Template:Citation needed/doc

Purpose
The word  or  may make more sense if you visualize a question-mark afterward: "Fact?" or "Facts?"

This template is used in articles to identify sentences or short passages which are incomplete without an inline citation. It produces the following appearance: And it produces the following appearance in a paragraph context:
 * Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.  Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proidentAre you sure cupidat is a word?, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
 * 1) Editors frequently use this template to "tag" material which they see as questionable or weak, but not obviously invalid.  The tag serves as a request for a specific inline citation.  Addition of such a citation will help verification of the material.
 * 2) Please add the correctly formated 'date=' parameter which is used in sorting. It allows the tag to invoke the proper chronologically organized clean-up category. If you don't specify it, a bot will have to do so. Using either of two methods (both require you to use a subst:) will format the date code for you. 
 * 3)  (using the fact-now template)
 * 4) Both methods keep things straight and would give identical results. The 'fact-now' template just calls this one.
 * 5) It is particularly important to place the template carefully in long sentences to clearly indicate what you are calling into question. In many complicated technical subjects with involved sentences, this is frequently not possible at all, so it is good practice to annotate your concern as well. Since extra template parameters are ignored, the technique above is the same as using an inline comment, but superior since the curly braces enclose everything.
 * 6) Some of us even add our user name after the last pipe as a courtesy should there be a question.
 * 7) The annotation can be put on a separate line, as can your user name:
 * 1) The annotation can be put on a separate line, as can your user name:
 * 1) Always subst: the DATE or Fact-now templates.
 * 2) "Your reason or reasonings" is optional in either case, but is good practice. Gives a clear window into your objection or concern, and is particularly needed when (either) tag is used in a long complicated sentence. Extra template parameters are ignored, so is the same as using an inline comment to other editors. (In the future, it may be used to provide a pop-up so can be seen in a non-edit screen. See S5 for an example of that technique, r-phrase for the guts/how-to.)
 * 3) This is a good technique with many maintenance templates. Saves others time and is courteous and helpful.
 * 4) So is adding your user name and the full date.

Contraindications
Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons should be removed immediately. Do not tag it; remove it. For more information, see the section on poorly sourced contentious material in the Biography of Living Persons policy.

Material which is doubtful and harmful may be removed immediately, rather than tagged. See Unsourced material.

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.

Many editors object to what they perceive as overuse of this tag, particularly in what is known as "drive-by" tagging, which is applying the tag without attempting to address the issues at all. Consider whether adding this tag in an article is the best approach before using it, and use it judiciously.

This template is intended for specific passages which need citation. For articles or sections which have significant material lacking sources (rather than just specific short passages), there are other, more appropriate templates, such as unreferenced.

Alternative names
Some editors report the word "fact" is unclear or confusing, and so in addition to, you can use either of the following:


 * Citation needed
 * Cn

(In computer jargon, this use of an alternative name or command is called transclusion.)

The templates  and   redirect to , so transcluding them has the identical effect as transcluding the main template. There are other redirects to this template, but their use is deprecated, or, to avoid the jargon, not advised. Cleanup bots may replace redirected templates with a direct call to  when performing maintenance on the article.

In-line templates

 * Citequote, for "actual quotations" which need citations to make them proper
 * Page number, request a page number for an existing citation
 * List fact, request a citation of a source which justifies inclusion of a given entry in a list
 * Clarifyme, request clarification of wording or interpretation

Verification

 * Verify credibility, flag a source as possibly being unreliable and/or unverifiable
 * Verify source, request that someone verify the cited source backs up the material in the passage
 * Failed verification, source was checked, and did not contain the cited material
 * Request quotation, request a direct quote from an inaccessible source, for verification purposes

Content

 * Dubious, flag something as suspected of being incorrect
 * Original research, flag something as possibly containing original research
 * POV-statement, dispute the neutrality of a passage

Article message box templates

 * Unreferenced, article/section has no sources/references/citations given at all
 * Refimprove, article/section has weak or incomplete sources/references/citations
 * Citecheck, article/section may have inappropriate or misinterpreted citations

af:Sjabloon:Feit als:Vorlage:Beleg ar:قالب:حقيقة bg:Шаблон:Посочи източник cs:Šablona:Doplňte zdroj da:Skabelon:Kilde mangler et:Mall:Lisa viide el:Πρότυπο:Εκκρεμεί παραπομπή es:Plantilla:Añadir referencias fa:الگو:مدرک fr:Modèle:Citation nécessaire ko:틀:출처 is:Snið:Heimild vantar it:Template:Citazione necessaria he:תבנית:מקור ka:თარგი:ფაქტი lv:Template:Nepieciešama atsauce lt:Šablonas:Faktas nl:Sjabloon:Feit ja:Template:要出典 no:Mal:Trenger referanse nn:mal:kjelde manglar pl:Szablon:Fakt pt:Predefinição:Carece de fontes ro:Format:Necesită citare ru:Шаблон:Нет источника simple:Template:Fact sk:Šablóna:Bez citácie sl:Predloga:Podatek sr:Шаблон:Чињеница fi:Malline:Lähde sv:Mall:Källa behövs tl:Template:Fact te:Template:మూలాలు అవసరం vi:Tiêu bản:Cần chú thích uk:Шаблон:Fact zh:Template:Fact