Wikinews:Cite sources

This is an official policy on English Wikinews. It has wide acceptance and is considered a standard for all users to follow. Changes to this page must reflect consensus. If in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcut: WN:CS WN:CITE

Due to the time-limited nature of news articles, every piece of information in a Wikinews article must be referenced and verifiable. This is to ensure that everything we run is true, and that we have a trust-worthy reputation. The only exceptions are the obvious, e.g. France is in Europe, Medvedev is the President of Russia.

Policies and Guidelines

Neutral point of view Content guide Style guide

Ignore all rules

Administrators

For Wikipedians

Accreditation Archive conventions Avoid weasel words Blocking Bots CheckUsers Cite sources Conflict of interest Copyright Dispute resolution Deletion Speedy deletion Don't disrupt Wikinews to illustrate a point Fair use Global permissions Image use Naming conventions Newsworthiness Oversight Original reporting Permission expiry Page protection Reviewing Three reverts Username

Etiquette

There are two central tenets to this policy:

• You must cite your sources
• Your sources must be verifiable

Citing sources

At the foot of any article must be a 'Sources' section, with every document used to write the article listed using the following format:

• Ravi Nessman "Barghouti to Run for Palestinian Leader". Guardian, November 13, 2004

To format your text in the style demonstrated above, use this template:

*{{source|url=insert_url_here

|title=insert_title_here

|author=insert_author_here

|pub=insert_publisher_here

|date=August 20, 2024}}

To be clear, the fields are url, title, author, pub(lisher), and date.

If your source is missing one or more of these fields, leave a blank space after the "=". The title should be the original title, even if the source language is not English. Note dates are <Monthname> <daynumber>, <year> per the style guide. Multiple independent sources are usually required and they should be listed newest -> oldest with no spaces between the {{source}} templates.

In the case of original reporting, notes must be reproduced on the article's discussion (Talk) page.

Please, do not use the Wikipedia style of inline references, this is not at all appropriate for a source of news where you are - usually - expected to read the entire article rather than scan for a fact and its reference.

Published sources must be verifiable

Only published sources that someone else could reasonably be able to check can be used, such as those found online or available in public libraries. With online sources, it is acceptable to link to sites that require free registration, but not those that request payment to view content on the site. The Reference Desk may be useful if you're trying to make sure you have more than one source, or a generally accepted source for a story.

Use the sources

Only cite sources used for information - do not add sources if you did not include any information from them.

See also

• Wikinews:Policies and guidelines
• Wikinews:Reference desk