Wikipedia:Template index/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference

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• WP:CITEQRWP:CITEQR

Note that the use of these templates is not required.

See full list of citation templates at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

Citing a book

{{cite book}}

Full version	Most common fields
{{cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | editor = | others = | title = '''REQUIRED''' | origdate = | origyear = | origmonth = | url = | format = | accessdate = | accessyear = | accessmonth = | edition = | date = | year = | month = | publisher = | ___location = | language = | id = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | quote = }}	{{cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | title = '''REQUIRED''' | publisher = | ___location = | id = }}

Citing a journal

{{cite journal}}

Full version	Most common fields
{{cite journal | first = | last = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | month = | date = | title = '''REQUIRED''' | quotes = | journal = | volume = | issue = | pages = | doi = | id = | url = | format = | accessdate = }}	{{cite journal | author = | year = | month = | title = '''REQUIRED''' | journal = | volume = | issue = | pages = | id = | url = }}

Citing a news article

{{cite news}}

{{cite news 
 | first = 
 | last = 
 | authorlink =
 | author = 
 | coauthors =
 | title = 
 | url = 
 | format = 
 | work = 
 | publisher = 
 | pages = 
 | page = 
 | date = 
 | accessdate = 
 | language = 
 | quote = 
}}

• title is required, rest is optional. Note that title must be on one line in order for the hyperlink to display properly.
• author: Author
  • last works with first to produce last, first
  • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
  • coauthors: allows additional authors
• url: Link to the news item if available online
  • format: Format, i.e. PDF. Don't specify for HTML (implied as default).

    Specify as 'fee required' if free access no longer available.

    Specify as 'Reprint' if a full original version but not hosted by the original publisher.

• work: If this item is part of a larger work (such as a newspaper), name of that work.
• publisher: Publisher, if any.
• date: date of publication. ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format recommended. If the whole date is known it should be wikilinked to enable date user preferences.
• pages overrides page
• accessdate: Date when item was accessed. Use ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format. Do not wikilink the date.
• language: the language in which the source is written.
• quote: Relevant quote.

Note: {{news reference}} is now deprecated; please use {{cite news}} instead for new references, and gradually migrate existing references.

Citing the web

{{cite web}}

{{cite web
| url = 
| title = 
| accessdate =   | accessmonthday =  | accessyear = 
| author =       | last =  | first = 
| authorlink = 
| coauthors = 
| date =         | year =  | month = 
| work =         | publisher = 
| pages =  | format =  | language =  | quote = 
| archiveurl =  | archivedate = 
}}

This template is specifically for web sites which are not news sources. See also citation templates for more on templates for citing open-source web content in Wikipedia articles. Here are some convenient examples.

Common form for cases where little is known about authorship of the page (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-09-01 |format= |work= }}

Using author (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-09-01 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

Using last, first (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-09-01 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

The most common parameters are as follows. See also the complete documentation in Template:Cite web.

• url (required): URL of online item.
• title (required): Title of online item.
• one of accessdate in YYYY-MM-DD format with no wikilink (e.g. "accessdate = 2006-02-17"), or accessmonthday and accessyear, for example "accessmonthday = May 10 |accessyear = 2005". (One or the other required.)
• either author, or last and first to produce last, first. Don't wikilink these; instead use authorlink to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs. Add optional coauthors to record additional authors. (optional)
• date: Full date of publication, YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17. May be wikilinked. Or, use year, and optionally month. If you also have the day, use date instead. (optional)
• archiveurl: URL of the archive ___location of the item, and archivedate: Date when the item was archived, in YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17. Must not be wikilinked; the template will link it automatically. (optional, but must use both together or neither)