubious: flag something as suspected of being incorrect
• {{Or}}Template:Or: flag something as possibly containing original research
• {{Peacock term}}Template:Peacock term: Avoid peacock terms too
• {{POV-statement}}Template:POV-statement: dispute the neutrality of a passage
• {{Quantify}}Template:Quantify: flag a statement as being vague regarding the amount of something
• {{Technical-statement}}Template:Technical-statement: ...flag a word or phrase Wikipedia:Make technical articles understandable
• {{Time fact}}/{{Chronology citation needed}}Template:Chronology citation needed: request a source confirming or providing the chronology or timeline of a statement
• {{Undue-inline}}Template:Undue-inline: show that a statement does not ascribe appropriate weight to its sources, according to their prominence; use in preference to...
• {{Vague}}Template:Vague: flag a statement that is too vague to be unambiguously verifiable
• {{Weasel-inline}}Template:Weasel-inline: flag for weasel word cleanup
• {{When}}Template:When: flags a particular time period as being vague or ambiguous
• {{Who}}Template:Who: for placement after descriptions of a group of persons
• {{Whom}}/{{By whom}}Template:By whom: placement after mention of a vague third party claim that is not sourced

Timeliness

• {{Update after}}Template:Update after: a template that only shows itself after a specified time, indicating an exceptional statement that will date quickly.

Article message box templates

• {{Cite check}}, article / section may have inappropriate or misinterpreted citations.
• {{Refimprove}}, article / section has weak or incomplete sources / references / citations.
• {{Unreferenced}}, article / section has no sources / references / citations given at all.
• Citation method and style
  • {{Citation style}}
  • {{No footnotes}}