Wikipedia’s Citation Mess And How To Cope

Joseph Reagle

Sources and indirect citations

primary source
Shakespeare
secondary source
scholarly analysis of Shakespeare
tertiary source
summary of primary and secondary source
indirect citation — confusingly called “secondary source”
not read, but seen in a secondary/tertiary source; sources should be confirmed, but sometimes cannot be; see example

There are many ways to do citations

Yet Another Standard

I recommend two approaches

  1. Use VisualEditor, which keeps <ref> & {{citation}} in the prose.
  2. Use Source Editor and keep references at the end.

(1) Visual Editor

Insert citation (demo)

Reuse reference

VisualEditor Cite menu re-use tab

Reuse with page numbers?

  1. Insert citation with cite tool.
  2. Insert the rp template; see demo.

<ref>

<ref> really means endnote

This is great.<ref>Not.</ref>

<ref> in prose

It's a great book.<ref>Kress, Nancy, (2011),
*Beggars in Spain: The Novella*, Rockville, MD:
Phoenix Pick, ISBN 978-1-6124-2057-8</ref>

name attribute

It's a great book.<ref name="Kress2011bsn"> Kress,
Nancy, (2011), *Beggars in Spain: The Novella*,
Rockville, MD: Phoenix Pick, ISBN
978-1-6124-2057-8</ref>

It's about people not sleeping.
<ref name="Kress2011bsn"/>

Templates

Templates

{{citation}}

The citation templates structure information such that Wikipedia will expand and format it; if it appears within <ref> tag it will also appear in an endnote.

It's a great book.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Kress |
first1 = Nancy | title = Beggars in Spain: The Novella
| year = 2011 | publisher = Phoenix Pick | location =
Rockville, MD | isbn = 978-1-6124-2057-8}}</ref>

Page numbers

It's a great book.<ref name="Kress2011bsn"> Kress,
Nancy, (2011), *Beggars in Spain: The Novella*,
Rockville, MD: Phoenix Pick, ISBN
978-1-6124-2057-8</ref>

This is my favorite page.
<ref name="Kress2011bsn"/>{{rp|6}}

(2) References at end

<reflist> approach

This is my favorite page.<ref name="Kress2011bsn"/>{{rp|6}}

== References ==

{{reflist|refs= 
<ref name="Kress2011bsn">
{{citation | first1 = Nancy | last1 =  Kress | title =
Beggars in Spain: The novella | date = 2011 | isbn =
9781612420578 | publication-place = Rockville, MD |
publisher = Phoenix Pick}}
</ref> 
<ref>...</ref>
}}

{{sfn}} approach


I love the descriptions of the sleepless{{sfn|Kress2011bsn
|loc=p. 45}} and their philosophy{{sfn|Kress2011bsn|loc=p. 78}}.

==References==

{{reflist|}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation | ref = {{sfnref|Kress2011bsn}} | first1 = Nancy | last1
  =  Kress | title = Beggars in Spain: The novella | date = 2011 |
  isbn = 9781612420578 | publication-place = Rockville, MD | publisher
  = Phoenix Pick}}
{{refend}}

Conclusion

Two options redux

  1. You provide <ref> and {{citation}} templates in the prose (often via VisualEditor)
  2. You keep such references at the end (via Source Editor).

Questions?

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