View source for Template:More citations needed/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Template:Additional citations|Template:Additional citation needed}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Template:Not verified|Template:Failed verification}}
{{redirect|Template:Verify|the template used to request clarification of the preceding sentence|Template:Clarify}}
{{High-use}}
{{Twinkle standard installation}}
{{AWB standard installation}}
{{Tsh|Rip}}
==Usage==

===When to use===
This [[Wikipedia:Templates|template]] indicates that the article needs additional inline citations. This template should be used only for articles where there are some, but insufficient, inline citations to support the material currently in the article. Don't use this tag for articles that contain no unreferenced material, even if all the material is supported by a single citation.

Some editors understand this template to be redundant when it is used on articles clearly marked as [[Wikipedia:Stub|stubs]], since by definition stubs are unlikely to be well referenced.

For articles that have no inline citations at all, but contain some sources, use [[:Template:No footnotes]]. Only use [[:Template:Unreferenced]] for articles that have no references at all. 

* For articles about living persons, the more specific template {{tl|BLP sources}} should be used instead.
* For articles containing biomedical information, the more specific template {{tl|More medical citations needed}} should be used instead.
* Please consider marking individual unreferenced statements with the {{tl|Citation needed}} inline template, instead of placing this template.
* If most of an article is supported by inline citations and a few of those use unreliable sources, use {{tlx|Unreliable source?|date{{=}}{{#time:F Y}}}} and if you are certain, then add the parameters {{tlx|Unreliable source|certain{{=}}y|reason{{=}}{{var|1=your WP:RS-based reason here.}}|date{{=}}{{#time:F Y}}}}

'''Placement'''

: According to [[MOS:LAYOUT]], maintenance templates, such as this one, should (except when section-specific) be placed after hatnotes, at the start of the article. That placement is supported by consensus obtained in an RfC at {{section link|Template talk:More citations needed/Archive 4|RfC: Location of Tag}}.


'''User warning'''

: A user warning template, {{tl|uw-refimprove}}, is available to notify contributors that an article they created needs its referencing improved.

'''Auto-categorization'''

: This template adds the article to [[:Category:Articles needing additional references from {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}]], and [[:Category:All articles needing additional references]], both [[Wikipedia:HIDDENCAT|hidden categories]].

== Parameters ==

There are six parameters, one positional, and five named parameters. All parameters are optional. 

* {{para|1}}{{snd}}scope of notification (e.g., 'section', 'article') default: 'article'.
* {{para|date}}{{snd}}month name and year; e.g. '{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}' (no default)
* {{para|find}}{{snd}}search keywords for {{tl|find sources}} param 1 (double-quoted search); default: page title. See details [[#Details|below]].
* {{para|find2}}{{snd}}search keywords for {{tl|find sources}} param 2 (unquoted search). Alias: <code>unquoted</code>. See [[#Details|below]].
* {{para|small}}{{snd}}set to <code>left</code> or <code>no</code>; see details at [[Template:Ambox/doc#small|Ambox]]. Default: standard-width banner.
* {{para|talk}}{{snd}}title of talk page section where discussion can be found

=== Details ===

'''Talk parameter'''

: A {{para|talk}} parameter is allowed; setting this to any value will result in the message "See talk page for details." being included in the tag. If the value is a valid anchor on the talk page (e.g., the title of a section or subsection heading), then the talk page link will go directly to that anchor; if not, then to the top of the page.

'''Date parameter'''

: This template also includes support for using the {{para|date}} parameter. Adding this parameter sorts the article into subcategories of [[:Category:Articles needing additional references]] and out of the parent category, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. A [[Wikipedia:Bot policy|bot]] will add this parameter, if it is omitted. Be careful '''''not''''' to abbreviate the date, because then it will automatically add a redlinked category instead of the correct category. The simplest way to use this parameter manually is <code><nowiki>{{More citations needed|{{subst:DATE}}}}</nowiki></code>, but it can be done more explicitly as <code><nowiki>{{More citations needed|date=</nowiki>{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}<nowiki>}}</nowiki></code> (both result in the same output). Do ''not'' use <code><nowiki>{{More citations needed|date={{subst:DATE}}}}</nowiki></code> because <code><nowiki>{{subst:DATE}}</nowiki></code> already includes the leading <code>date=</code> code.

