Template:Refimprove

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Shortcut: {{Rip}}

Usage

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:

{{Refimprove}}

{{Refimprove|date=December 2024}}

{{Refimprove|section}} (the same as {{Refimprove section}})

{{Refimprove|section|{{subst:DATE}}|talk=Anchor}}

There is currently no consensus on where in the article to place this template. However, for placement at the beginning of the article, the Manual of Style suggests that templates like this one should go immediately after the hatnote and before the infobox.

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. If the value is a valid anchor on the talk page (e.g., the title of a section or subsection heading), then the talk page link will go directly to that anchor; if not, to the top of the page.

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 {{Refimprove|{{subst:DATE}}}} but it can be done more explicitly as {{Refimprove|date=December 2024}} (both result in the same output). Do not use {{Refimprove|date={{subst:DATE}}}}: {{subst:DATE}} includes the leading date=.

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 December 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 related templates

Differences from {{BLP sources}}

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:

Template data

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools.

Refimprove

<TemplateData> {

       "description": "This template generates a tag to indicate that the article needs additional inline citations.",
       "params": {
               "date": {
                       "label": "Date",
                       "description": "The month and year that the need for citations is identified, such as 'June 2013'; may use '{{subst:DATE}}' template instead",
                       "type": "string",
                       "required": false
               },
               "1": {
                       "label": "Type (typically section)",
                       "description": "Something to replace \"article\" in the template, typically \"section\"",
                       "type": "string",
                       "required": false
               },
               "talk": {
                       "label": "Talk",
                       "description": "Any value (such as 'y') will result in the addition of 'See talk page for details.' to the tag",
                       "type": "string",
                       "required": false
               }
       }

} </TemplateData>