Wikinews:Cite sources
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This page is an official policy on the English Wikinews. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
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, the Pope is a Catholic.
There are two central tenets to this policy:
- You must cite your sources
- Your sources must be verifiable
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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" — The 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=May 21, 2013}}
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, as 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 never 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.
Considering the review process
In the process of an article moving towards publication it will be tagged with the {{review}} template to request independent review by a Wikinews editor. Due to this it is essential that unused sources are not added to the article; this significantly increases the time to review.
An additional concern is foreign language sources. These severely restrict the pool of potential reviewing editors. Non-English sources should be restricted to those absolutely essential, such as where there is only a single English source and the non-English source is required to corroborate the story and avoid potential copyright issues.
Non-English sources must clearly identify the language using templates such as {{fr}} after the {{source}} template. Example:
- "Le réalisateur Jean Delannoy est décédé" — Le Figaro, June 19, 2008 (French)
