Project:Style Manual/Sources
A citation, or reference, uniquely identifies a source of information:
Author. Title. Publication, Date of Publication. (Pages)
Citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which an article is based. In most cases citations appear in the form of footnotes, although they can also appear within the body of an article. Citations indicated by a superscript number or other means in a line of text are called inline citations.
This wiki's policy requires inline citations for any material challenged or likely to be challenged, and for all quotations, anywhere in an article. However, editors are advised to provide citations for all material added to the wiki; any unsourced material risks being unexpectedly challenged or eventually removed.
This page explains how to place and format citations. Each article should use the same citation method throughout; if an article already has citations, adopt the method in use or seek consensus on the talk page before changing it. While users should try to write citations correctly, what matters most is that enough information be provided to identify the source. Other users will improve the formatting if needed.
Types of Citation
- A full citation fully identifies a reliable source and, where applicable, the place in that source (such as a page number) where the information in question can be found. This type of citation is given as a footnote, and is the most commonly used citation method used.
- An inline citation means any citation added close to the material it supports, for example after the sentence or paragraph, normally in the form of a footnote.
- In-text attribution involves adding the source of a statement to the article text. This is done whenever a writer or speaker should be credited, such as with quotations, close paraphrasing, or statements of opinion or uncertain fact. The in-text attribution does not give full details of the source – this is done in a footnote in the normal way.
- A general reference is a citation that supports content, but is not linked to any particular piece of material in the article through an inline citation. General references are usually listed at the end of the article in a "References" section. They are usually found in underdeveloped articles, especially when all article content is supported by a single source. They may also be listed in more developed articles as a supplement to inline citations.
Image Citations
For an image or other media file, details of its origin and copyright status should appear on its respective file page. Image captions should be referenced as appropriate just like any other part of the article. A citation is not needed for descriptions such as alt text that are verifiable directly from the image itself, or for text that merely identifies a source.
Quotations
When information is needed directly within an article for context, rather than simply being cited or referenced, it should be included in a quotation box. Citation information, such as who is being quoted and the original source in which the quote is taken from, should accompany the quoted material.
Citation Templates
The following citation templates have been developed in order to maintain consistency of credited materials across the wiki:
- Guidebook Sources (Daizenshuu, Super Exciting Guides, etc.)
- Manga Sources (Chapters and their various collected volumes)
- Episode Sources
- Magazine Sources
- Website Sources
Citation Needed
To ensure that all content on the wiki is verifiable, any user may question an un-cited claim by inserting a {{Citation needed}} tag.
Example: 50% of fans believe in Dragon Ball AF.[citation needed]
Notes
- Exercise caution before relying upon unsourced claims.
- If you can provide a reliable source for the claim, please replace the "Citation needed" template with the appropriate source or with enough information for others to locate the source.
- If someone tagged your contributions with
{{Citation needed}}and you disagree, discuss the matter on the respective article's discussion page. - Controversial, poorly sourced claims in biographies of living people should be deleted immediately.
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