Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
When using footnotes, the citation should be placed in the first footnote after the quotation. In-text attribution is often appropriate. Close paraphrasing: Add an inline citation when closely paraphrasing a source's words. In-text attribution is often appropriate, especially for statements describing a person's published opinions or words. In ...
A citation is placed wherever appropriate in or after the sentence. If it is at the end of a sentence, it is placed before the period, but a citation for an entire block quote immediately follows the period at the end of the block since the citation is not an actual part of the quotation itself.
As in the above example, citation markers are normally placed after adjacent punctuation such as periods (full stops) and commas. For exceptions, see the WP:Manual of Style § Punctuation and footnotes. Note also that no space is added before the citation marker. Citations should not be placed within, or on the same line as, section headings.
If a non-quoted but otherwise identical construction would work grammatically without a comma, using a comma before a quotation embedded within a sentence is optional: The report stated "There was a 45% reduction in transmission rate." (Cf. the non-quotation The report stated there was a 45% reduction in transmission rate.)
The easiest way to start citing on Wikipedia is to see a basic example. The example here will show you how to cite a newspaper article using the {} template (see Citation quick reference for other types of citations). Copy and paste the following immediately after what you want to reference:
Citations can also be placed as external links, but these are not preferred because they are prone to link rot and usually lack the full information necessary to find the original source in cases of link rot. In cases where citations are lacking, the template {} can be added after the statement in question.
The same considerations apply when putting the citation only after the first sentence, especially if it is the topic of thesis sentence of the paragraph. It is also common practice for a citation to be placed after the sentence preceding a block quote that introduces the quotation (no citations are needed inside the block quote). Comments:
Quotation marks for emphasis of a single word or phrase are incorrect, and "scare quotes" are discouraged. Quotation marks are to show that you are using the correct word as quoted from the original source. For example: His tombstone was inscribed with the name "Aaron" instead of the spelling he used during his life.