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A general reference is a citation to a reliable source that supports content, but is not linked to any particular text in the article through an inline citation. General references are usually listed at the end of the article in a "References" section, and are usually sorted by the last name of the author or the editor.
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:
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:
Formats a citation to a website using the provided information such as URL and title. Used only for sources that are not correctly described by the specific citation templates for books, journals, news sources, etc. Template parameters [Edit template data] This template has custom formatting. Parameter Description Type Status Last name last last1 author author1 author1-last author-last ...
The word "source" in Wikipedia has three meanings: the work itself (for example, a document, article, paper, or book), the creator of the work (for example, the writer), and the publisher of the work (for example, Cambridge University Press). All three can affect reliability.
An example would be "Paris is the capital of France (Smith 2020, p. 1)". Full citations are collected in footnotes or endnotes, or in alphabetical order by author's last name, under a "references", "bibliography", or "works cited" heading at the end of the text.
Footnotes with list-defined references Shortened footnotes 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.
This example is the most basic and includes unique references for each citation, showing the page numbers in the reference list. This repeats the citation, changing the page number. A disadvantage is that this can create a lot of redundant text in the reference list when a source is cited many times. So consider using one of the alternatives ...