Wikipedia:WikiProject Scouting/References
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This page details a process used within WikiProject Scouting. |
Wikipedia has three systems for citing sources: embedded citations, Harvard referencing and footnotes. These systems should not normally be mixed; converting an article from one system to another should be discussed before changes are applied.
This tutorial shows how to use the footnotes system along with citation templates to provide clear references in an article. Using citation templates also makes the references accessible to reference management software such as Zotero. This method is not mandatory, but is considered a best practice by many editors. Implementation can be confusing to new editors.
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| Scouting-related Articles |
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[edit] Footnotes
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For more details on this topic, see Wikipedia:Footnotes.
The footnotes system is a simple a way of inserting a reference using the <ref> tags:
- <ref>citation</ref>
Where <ref> is the start of the citation and </ref> is the end. References should be placed after the ending punctuation of the sentence or phrase like so:
According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.<ref>E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.</ref>
When viewing the article, it will look like this:
- According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.[1]
[edit] Showing references
To show the references, include this section at the end of the article:
- ==References==
- {{reflist}}
The reference for the above cite will look like:
- References
- 1. ^ E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.
The reference number [1] is a link; when clicked it will jump to the associated cite in the references section and highlight it. The caret ^ is a backlink that will jump up to the associated reference number.
Although {{reflist}} may use extended parameters to show the references in two or more columns, this does not save any space and some editors find multiple columns of dense text hard to read.
[edit] Reusing references
Often a reference will be used more than once in an article. Instead of entering the full reference multiple times, use a named reference on the first instance:
- <ref name="miller">E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.</ref>
To use the cite again, enter:
- <ref name="miller"/>
The name can be any text desired such as the author of the book or the web site referenced, but must be unique for each reference and cannot be an integer.
If this cite were used 19 times, it will show in the references section as:
- 1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.
The cite is only shown once preceded by an alpha character that increments by each use and is the backlink.
[edit] Reusing a reference many times
Using a reference in this manner a large number of times can create a rather ugly and confusing cite. A better solution in this case is to use content notes. Both the cnote and ref systems my be used together. To use cnotes:
- {{cref|a|E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.}}
Where the "a" is the name of the reference; alpha characters are recommended.
and in the references section, insert:
- {{cnote|a}}
After defining the cref, it can be reused by inserting:
- {{cref|a}}
In this example, The reference links in the article will appear as a[›] and the the cite will appear as:
- ^ a: E. Miller, The Sun, (New York: Academic Press, 2005), 23-5.
There is no backlink with this method.
[edit] Uncited references
Occasionally, references will be included under the references section without being used as a cite in the body of the article. Since the reflist template does not render these, they will show as a larger font. To resolve this use {{refbegin}}:
- {{refbegin}}
-
- Reference 1
- Reference 2
- {{refend}}
This method should also be used with cnote references.
[edit] Cite templates
-
For more details on this topic, see Wikipedia:Citation templates.
The second part is to properly format the footnote. When adding a note that amplifies the text, simply enter the desired text between the ref tags:
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.<ref>Foxes are often red.</ref>
When citing a web page, book or magazine a citation template should be used. Using a template allows a "fill in the blanks" approach while the template does the work of formatting the reference.
The short format of a citation for a book, including the ref tags:
<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= |url= |date= |accessdate= |edition= |publisher= |isbn= }}</ref>
With information:
<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=E. |title=The Sun |url= |date=2005 |accessdate= |edition= |publisher=New York: Academic Press |pages=23-5 |isbn= }}</ref>
Here is what the cite looks like used in a sentence and the accompanying reference:
- According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.[1]
- 1. ^ Miller, E. (2005). The Sun. New York: Academic Press, 23-5.
[edit] Page numbers
- Further information: Template:Rp
Citation templates only allow one set of page numbers, thus a reused reference can not cite multiple pages. To add page numbers, use {{rp}}:
According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=E. |title=The Sun |url= |date=2005 |accessdate= |edition= |publisher=New York: Academic Press }}</ref>{{rp|23}}
In the article body, this will look like:
According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.[2]
Where [2] is the reference and :23 is the page number within that reference.
