Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Citations and references

Main page: Wikipedia:Citing sources

Why cite sources?

We cite sources so that others can verify that our information comes from reliable sources. Verifiability is a core principle of the site. Wikipedia is the encyclopedia anybody can edit. Adding sources allows our readers to confirm that what is included in our articles is reliable and based on published sources. This ensures that the site is not used to publish original research, hoaxes, or other forms of disinformation. It also helps readers to locate sources to carry out their own research. Additionally, in terms of article improvement, referencing is essential for articles to achieve higher assessments. Editors are encouraged to add references early in the article writing process.

When to cite

One of the foundations of the English Wikipedia is that each fact must be verifiable as everything in Wiki is potentially subject to dispute or challenge. WP:CITE has all the details of what material is required to be cited, using inline citations. This module will focus on the standard required for a B-class article. The standard says:

The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations where necessary. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited.

This is understood to mean that, at a bare minimum, each paragraph should have at least one citation at its end. In this case, the citation is understood to include all the text before it until it encounters another, earlier cite. This means that a cite at the end of a paragraph covers all the material in the paragraph. Putting a cite at the end will remove all ambiguities as to exactly what material is referenced, which makes things easier for people reading your article, including the editors assessing it.

A single citation for an entire paragraph is acceptable, provided that one source was used to write the entire paragraph. If different page numbers were used, then be sure to list all of them in the citation. This can be done as a page range or groups of pages (eg pp. 56–58 & 72–79). Individual citations for each page is a distraction for the reader. However, it is important to keep the size of page ranges small where possible. If multiple sources were used for the paragraph, citations should be spread across the paragraph accordingly. This might necessitate citing each sentence separately, or adding citations at the end of individual clauses. A balanced approach is necessary, though. Bundled citations can also be used where multiple works cover the information. One footnote can refer to more than one reference source. For example:

186. Anderson 2014, pp. 158–161; McCarthy 1959, pp. 287–288; Williams 2012, p. 198.

Equally, if information inside a paragraph is considered likely to be challenged, such as statistics, or in the case of quotations or published opinion, it is advisable to include an inline citation as closely as possible to that element. This might, as such, necessitate the duplication of a reference, close to the controversial information, and then again at the end of the paragraph.

What to cite

Knowing what to cite in your articles is important for any editor who wants to create verifiable content. Two key policies of Wikipedia are the Verifiability policy and the No original research policy. Citing what needs to be cited in articles can help you avoid complications with those two policies. Remember that the burden of proof is on the content contributor. This means that the original contributor of content should be able to back up challenged statements with reliable sources, or face its removal. This section will help beginner article writers learn what should be cited in their articles.

As an aside, a reliable source need not be accessible from the internet. It need not be in English either. The source may only be available at a specialist library such as the Bodleian. Limited accessibility does not, of itself, give rise to a question of verifiability or reliability. The "most reliable" of sources will be written by academics and be peer reviewed.

Sources published with editorial oversight by a publishing house are also considered reliable. However, some "popular histories", written for the commercial market, may express opinions or draw conclusions not "generally" accepted by academics. Every "new idea" needs to gain acceptance. Peer review is part of this process. This does not mean that popular histories can not be referenced. It does mean that care must be taken to maintain a neutral point of view in writing your article without giving undue weight to less accepted opinions. Attribution in text (e.g. "according to author John Smith...") can also ensure that opinions are not presented as fact.

Overview

Generally, all information should be attributed to reliable sources. However, specific attention should be applied to the following:

• Statements already tagged with , or similar tags that indicate referencing issues per WP:CHALLENGE
• Anything that is not common knowledge or is likely to be challenged (e.g. obscure facts, unbelievable but true statements, dates, and statistics). Within military history, this includes items like military objectives, commanders' intentions, casualty rates, numbers of troops, the designations of units present at battles, results of battles, allegations of war crimes, etc.
• Controversial statements (e.g. those associated with ethnic conflicts, religious debates, geopolitical struggles, and biographies of living people).
• Quotations must all be attributed to the source
• Analysis or published opinion

Tagged statements

When another editor tags your article with , {{reference}}, or similar tags, "don't panic!" This can usually be resolved in an easy manner. Firstly, do not simply remove the tag. Deal with the issues indicated. Provide a reliable source and add it to the article with an inline citation to support the tagged sentence or paragraph. This should resolve most tagged situations.

