Template:Citation needed/doc

{{Citation needed}} (also known by the redirects {{Cn}} and {{Fact}}) is a template used to identify questionable claims that lack citation to a reliable source. The template produces a superscripted notation like the following:

Humphrey Bogart has won several snooker world championships.^{[citation needed]}.

While Humphrey Bogart may have played snooker at some point and may have won a tournament at one time, there is no reliable, published source to verify this. Also it is not common knowledge.

TemplateData

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Name	name	no description	Unknown	optional
Reason	reason	no description	Unknown	optional
Date	date	no description Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Unknown	suggested

Usage

Notes:

• Substitution of this template will automatically fill the date parameter.
• If you don't add a date parameter, a bot will date your entry with the month and year at a later time.
• The date parameter consists of the name of the current month and the year only, not full dates. The names of the months are capitalised in English. Any deviation from these two rules will result in an "invalid date parameter" error.

It is also recommended to add the (non-displayed) |reason= parameter to leave a better record for future editors. For example, the following usage might be appropriate to the claim that "Humphrey Bogart has won several snooker world championships.":

{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source; Bogart was a famous actor, and his major biographies don't mention snooker.}}

Please remove the template when you add a citation for a statement.

Examples

This sentence shows the template used at the end.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence}}

The above wikitext will render as follows:

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

The template should be inserted after punctuation, such as a period or comma.

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. 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}}. 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.

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.

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.

See also

Inline templates

• {{Clarify}}: request clarification of wording or interpretation
• {{Examples}}: request examples for clarification

Highlighting some text that needs a citation

• {{Citation needed span}}:

Example text^{[citation needed]}: similar, except that it outlines the text that needs a citation with a box

• {{Reference necessary}}:

Example text^{[citation needed]}: lightly underlines the text that needs a reference

Verification

• {{Dead link}}: request a fix for a dead external link within a paragraph or a reference citation.

Content

• {{Dubious}}: flag something as suspected of being incorrect
• {{Vague}}: flag a statement that is too vague to be unambiguously verifiable.
• {{When}}: flags a particular time period as being vague or ambiguous
• {{Who}}: for placement after descriptions of a group of persons
• {{By whom}}

: placement after mention of a vague third party claim that is not sourced