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Adding Citations

HELP CENTER>Adding Citations
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Citations are essential to Origin Wiki's credibility. They allow readers to verify information and explore topics in greater depth. This guide will show you how to add proper citations to your contributions.

Why Citations Matter

Citations serve several important purposes:

  • They verify that information is accurate and based on reliable sources
  • They give proper credit to original authors and researchers
  • They help readers find additional information about the topic
  • They build trust in Origin Wiki as a credible information source

When to Add Citations

You should add citations for:

  • Direct quotations
  • Statistics, data, and specific figures
  • Controversial statements or claims
  • Non-obvious facts that readers might question
  • Historical information and dates
  • Specific claims about people, especially living individuals

Basic Citation Format

The basic format for adding a citation in Origin Wiki is:

This is a statement that needs a citation.<ref>Author Name, "Article Title," Publication Name, Date, URL (accessed Date).</ref>

The <ref> tags create a superscript number that links to the full citation in the References section at the bottom of the page.

Types of Citations

Basic Inline Citation

<ref>John Smith, "Article Title," Journal Name, 2023.</ref>

Named Reference

For sources you'll use multiple times:

<ref name="smith2023">John Smith, "Article Title," Journal Name, 2023.</ref> <!-- Later in the text, you can reuse it: --> <ref name="smith2023" />

Citation Templates

Origin Wiki provides templates to format citations consistently. Here are some common ones:

Web Citation

<ref>{{cite web |url=https://example.com |title=Article Title |author=Author Name |date=2023-01-15 |website=Website Name |access-date=2023-07-20 }}</ref>

News Article

<ref>{{cite news |url=https://example.com |title=Article Title |author=Author Name |date=2023-01-15 |work=Newspaper Name |access-date=2023-07-20 }}</ref>

Journal Article

<ref>{{cite journal |title=Article Title |author=Author Name |journal=Journal Name |volume=10 |issue=2 |year=2023 |pages=123-145 |doi=10.1234/example }}</ref>

Creating the References Section

To display all the references at the bottom of the page, add this code:

== References == <references />

This creates a "References" heading and lists all the citations used in the article.

Reliable Sources

Not all sources are equally reliable. When adding citations, prioritize:

  • Academic journals and peer-reviewed research
  • Established news organizations
  • Books from reputable publishers
  • Official websites and documents
  • Industry publications with editorial standards

Be cautious with:

  • Personal blogs or social media posts
  • Self-published sources
  • Sources with clear bias or conflicts of interest
  • Anonymous or unattributed content
  • Sources that cannot be verified by others

Citation Best Practices

  • Place citations at the end of the sentence or paragraph they support
  • Don't place citations in section headings
  • Include as much information as possible (author, title, date, publisher, URL)
  • For online sources, include the access date
  • Use consistent citation formatting throughout the article
  • When possible, link to stable, permanent URLs that won't change

Next Steps