If the debate continues, follow through with the dispute resolution process. Consider consulting the Reliable sources noticeboard, open a Request for Comment, try mediation, or if all else fails, submit a request for arbitration. Do not report the other editor for "vandalism" if all they have done is disagree with your contributions.

If you are trying to improve an existing article by adding citations, you need to be careful that you are not inadvertently creating misinformation. If you add a citation at the end of a paragraph, it must support the whole paragraph (up to any earlier citation) and not just the sentence where you add the citation. You may need to find additional citations for the rest of the text. If you can not do it immediately, it is best to tag that part of the text which remains unsupported.

Other issues

To avoid having a statement tagged in the first place, be sure to reference the following:

• All statistics and dates (e.g. casualty rates, numbers of troops and their movements, dates of battles, date ships were launched, etc.)
• All quotations. "Nuts".
• Published opinions.
• Any facts likely to be challenged, especially those too incredible to believe (e.g., did Michael Wittmann really destroy 200+ armoured fighting vehicles in WWII?).
• Statements that deal with controversial issues such as geopolitics, politics, race, and religion. (e.g., was Alexander the Great Greek or Macedonian? Did the People's Liberation Army invade or enter Tibet?)

For a novice article writer

Here are some more tips:

• The lead section of an article does not generally require inline citations. The lead should be a summary of what appears in the body of the article. Statements made in the body of the article should be verifiable and supported by appropriate citations. As such, the content of the lead is substantiated by the rest of the article – so long as the facts given are cited in the article body. The need to cite information in the lead must be balanced against the requirement for verifiability.
• Items in the infobox must be verifiable. Follow the same guidance given here for the lead.
• For an article assessment of B-class and up, each paragraph should have at least one inline citation at the end of the paragraph (as per the guidance earlier in this module).

How to cite

General guidance

A general reference appears at the end of an article. It supports the content of the article but is not linked to any particular piece of material in the article. It is fine for a stub or small article of a couple of paragraphs where one or two references have been consulted and they verify what has been stated. However, to be assessed as a B-class article or higher, it must use "appropriate inline citations".

An inline citation is added to the article text, close to the material it supports. There are two general ways of adding an inline citation. The first and preferred method is to use a footnote. Such a footnote is often called a citation, to distinguish it from a footnote that is an explanatory note. The footnote number appearing inline corresponds to a numbered list of references near the end of the article. This type of referencing is also known as the Vancouver system. It is widely used in scientific disciplines. For example:

Napoleon's noble, moderately affluent background afforded him opportunities to study.

The other method of inline referencing is parenthetic referencing. Parenthetic referencing is also known as Harvard referencing. This system of referencing is common in the humanities, history, and social science. Both types of inline citations are permitted in writing Wikipedia articles. For example:

Napoleon's noble, moderately affluent background afforded him opportunities to study (Cronin 1994).

The biggest disadvantage of parenthetic referencing, particularly for Wikipedia, is that citations take up space in the text and are distracting to the reader. It is for this reason that footnotes are preferred. However, if you come across an article that uses parenthetic referencing, you should not change the referencing style unless you establish a consensus to do so.

This module discusses general considerations for citing and referencing. Wikipedia has many features that help readers and editors track, view, place and manage citations and references. See Using different reference formats for an example based guide of some Wiki markup and templates that can be used to create references and place citations.

References

Short citations

Short citations are convenient when different parts (pages) of a work are cited throughout an article. They show the particular pages being cited in each case without having to give the full details of the reference every time. For example:

Napoleon's noble, moderately affluent background afforded him opportunities to study. ...

... Vincent Cronin disagrees, stating that Napoleon was not overly ambitious for himself, "he embodied the ambitions of thirty million Frenchmen". ...

... He was seen as so favourable to the Jews that the Russian Orthodox Church formally condemned him as "Antichrist and the Enemy of God". ...

References

Bibliography

• Cronin, Vincent (1994). Napoleon. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-637521-9.

Information to include when citing

Citing sources means presenting the information necessary to allow other researchers to locate the source, find the relevant section of the source, and identify if the source is reliable. In particular, we're going to deal with a number of points in order: the author of the work, the date of the work, the title of the work, the publication details of the work, and the location of the information in the text. See the example immediately above.

