Help:Tutorial/Citing sources

Citing Sources

Civicwiki articles must be fact based. To show that your article is based on fact, it must cite the sources that you use. Here are a few rules and suggestions:

• It is not necessary to cite a source for facts that everyone knows. Example: "The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776." does not need source. We'll accept that.

How to cite sources:
We found a source that provides good instruction on gathering source information and posting it. It is on WikiHow. Here it is.

Inserting references and notes into an article

The help bar in the article form provides instructions for adding references, notes, and links to a page you are editing or creating. They are on the "Help" drop-down menu.

A note is added the same as a reference is added. Just type the note text between the reference tags.

Remember that when you add references and notes, a 'references' tag is needed at the bottom of the page. (see "Display references" above.)
This tag can be inserted at the end of the section you are editing - if you want the reference to appear there;

or it can be placed in the last box in the form. That will place it at the bottom of the article.

A reference placed in an article will be displayed by the first 'references' tag encountered below the reference text. For that reason, it is best to use a single tag at the bottom of the article or to place a tag in each section that uses notes or references.

Reference formats

Any standard reference format is acceptable and is your choice. Here are some standard formats in use by CW:

• Book

Author last name, first initial (or name). Book title. Publication city: Publisher. Year published

Example:

Channing, Edward. History of The United States, Volume I. New York. The MacMillan Co. 1909

• Journal Article

Author last name, first initial. (Year published). Article title. Journal title, volume number, page numbers.

• Magazine Article

Author last name, first initial. (Publication date). Article title. Magazine title, volume number, page numbers.

• Encyclopedia Article

Author last name, first initial. (Year published). Article title. In Encyclopedia title. (Vol. volume number, page numbers). Publication city: publication company.

• Newspaper Article

Author last name, first initial. (Publication date). Article title. Newspaper title, page numbers.

• Website

Author last name, first initial. (Publication date). “Article title.” Website title. Retrieved date, from URL