[edit] Archived references
[edit] All caps
- Further information: Wikipedia:Manual of Style (capital letters)
Often a reference, especially a newspaper, will use a fully capitalized title. Reduce newspaper headlines and other titles from all caps to title case. Example: Replace "CONFERENCE BEGINS TODAY" with "Conference Begins Today".
[edit] Troubleshooting
After saving changes, check the newly added references in the article body and in the references section.
| Error message | Cause | Example | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content |
There is no content between the ref tags | <ref></ref> | Ensure the ref is not empty |
| Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many |
A named ref has a malformed name | <ref name=foo> <ref name=<foo/> |
Check the name format |
| Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no content must have a name |
A named ref has a malformed name | <ref name=<f"oo" /> | Check the name format |
| Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title |
A named ref used an integer for a name | <ref name="123">foo</ref> | Use an alphanumeric name |
| Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named $1 | An undefined named ref was called | ||
| Cite error: Ran out of custom backlink labels. Define more in the MediaWiki:Cite references link many format backlink labels message | A named ref was used more than 702 times | Use {{cref}} | |
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| Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; no input is allowed. Use <references /> |
The <references /> tag is invalid | <references> | Ensure the closing / is included; using {{reflist}} will avoid this |
| Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; no parameters are allowed. Use <references /> | The <references /> tag is invalid | <references style="font-size:100%" /> | Do not use other parameters within the tag; using {{reflist}} will avoid this |
Then, scroll down to the references section and check the footnotes:
- Some citation template fields are mandatory; if a mandatory field was not entered, an error will will be displayed in the cite
- If a section of the article text is the references section, then the reference was not properly closed with </ref>; ensure the closing slash is in the proper place
- If a footnote does not appear, either {{reflist}} was not included, the cite was added after {{reflist}} or more than one ref used the same name– only the first ref will show.
[edit] Maintenance
- Further information: Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup#Verifiability and sources
References should be checked periodically for problems; the most common issues are malformed citation templates and dead links. Editors should try to improve the article or make good faith attempts to verify the citations in question before adding templates; discussion on the talk page is always appropriate.
[edit] Commonly used cites
- Further information: Wikipedia:Citation templates and Category:Citation templates
Examples of the most commonly used cites are below. To use these cites, simply copy the wikicode here and paste it into the article and fill in the blanks. It is customary to delete any unused entries in the cite to keep it tidy.
These cite codes are split into a short version for the commonly used fields and long for all of the fields.
| Type | Wikicode |
|---|---|
| General web page {{cite web}} |
short <ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate= |last= |first= |date= |year= |month= |work= |publisher= }}</ref> |
| long <ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref> |
|
| News article {{cite news}} |
short <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |author= |title= |url= |work= |publisher= |date= |accessdate= }}</ref> |
| long <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title= |url= |format= |work= |publisher= |id= |pages= |page= |date= |accessdate= |language= |quote= }}</ref> |
|
| Book {{cite book}} |
short <ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= |url= |date= |accessdate= |edition= |publisher= |isbn= }}</ref> |
| long <ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title= |origdate= |url= |format= |accessdate= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= |ref= }}</ref> |
|
| Journal, magazine, or other periodical {{cite journal}} |
short <ref>{{cite journal |last= |first= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |date= |url= |accessdate= }}</ref> |
| long <ref>{{cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |date= |url= |doi= |id= |accessdate= }}</ref> |
|
| Newsgroup {{cite newsgroup}} |
<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title= |author= |date= |newsgroup= |id= |url= |accessdate= }}</ref> |
| Notes |
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[edit] Tools
- refToolbar will add a "cite" button to the right side of the editing toolbar for citation templates
. Can be enabled from Special:Preferences > Gadgets. - Wikipedia template builder— Given an ISBN, a PubMed ID, etc., this tool generates a citation ready to paste into a Wikipedia article
- Reference generator— generates wikicode for journals, webpages, and other commonly cited sources
- Wikicite— generates wikicode for journals, webpages, and other commonly cited sources
- Zotero— Firefox extension to help collect, manage, and cite research sources
- Cyde Weys' References converter can be used to update articles from footnote3 to cite.php