That example also includes the International Standard Book Number or ISBN. The ISBN is a unique identifier assigned to each version or edition of a book. Its inclusion is useful but not necessary. Publications that pre-date the system (mid-1960) will not have an ISBN unless the work is a reprint. Where there is no ISBN, an OCLC number can be substituted. For journals or magazines, an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) can be used, while a Digital object identifier (DOI) can be cited for other resources.

Author of the work

Identifying the author of a work is essential for locating the work, and for identifying credibility. In all cases use the byline of the work, or the title page of the book. Please note that all items below are examples for illustration purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the current citation template style:

• One Author: For the sole author of the work, list the Lastname, then Firstname and/or Initials (if the first name is not given in full). This is preferred to giving the lastname last. When creating a list of cited references, this should be sorted by last name. For example: Cronin, Vincent.
• Multiple authors: List all authors in the order they appear on the title page of the work or at the author-title heading of a journal article or periodical publication. You should report all authors rather than use et al. If you are using a template like {{Cite book}} to create your list of references, it has no limit to the number of authors it supports.
• Edited collections: You may come across a work where individual authors contribute chapters, with an editor, who is responsible for conceiving and publishing the work. There may be multiple editors for a given work. There may be multiple authors for a given chapter. An editor may also contribute by writing a chapter. When citing from such work, you need to report all of the authors contributing to the particular chapter you are referencing. You also need to report the names of all of the editors. If you cite from two (or more) chapters from an edited collection, you need to create separate references for each one. In some works, editors might be explicitly indicate, such as (eds) following their names but this is not generally done here. Some examples are:

1. Dean, Peter (2013). "Anzacs and Yanks: US and Australian Operations at the Beachhead Battles". In Dean, Peter. Australia 1942: In the Shadow of War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03227-9. LCCN 2012464720
2. James, Karl (2013). "On Australia's Doorstep: Kokoda and Milne Bay". In Dean, Peter. Australia 1942: In the Shadow of War. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. pp. 199–215. ISBN 978-1-10703-227-9.
3. Watson, Richard L.; Rohfleisch, Kramer J. (1950). "The Crisis in the South and Southwest Pacific". In Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea. The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. The Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume IV. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Corporate works with no acknowledged author: Often, a work may be written by a corporation, institution or organisation with no acknowledged author. This will include websites. If using a citation template such as {{Cite book}}, leave the author parameters blank. In short citations, the organization can be referred to as if it were the author. For example:

1. Center of Military History 1990, p. 10.

• Papuan Campaign: Buna-Sanananda Operation 16 November 1942 – 23 January 1943. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. 1990.

More obscure cases

• Anonymous works: Some historical works in particular, have no acknowledged author. Where other sources cite the author as Anonymous, it is appropriate to identify the author as Anonymous. Multiple works may be attributed to the same anonymous author but different from another attributed to a different anonymous author. This can be differentiated as Anonymous1 and Anonymous2. In any of these instances, the authority for making these claims should, itself, be cited. You may state the attribution in the text of the article and cite your source. Another way to do this is to use an explanatory footnote in conjunction with the first instance of citing the particular anonymous author. The explanatory footnote can explain the attribution and give a citation for verifiability.

• Pseudonyms: Some authors may write under a pseudonym. There may be reliable sources which identify that the person attributed as the author is a pseudonym - either acknowledged or for which there is strong evidence to presume so. Regardless, it is the attributed author which should be cited. If identifying the actual author is of significance to your article, the source for making the attribution must be cited. Again, an explanatory footnote may be used.

• Ambiguity of authorship: For historical works, there may be ambiguity in attributing authorship. For example, It may be unclear if a work was actually that of Pliny the Elder or Pliny the Younger. Such cases should rely on the consensus of sources in making the attribution. Regardless, make it clear that the attribution is in question. Again, an explanatory note may be appropriate. The underlying principle is to make clear what you do or do not know and the reasons why.

Date of the work

Publishing details for a book are generally given on the verso of the title page. There may be different editions of a book. These are, in effect, different versions of the book. You should report the year of the most recent edition indicated. You will also need to record the edition number (if not the first edition). Ignore the date of any reprints. These are the same version. If only reprints are indicated, use the date the work was first published. An exception is when the book records "Reprinted with corrections XXXX" or similar, where XXXX is a year. This is a different version of a book in the same way that different editions are different versions. In such a case, record the year of that particular reprint if this is the most recent distinct version of the work. In the following example, the work was first published in 1844

Siborne, William (1895), The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 (4th ed.), Westminster: A. Constable

More recent works tend to give a copyright date and this would be used. If you are uncertain, you can crosscheck the details with your library (if you have borrowed the book) or with an online resource like WorldCat. The ISBN can help you identify the correct details to be used.

