How does wikipedia cite

Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Sample Citations. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles.

Article Summary. Support wikiHow and unlock all samples. APA Wikipedia Citation. Chicago Wikipedia Citation. Method 1. Open the article you're citing. Go to the Wikipedia page for the article that you want to cite.

Click Cite this page. This link is in the "Tools" section of the column of options that's on the left side of the page.

Find your citation style. Scroll through the list of blue citation headers until you find your preferred citation style e. The citation will be listed below the style heading. Select the whole citation. Click and drag your mouse from left to right across the entire citation below the style heading.

Copy the citation. Open a rich-text editor. You can also just double-click the document to which you want to add the citation if the document is a Word document or similar. Paste in your citation. The citation will appear in the editor. Method 2. Start your entry with the Wikipedia entry title. When citing Wikipedia in APA style, first list the name of the article. You do not need to use quotes or italics.

Simply write down the article's title followed by a period. For example, if you were citing an article on Jimmy Carter the beginning your citation would look like this: Jimmy Carter. Include the date, if available. In APA style, it's customary to include the date an online source was published or last modified. The date of the last revision is at the bottom of the Wikipedia page; if you cannot find the date, you can simply write "n.

Learn more. What's the name of Wikipedia's default referencing style? Ask Question. Asked 8 years, 9 months ago. Active 6 years, 10 months ago. Viewed 15k times.

Improve this question. Aubrey 2, 1 1 gold badge 13 13 silver badges 18 18 bronze badges. Josh Pinto Josh Pinto 2 2 gold badges 3 3 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges.

Did you mean "English Wikipedia"? Or are you really asking of the whole wikipedia. Add a comment. From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki. Translate this page. Other languages:. What is 1Lib1Ref? There are many ways to do this.

Here are some strategies. Filling a "Citation Needed" using Citation Hunt Finding an article with sourcing problems Select an article while browsing Cite a source from your collection or research Find a reliable source that can support that article Add a citation using Wikipedia Style. Click here to learn about adding citations and editing Wikipedia Add the project hashtag 1Lib1Ref in the Wikipedia Edit Summary Share your edit on social media and learn more about libraries and Wikipedia.

In this style, you cite sources in footnotes or endnotes. Use a full note for the first citation of a particular page and short notes for any subsequent citations of the same page. Using Wikipedia as a source is generally discouraged in academic writing, and your institution may even have a specific rule against doing so.

Wikipedia is a compilation of information from various places rather than an original source in itself; in general, only primary and secondary sources should be cited in an academic paper. In addition, Wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone, which makes it difficult to determine the accuracy of the information they contain.

Wikipedia is often a good starting point for your research, since most of its articles comprehensively cite the original sources of information. You can often find useful sources through sections like references , further reading , and external links , located at the bottom of a Wikipedia article.

Look for reliable sources such as scholarly journals, published books, and official websites. You may occasionally want to cite a piece of general rather than specialist information from Wikipedia. Make sure to check for any warnings at the top of the article that might indicate the information is unreliable. In this case, it might not be a good idea to use the article even for background information.