User:Phantomsteve/refs

{{#if: {{{header|}}}|{{subst:empty template|{{error:not substituted|User:Phantomsteve/refs}}}}== A quick guide to references ==

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{{#if: {{{article|}}}|May I suggest that if possible you find some sources of information about {{{article}}} that can be added to the article? }}If you find a book, magazine, newspaper article, etc that you want to use as a reference, just type one of the following after the information in the article which the reference is about:

Newspaper/Magazine article:

: Title of article,author of article, (Title of newspaper/magazine, date of article, page(s), column(s))

Book:

: Title of book, author of book, (publisher, date of publication, page(s))

Website:

: [http://web-page-address Title of webpage], author of page, date of page's creation, website name

For example:

John Smith was appointed by the UN as an ambassador to Mars in June 1986.An article in a well-known newspaper, John E. Beegood, (The New York Times, 1 August 1987, page 6 col 2)
John Smith is regarded as a world expert on creating references.How do I create references?, Met-al Icca, (Heinemann Publishing, 1964, pp. 16-17)
While a known as a world-respected physicist, Smith is also a well-known skier who has participated in the Olympic Games representing Patagonia.[http://www.a-reputable-website.org/a_useful_page.html How to Create Useful References], PhantomSteve, 12 March 1999, a-reputable-website.org

Then at the bottom of the page, make sure you have the following two lines:

==References==

-or- {{reflist}}

This would generate (for the above examples):

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John Smith was apointed by the UN as an ambassador to Mars in June 1986.^[1]
John Smith is regarded as a world expert on creating references.^[2]
While a known as a world-respected physicist, Smith is also a well-known skier who has participated in the Olympic Games representing Patagonaia.^[3]

References

^ An article in a well-known newspaper, John E. Beegood, (The New York Times, 1 August 1987, page 6, col 2)
^ How do I create references?, Met-al Icca, (Heinemann Publishing, 1964, pp. 16-17)
^ [http://www.a-reputable-website.org/a_useful_page.html How to Create Useful References], PhantomSteve, 12 March 1999, a-reputable-website.org

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With basic references like this in place, more experienced editors can tidy them up! The hard bit can be finding references!

Please make sure you read the guideline Reliable Sources which details the kind of sources Wikipedia prefers to use.

If you have any questions, just ask me! Regards,