The following variations might apply:

• Date as found on copyright or title page: 1900
• Date assumed broadly: c. 1900 If you use this in a template such as {{Cite book}}, to create your long citations, you will need to use the same date (c. 1900) when you place your inline citations.
• No date: Use n.d. for an undated work.
• Web pages: Web pages often update their copyright statement each year, even if content doesn't change. If you are citing a web page, you should report the date you accessed the page for the information being cited rather than the copyright date.

Title of the work

Generally, use the title of the work as given on the title page of the book, or the first page of the contained section (chapter, conference paper, journal article, newspaper article). It should usually be presented in title case capitalisation. For instance:

• Title: Title of Work in Italics.
• Title has a sub-title, or multiple subtitles: Title of Work: Subtitle(s).
• Run on sentence titles: pre-20th century works may have a run on sentence title which serves, in some detail, as an introduction to the contents of the book – The Battle of Waterloo: Containing the Accounts Published by Authority, British and Foreign, and Other Relevant Documents, with Circumstantial Details, Previous and After the Battle, from a Variety of Authentic and Original Sources. The first sentence should be quoted in full, though some guidance may be taken from online library resources. Ellipses may be used to cut the title short after a reasonable portion, e.g Long-winded Title that Just Keeps Going...
• Commonly known as: a work may have a briefer title by which it is commonly known and which is used for simplicity. If the work is discussed in the article it may be appropriate to use a shorter common name. It could be shown as such: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [Wealth of the Nations]. Use of a custom ID in conjunction with {{Sfn}} templates can make this easier to get the formatting right.
• Title given as Untitled (in a catalogue such as OCLC): Untitled.
• Title of a work contained in another work: The title of a contributed chapter, a journal article or newspaper article: "A newspaper article", Title of Newspaper.
• Early newspaper articles which lacked a separate title and merely had a first sentence: "First sentence as title", Title of Newspaper
• Title of an unpublished work: determining if a work was unpublished is difficult, but most reports are not formally published. Such sources my be accessed from an archive retrieval database or records management system. For example, "Operational Instruction No. 41", from an archived unit war diary. For simplicity, these can be dealt with as a contained work (see above). If the unpublished nature of such a report is not reasonably clear, it would be appropriate to make it explicit by placing "(unpublished)" in the publisher field of a citation template. Referencing such sources should also make it clear how the material can be accessed. Give a url or web address to the web page. Say where the file is house, such as, the Library of Congress.

Template tools for creating long citations will do much of the formatting, such as adding italics and quote marks. They also help to keep the formatting consistent; however, use of templates is not mandatory.

Details of the publication of the work

• Name of publisher, followed by city of publisher (optional). Where the publisher lists multiple offices, the first listed is reported.

Location of the information in the text

• Where possible, for a book, it is best to provide the exact page where the information comes from, or a page range. However, particularly if a source was obtained through Google Books, or if it is an electronic book, sometimes page numbers are not included in the source. In such a case, a chapter can be reported to help a reader locate the information in the cited source. For a website, it is often enough to just provide the url link to the page or subpage. For longer webpages it might be necessary to provide more information, like a section header, where the information can be located.

• Material sourced from the web will often be in portable document format as a PDF file. This can include books, such as official histories, and archived files. Refer to pages by their original page numbers. For documents with unnumbered pages, you can refer to the pdf page. For example: p. 109 (of pdf).

Tools for citing sources

See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Using different reference formats

An article's references should follow a consistent order for the information identifying each reference. Wikipedia has templates to help create and format long citations for other sources as well as books. These can be accessed from the MediaWiki edit toolbar. They are:

• Template:cite book
• Template:cite web
• Template:cite journal
• Template:cite news

Within the reference section, you can also create a subsection, named "Further reading", for references that relate to the subject, but have not been specifically cited. "External links" is a section you might add at the end of the article. It is usually a main section heading. Reserve the "External links" section for links to relevant websites (e.g. an official website). The link may be to a specific page relevant to your article or to the site map or home page of the website, where multiple pages of the website are relevant. If you were writing about USS Reasoner (FF-1063), you could list the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry for the ship. For example:

External links

• DANFS – Reasoner

See also

• Wikipedia: Citing sources