" 

 
 == Guide to referencing == 
 Click on ""show"" on the right of the orange bar to open contents. 
 {| class=""navbox collapsible collapsed"" style=""text-align: center; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.2em; font-size: 100%; background: #ffefd5;""  
 |- 
 ! style=""background-color: #f90;"" | Using references (citations) 
 |- 
 | style=""border: solid 1px silver; padding: 8px; background-color: white;"" style=""text-align: left;"" | 
 Help another user by posting this to them. Put {{subst:refstart}} on their talk page or a relevant article talk page. 
 Otherwise the link WP:REFB goes to a help page. 

 I thought you might find it useful to have some information about  references (refs) on wikipedia. These are important to validate your writing and inform the reader. Any editor can remove unreferenced material; and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted, so when you add something to an article, it's highly advisable to also include a reference to say where it came from. Referencing may look daunting, but it's easy enough to do. Here's a guide to getting started.  

 ;Good references 

 A reference must be accurate, i.e. it must prove the statement in the text. To validate ""Mike Brown climbed Everest"", it's no good linking to a page about Everest, if Mike Brown isn't mentioned, nor to one on Mike Brown, if it doesn't say that he climbed Everest. You have to link to a source that proves his achievement is true. You must use reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, and authorised web sites. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is original research (e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research), or another wikipedia article. 

 ;Inserting a reference 

 The first thing you have to do is to create a ""Notes and references"" section (unless it already exists). This goes towards the bottom of the page, below the ""See also"" section and above the ""External links"" section. Enter this code: 

 :==Notes and references== 
 :{{reflist}} 

 The next step is to put a reference in the text. Here is the code to do that. It goes at the end of the relevant term, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to which the note refers, and after punctuation such as a full stop, without a space (to prevent separation through line wrap):  

 :              

 Whatever text you put in between these two tags will become visible  in the ""Notes and references"" section as your reference. 

 ;Test it out 

 Open the edit box for this page, copy the following text (inserting your own text where indicated), paste it at the bottom of the page  and save the page: 

 :==Reference test== 

 :This is the text which you are going to verify with a reference.Reference details go here 

 :==Notes and references== 

 :{{reflist}} 

 (End of text to copy and paste.) 

 It should appear like this: 

 :;Reference test 

 :This is the text which you are going to verify with a reference.Reference details go here 

 :;Notes and references 

 : 

 ;Information to include 

 You need to include the information to enable the reader to find your source. For an online newspaper source, it might look like this: 

 :Plunkett, John.  [http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1601858,00.html ""Sorrell accuses Murdoch of panic buying""], ''[[The Guardian]]'',  [[2005-10-27]]. Retrieved on [[2005-10-27]]. 

 When uploaded, it appears as: 
 :Plunkett, John. ""Sorrell accuses Murdoch of panic buying"", The Guardian,  2005-10-27. Retrieved on 2005-10-27. 

 Note the single square brackets around the URL and the article title. The format is: 
 :[http://URL ""Title of article""]  
 Make sure there is a space between the URL and the Title. This code results in the URL being hidden and the title showing as a link.  Use double apostrophes for the article title (it is quoted text), and two single quote marks either side of the name of the paper (to generate italics). Double square brackets round the name of the paper create an internal link (a wiki