'''Find parameters:'''
: There are two 'find' parameters available to control the presentation and operation of the {{tl|find sources}} links optionally displayed by the {{tl|Unreferenced}} template. By default, the template displays {{tl|find sources}} with a quoted search query equivalent to the exact article title. Sometimes, especially if the article has a long, [[WP:NDESC|descriptive title]], or if it includes [[WP:PARENDIS|parenthetical disambiguation terms]], this may not give useful results. The find parameters can be used to provide the search keywords of your choice to the {{tl|find sources}} links. Use:
:* {{para|find}} to specify keywords for an exact search (double-quoted query); this corresponds to {{tl|find sources}} positional param <code>|1</code>.
:* {{para|find2}} to specify keywords for an unquoted search; this corresponds to {{tl|find sources}} param <code>|2</code>. The alias {{para|unquoted}} may be used instead.
The value "none" may be passed to 'find' ({{para|find|none}}) to suppress display of ''find sources'' links. (Note that specifying {{para|find|none}} and a nonempty value for {{para|find2}} is not a valid combination.)

== Examples ==
Listed below are several examples of usage:

:{{tlc|More citations needed|2=date={{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}} or the common redirect: {{tlc|Refimprove|2=date={{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}
:{{tlc|More citations needed|2=section|3=date={{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}&nbsp; or use the alternative template: {{tlx|More citations needed section|date{{=}}{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}
::The template can be made smaller with {{tlc|More citations needed|section|small{{=}}y}} or use the alternative template {{tlx|More citations needed section|small{{=}}y}}
:{{tlc|More citations needed|section|<nowiki>{{subst:DATE}}</nowiki>|talk{{=}}{{var|Talk page section name}}|small{{=}}y}}

The optional {{para|find}} parameter is available, for modifying the operation of the {{tl|find sources mainspace}} links displayed by the template:

{{tlc|More citations needed|find{{=}}search keyword(s)|date{{=}}{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}

==Differences from related templates==

==={{tl|BLP sources}}===
* Use ''BLP sources'' in [[WP:BLP|articles about living persons]] that need additional references. If the article needs additional references but is not about a living or recently deceased subject, then use ''More citations needed''.

==={{Tl|More footnotes needed}}===
* Use ''More footnotes needed'' when the article includes a list of sources, perhaps in a "Bibliography" or "Works" appendix, but its sources remain unclear because there are [[WP:INLINECITE|insufficient inline citations]]. The ''More citations needed'' tag is more specific than ''More footnotes needed'', and should be used preferentially to that template.

==={{Tl|Unreferenced}} and {{Tl|Citation needed}}===
* Use ''Unreferenced'' when there are no citations of any kind in an article. If citations have been added to an article, but they are insufficient, then use ''More citations needed''.
* Alternatively, if an article has sufficient inline citations, but lacks citations covering specific information (such as [[WP:PROVEIT|missing a citation on a quotation]]), then use the inline citation template {{Tl|Citation needed}} to indicate more precisely where additional citations are needed. Unlike the inline ''Citation needed'', ''More citations needed'' is placed as a general banner at the top of an article.
* The {{Tl|More citations needed section}} and {{tl|Unreferenced section}} templates are available to use for problems that are not article-wide.
* If you decide to change a tag from ''Unreferenced'' to ''More citations needed'', don't forget to update the date stamp in the tag, if necessary.

==={{Tl|Primary sources}}===
* If an article has a sufficient amount of inline citations, but the citations are from primary sources (see [[WP:USEPRIMARY]]), then use ''{{tl|Primary sources}}''.

==={{Tl|Third-party}}===
* If an article has sufficient inline citations, but the citations are from sources affiliated with the subject (see [[WP:INDY]]), then use ''{{tl|Third-party}}''.

==={{Tl|One source}}===
* If an article has exactly one source '''and''' that single source is likely to result in bias or other problems in the article (e.g., it cites one fringe-y book instead of a good textbook), then use ''{{tl|One source}}''.

==={{Tl|More medical citations needed}}===
* If the article contains biomedical information, sources must meet the standards of [[WP:MEDRS]] ("it is vital that the biomedical information in articles be based on reliable, third-party, published sources and accurately reflect current medical knowledge"). If there are inline citations for biomedical information, but they do not meet the required standards, then use ''{{Tl|More medical citations needed}}''.

==={{Tl|Citation style}}===
* The ''More citations needed'' template is intended for use in articles that need additional citations, while the ''citation style'' template is used to request consistency within the citations present in an article (see [[WP:CITEVAR]]). For example, use ''citation style'' when there is a mixture of [[WP:CITE#Footnotes|footnotes]] and [[WP:CITE#Parenthetical referencing|parenthetical references]].

