Referencing

Adding citations and a reference section on your Wikipedia page.

Citations

Citations are the most important element of any Wikipedia page. Any information added to Wikipedia should be supported by a reliable, published source.

As a general rule, aim to include a citation after any statement that could be challenged. While not every sentence requires one, every paragraph should be supported by at least one citation.

Choosing reliable sources

Wikipedia prioritises published secondary sources with a reputation for editorial oversight and fact-checking. Suitable sources include:

  • Academic books and journal articles
  • University-level textbooks
  • Broadsheet newspapers
  • Books from reputable publishers
  • Official reports from recognised organisations

Avoid using blogs (unless they have clear editorial oversight), self-published material, tabloids, or clickbait websites.

How to add Citations

Before you begin, log in to your Wikipedia account.

  1. Open the article and select Edit to enter the Visual Editor.
  2. Place your cursor where you want the citation to appear.
  3. Select Cite from the toolbar.
  4. Choose Automatic, Manual, or Re-use.
  5. For Automatic, enter a URL, DOI, ISBN, PMID/PMC, QID, or article title.
  6. Select Generate, review the citation, and click Insert.
  7. If needed, select the citation to edit or add additional information.
  8. Select Publish changes and include a brief edit summary.

Adding a 'References' section

When citations are added, Wikipedia automatically generates the reference list. You simply need to add a 'Reference' heading above it.

  1. Select Edit.
  2. Place your cursor above the automatically generated references.
  3. From the Paragraph dropdown, select Heading.
  4. Type References.
  5. Select Publish changes and include an edit summary.

© Ewan McAndrew and Hannah Rothmann, University of Edinburgh, 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, unless otherwise indicated.

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