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This is usually displayed as a superscript footnote number: [1] The second necessary part of the citation or reference is the list of full references, which provides complete, formatted detail about the source, so that anyone reading the article can find it and verify it. This page explains how to place and format both parts of the citation.
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:
{} for references to general websites {} for newspapers and news websites {} for references to books {{cite journal}} for magazines, academic journals, and papers; A template window then pops up, where you fill in as much information as possible about the source, and give a unique name for it in the "Ref name" field.
If you look at the reference list, next to reference 1, it says a b. Click on one of those letters next to the citation. a will take you to the first place reference 1 is cited. Likewise, b will take you to the second place reference 1 is cited. Clicking on the ^ next to reference 2 will take you to where reference 2 is cited.
Together the footnotes are displayed in an ordered list wherever the reference list markup {} is placed. Each entry begins with the footnote label in plain text. The entire reference list is formatted in a slightly smaller font. Each successive footnote label is automatically incremented.
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.
For a citation to appear in a footnote, it needs to be enclosed in "ref" tags. You can add these by typing <ref> at the front of the citation and </ref> at the end. . Alternatively you may notice above the edit box there is a row of "markup" formatting buttons which include a <ref></ref> button to the right—if you highlight your whole citation and then click this markup button, it will ...
For a list of explanatory footnotes or shortened citation footnotes: "Notes", "Endnotes" or "Footnotes" For a list of full citations or general references: "References" or "Works cited" With the exception of "Bibliography", the heading should be plural even if it lists only a single item. [j]