==={{Tl|No footnotes}} and {{Tl|More footnotes needed}}===
* ''More citations needed'' can be used when there are no "References" or "Further reading" sections present in the article.

==={{Tl|Sources exist}}===
* ''Sources exist'' is similar to ''More citations needed'', because both templates indicate the need for more references. However, {{tlx|Sources exist}} indicates that a user has already checked that reliable sources are available to be cited, but has not yet added them to the article. By using this template, the assertion is made that the article is notable, but needs more citations.

==<span id="Template data"></span>TemplateData==
{{TemplateData header}}
<templatedata>
{
	"description": "This template generates a tag to indicate that the article needs additional inline citations.",
	"format": "inline",
	"params": {
		"1": {
			"label": "Affected area",
			"description": "Text to replace the word \"article\", usually \"section\"",
			"type": "line",
			"example": "section"
		},
		"date": {
			"label": "Month and year",
			"description": "The month and year that the template was placed (in full). \"{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}\" inserts the current month and year automatically.",
			"type": "line",
			"autovalue": "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}",
			"example": "June 2013"
		},
		"talk": {
			"label": "Talk page section",
			"description": "Section name on the talk page for further discussion",
			"type": "line"
		},
		"small": {
			"label": "Make box small",
			"description": "Enter any text here to make the template box small and aligned to the left.",
			"type": "line",
			"example": "y"
		},
		"find": {
			"label": "Find",
			"description": "Search keywords for double-quoted search to pass to 'find sources'.",
			"type": "line"
		},
		"find2": {
			"label": "Find2",
			"aliases": ["Unquoted"],
			"description": "Search keywords for unquoted search to pass to 'find sources'.",
			"type": "line"
		},
		"name": {}
	},
	"paramOrder": [
		"1",
		"talk",
		"small",
		"find",
		"find2",
		"date",
		"name"
	]
}
</templatedata>

==Redirects==
<!-- regex (Ri|RI|tl|Additional|Cite[ _]+sources|Cleanup-cite|Cleanup-verify|Cleanup[ _]+cite|DisputeCheck|Fact-check|Fact[ _]+check|Factual|Few[ _]+references|Fewreferences|Improve-references|Improve-refs|Improve[ _]+references|Improve[ _]+refs|Improvereferences|Improverefs|More[ _]+references|More[ _]+sources|Moreref|Morereferences|Morerefs|Moresources|Not[ _]+verified|Notverified|Ref-improve|Ref[ _]+improve|Reference-improve|Refimprove|Sources|Unreliable|Verification|Verify) -->
Include:
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
#{{Tl|+r}}
#{{Tl|+R}}
#{{tl|Add references}}
#{{tl|Additional citations}}
#{{Tl|Citations missing}}
#{{Tl|Citations needed}}
#{{Tl|Cite sources}}
#{{Tl|Cleanup-cite}}
#{{Tl|Cleanup-verify}}
#{{Tl|Few references}}
#{{Tl|Few refs}}
#{{tl|Few sources}}
#{{Tl|Improve-refs}}
#{{Tl|Improve references}}
#{{tl|Improve sources}}
#{{Tl|Missing citations}}
#{{tl|More citations}}
#{{tl|More cn}}
#{{Tl|More references}}
#{{tl|More references needed}}
#{{tl|More refs}}
#{{Tl|More sources}}
#{{tl|More sources needed}}
#{{tl|Needs additional citations}}
#{{tl|Needs more citations}}
#{{tl|Needs more references}}
#{{tl|Needs more sources}}
#{{Tl|Not verified}}
#{{Tl|Ref-improve}}
#{{Tl|Ref improve}}
#{{tl|Reference improve}}
#{{tl|Referenced}}
#{{Tl|Refimprove}}
#{{Tl|Sources}}
#{{tl|Sources needed}}
#{{Tl|Verification}}
#{{Tl|Verify}}
}}

==See also==
* {{Tl|Refbegin}}
* {{Tl|Refend}}
* {{Tl|Reflist}}
* {{Tl|Verify source}}
* [[:Template:Citation needed/doc#Inline templates]]
* [[Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources]]

{{Citation and verifiability article maintenance templates}}

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[[Category:Citation and verifiability maintenance templates]]
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