Template:Ref improve/doc

When to use
This template indicates that the article needs additional inline citations. This template should be used only for articles where there are some, but insufficient, inline citations to support the material currently in the article. Don't use this tag for articles that contain no unreferenced material, even if all the material is supported by a single citation.

Some editors understand this template to be redundant when it is used on articles clearly marked as stubs.

For articles that have no inline citations at all currently, use Template:Unreferenced.


 * For articles about living persons, the more specific template BLP sources should be used instead.
 * For articles containing biomedical information, the more specific template Medref should be used instead.
 * Please consider marking individual unreferenced statements with Citation needed instead of placing this template.

How to use
Listed below are four examples of usage:

(the same as )

There is currently no consensus on where in the article to place this template.

A talk parameter is allowed; setting this to any value will result in the message "See talk page for details." being included in the tag.

This template also includes support for using the date parameter. Adding this parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles needing additional references and out of the parent category, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. A bot will add this parameter if it is omitted. Be careful not to abbreviate the date, because then it will automatically add a redlinked category instead of the correct category. The simplest way to use this parameter manually is  but it can be done more explicitly as   (both result in the same output). Do not use :   includes the leading.

A user warning template, Uw-refimprove, is available to notify contributors that an article they created needs its referencing improved.

This template adds the article to Category:Articles needing additional references from August 2024, and Category:All articles needing additional references, both hidden categories.

General advantage

 * The naming scheme of Refimprove parallels that used for Refbegin, Refend, and Reflist, thereby reducing confusion, in compliance with the KISS principle.

Differences from

 * Use BLP sources in articles about living persons that need additional references. If the article need additional references but is not about a living or recently deceased subject, then use refimprove.

Differences from Unreferenced and Citation needed

 * Use Unreferenced when there are no inline citations in an article. If there are one or more, but insufficient inline citations in an article, then use Refimprove.
 * However if an article has sufficient inline citations, but the article lacks citations to cover specific information (such as no citation on a quotation) then use the inline citation template Citation needed to indicate more precisely where additional citations are needed. Unlike Citation needed, Refimprove places a very conspicuous banner in the article.
 * There is also a Refimprove section and the normal variations.
 * If you decide to change the tag from Unreferenced to Refimprove, don't forget to update the date stamp in the tag.

Differences from Primary sources

 * If an article has sufficient inline citations, but if the citations in an article are from primary sources (see WP:USEPRIMARY), then use Primary sources.

Differences from Third-party sources

 * If an article has sufficient inline citations, but if the citations in an article are from sources affiliated with the subject (see WP:INDY), then use Third-party.

Differences from One source

 * If an article has exactly one source and that single source is likely to result in bias or other problems in the article (e.g., it cites one fringe-y book instead of a good textbook), then use One source.

Differences from Medref

 * If the article contains biomedical information, sources must meet the standards of WP:MEDRS ("it is vital that the biomedical information in articles be based on reliable, third-party, published sources and accurately reflect current medical knowledge"). If there are inline citations for biomedical information, but they do not meet the required standards, then use Medref.

Differences from Citation style

 * The refimprove template is intended for use in articles that need additional citations, while citation style template is used to request consistency within the citations present in an article (see WP:CITEVAR). For example when there is a mixture of footnotes or parenthetical references.

Differences from No footnotes, More footnotes

 * Refimprove can be used when there is no "References" or "Further reading" section in the article.

Redirects
Include:


 * Ri
 * 1) Citations needed
 * 2) Citations missing
 * 3) Cite sources
 * 4) Cleanup-cite
 * 5) Cleanup-verify
 * 6) Cleanup cite
 * 7) Few references
 * 8) Few refs
 * 9) Fewreferences
 * 10) Fewrefs
 * 11) Improve-references
 * 12) Improve-refs
 * 13) Improve references
 * 14) Improve refs
 * 15) Improvereferences
 * 16) Improverefs
 * 17) Missing citations
 * 18) More references
 * 19) More sources
 * 20) Moreref
 * 21) Morereferences
 * 22) Morerefs
 * 23) Moresources
 * 24) Not verified
 * 25) Notverified
 * 26) Ref-improve
 * 27) Ref improve
 * 28) Reference-improve
 * 29) Sources
 * 30) Verification
 * 31) Verify