The Elder Scrolls Wiki:Sourcing

This page is a style guide, describing how to create citations in articles.

The Elder Scrolls Wiki:Attribution, which is policy, mandates the provision of sources. Attribution is required for direct quotes, along with practically all other material. As TESWiki does not accept original ideas or fanon, all writing should be based on reliable sources, and therefore be referenced. Any material that is challenged and for which no source is provided may be removed by any editor. For information about the importance of using good sources in biographies of living persons, see Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. However, it is typically TESWiki's policy to not include a full biography on this site. That is usually best left to sites like Wikipedia.

If you do not know how to format the citation, provide as much information as you can, and others may fix it for you. Cite It! Be Bold!

Why sources should be cited

 * To credit a source for providing useful information and to avoid claims of plagiarism.
 * To show that your edit is not original research.
 * To ensure that the content of articles is credible and can be checked by any reader or editor.
 * To help users find additional reliable information on the topic.
 * To improve the overall credibility and authoritative character of TESWiki.
 * To reduce the likelihood of editorial disputes, or to resolve any that arise.

Note: TESWiki and other wiki-based articles and categories cannot be used as sources.

Single insertion of a reference
For the single insertion of a reference, the "name" parameter is not needed. On the Edit page, this is placed at the insertion point of citation:

Multiple insertion of the same reference
On the Edit page, this is placed at the first insertion point of citation:

This is placed at the second and all subsequent insertion points of citation:

Producing the reference list
Most importantly, add the following code after the "Appearances" and "Sources" sections, but before the "See also" and "External links" sections. This code will automatically display the reference list, showing nearly everything tagged with ref tags.

Long reference lists
For reference lists with fifteen or more different references, include the  tag in a scroll box, using the following code:

Notes and references
The number fifteen was settled upon as ten does not make use of the scroll box functionality on most browsers. Fifteen was the next closest, easy-to-remember number (as opposed to eleven, twelve, etc.) that made use of the scroll box.

Rules
This list only includes the basics for the rules. For more details, please follow the footnotes provided.
 * 1) Do not reference the introductory paragraph(s).
 * 2) References go immediately after punctuation and outside of quotation marks, with no space between the end of a sentence and a reference tag.
 * 3) When naming references with, when working on long articles or collaborations, users are encouraged to use full, linkable reference names to prevent accidental duplicates of a reference, though this is not a requirement. This is not necessary on shorter articles, and abbreviations are acceptable.
 * 4) Italicize references where appropriate, as with book titles, etc.
 * 5) Do not reference articles only appearing in one appearance or source.
 * 6) Reference articles as sparingly as possible, while still sourcing all of the facts.
 * 7) Only reference a header (using the Ref template) when that source is the only reference under that specific header.
 * 8) Links are required in references.
 * 9) References may be used in infoboxes.
 * 10) *Use the Ref template when sourcing infobox information.

Reasoning
renders in the references list (generated by the tag) as:
 * ↑ Dagoth Ur (place)


 * Reference tags do not work inside of transcluded templates. See Cite.php for more information.


 * References cannot be nested: does not render correctly.


 * For an example of how referencing works, take a look at the source code for this article.


 * In addition, you can read Wikipedia's policy at Wikipedia:Citing sources. While not all the rules are the same, most of the basics are explained in more detail on Wikipedia. Wikipedia:Footnotes explains more of the "how to" and technical aspects of sourcing.