Help:Referencing for beginners without using templates: Difference between revisions

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{{Wikipedia how to|WP:REFBPLAIN}}

{{Nutshell|A referencing method that's easy and fast, requiring the bare minimum of peculiar Wiki syntax.}}

{{see also|WikipediaHelp:Introduction to referencing|Help:Referencing for beginners with citation templates}}

Here's a popular reference method which doesn't use [[Wikipedia:templates|templates]] so it speeds loading time.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|Copy and paste]] the following immediately after what you want to reference:<br>

<div style="overflow:auto; border: 1px solid DarkSeaGreen; background:white; margin: 1em; padding: 4px"

white-space: -moz-pre-wrap;

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<nowiki><ref></nowiki>author, <nowiki>[article_link "article_name"],</nowiki> <nowiki>''publisher''</nowiki>, publication_date. Retrieved retrieved_date.<nowiki></ref></nowiki><br>

</div>

<nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"><ref></nowiki>author, <nowiki>[http://example.com/article_link "article_name"],</nowiki> <nowiki>''publisher''</nowiki>, publication_date. Retrieved retrieved_date.<nowiki></ref></nowiki><brsyntaxhighlight>

Put information between the reference markers. [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|Copy and paste]] the author's name. Paste the publication name ''inside'' the apostrophes so it's ''italicized''. Paste the publication date. Inside the brackets <nowiki>[]</nowiki> paste the url first with the article title to the ''right'', and put both url and title ''inside'' the brackets. Remember to leave a blank space between url and title. For example, in editing mode if you type this:<br>

<br>

<div style="overflow:auto; border: 1px solid DarkSeaGreen; background:white; margin: 1em; padding: 4px"

white-space: -moz-pre-wrap;

white-space: -o-pre-wrap;

white-space: -pre-wrap;

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This is the fact we're trying to reference about inflation being unlikely in 2010.<nowiki><ref></nowiki> Patricia Sabatini, <nowiki>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"]</nowiki>, <nowiki>''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''</nowiki>, October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.<nowiki></ref></nowiki><ref> Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</ref>

</div>

<br>

You get this. It appears in the "references" section automatically:

<br>

{{Reflist}}

Put information between the reference markers. [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|Copy and paste]] the author's name. Paste the publication name ''inside'' the apostrophes so it's ''italicized''. Paste the publication date. Inside the brackets <nowiki>{{code|[]</nowiki>}} paste the url first with the article title to the ''right'', and put both url and title ''inside'' the brackets. Remember to leave a blank space between url and title. For example, in editing mode if you type this:<br>

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">This is the fact we're trying to reference about inflation being unlikely in 2010.<ref>Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</ref></syntaxhighlight>

You get this:

{{quotation|This is the fact we're trying to reference about inflation being unlikely in 2010.<nowiki><ref></nowiki> Patricia Sabatini, <nowiki>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"]</nowiki>, <nowiki>''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''</nowiki>, October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.<nowiki></ref></nowiki><ref> Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</ref>}}

YouThe get this. Itreference appears in the "references" section automatically:

{{quotation|{{Reflist}}}}

The ''Retrieved'' date is when you fetched the reference; the ''publication date'' is when the article was published. The ''url'' is the line like <nowiki>''http://www.etc''</nowiki>; [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|copy and paste]] the url in if available since it makes it easy for checking references. You can also put in the ISBN, co-author names, page numbers and such; see [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|citing sources]].

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That's it! You're done. When editing, you'll see your reference next to the text; but after saving, readers will only see a reference number there; your reference should appear below. Good luck!

If you get a warning about a missing "References" section at the end of the page, just add it:<br>

<div style="overflow:auto; border: 1px solid DarkSeaGreen; background:white; margin: 1em; padding: 4px"

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">== References ==

white-space: -moz-pre-wrap;

{{Reflist}}</syntaxhighlight>

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::<nowiki>== References ==</nowiki><br>

::<nowiki>{{Reflist}}</nowiki><br>

</div>

Experiment on sandbox pages or your user talk page.

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Remember many referencing styles are possible. Some editors prefer alternatives (see below). When possible, use the style others prefer. See [[Wikipedia:Citing sources#Citation templates and tools|Citing sources]] for further discussion.

{{Wikipedia referencing}}

==Further information==

* [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]], overall guideline

* [[Wikipedia:Citation templates]], overview of templates, which are optional

* [[Wikipedia:Footnotes]], explains the &lt;ref&gt; tag

* [[Wikipedia:Parenthetical referencing]], an alternative to footnotes

* [[Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference]]

==External links==

* [http://toolserver.org/%7Emagnus/makeref.php Citation generator]

* [http://diberri.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/templatefiller/?type=&id= Citation generator for ISBN, PubMed, PubChem and other sources]

{{Referencing help}}

[[Category:Wikipedia how-to|{{PAGENAME}}]]