User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox

CZ:Formatting of embedded inline references

This article is about formatting embedded inline references (also called notes or footnotes) in an article. Embedded inline references are references that are meant to corroborate a specific word, statement, paragraph or even sub-section of an article by providing the readers of the article with the details of a book, journal, newspaper report or online website page that substantiates and validates the word, statement, paragraph or sub-section. The location of the word, statement, paragraph or subsection being referenced is marked with a superscript, bracketed number (colored blue) like this for a single reference^[1] or this^[2][3] for multiple references.

In Citizendium and other Wikis, the coding of embedded inline references on the edit page of an article always begins with the tag <ref> and ends with the tag </ref>. For that reason, the method of coding embedded inline references is often referred to as the <ref> </ref> method.

By contrast, some authors use the word "references" to mean listing the details of sources (such as books or journals) that provided information, corroboration or substantiation of the article as whole rather than any specific parts of the article. Such lists are placed at the end of the article with no indication as to what specific part of the article each listed source applies. Within the context of Citizendium, in most cases, such non-specific references are best placed in the Bibliography subpage rather than at the end of the article. If such reference lists include hyperlinks to online website pages, then they are best included in the External Links subpage.

Some authors also use embedded inline hyperlinks like this [1] or this [2] as references. Such references should not be used. When used in an article that is also using the <ref> </ref> method, confusion will arise between the numbering of the embedded inline hyperlinks and the embedded inline references.\

Valid, reliable references

A reference must be accurate, reliable and it must corroborate the statement in the text. To validate or corroborate the statement that "Mike Brown climbed Mount Everest", referencing a publication about Mount Everest is no good if Mike Brown isn't mentioned. Similarly, referencing an article about Mike Brown is also no good if it doesn't mention that he climbed Mount Everest. The referenced source must corroborate that Mike's achievement is true.

We must use reliable, credible sources such as published books, professional journals, mainstream press report , and reliable web sites. Blogs, MySpace, YouTube, fan sites and extreme minority material are not usually acceptable, nor are your own unpublished essays or research. Wikipedia articles or other Citizendium articles are not reliable sources.

Inserting the embedded inline references

Multiple insertion of the same reference

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

<ref name=Perry>Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref>

This is placed at the second insertion point of citation:

<ref name=Perry/>

This is placed at the third insertion point of citation:

<ref name=Perry/> ..... and so forth for further insertion points

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:

<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref>

What is produced at the points of insertion

These are what is produced and note that the reference numbers in blue are automatically generated. Clicking on any one of the reference numbers causes the screen display to scroll down to that reference number in the Reference List section:

First text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

Second text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

Third text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

The only text word referenced to the Excel book.

Producing the reference or footnote list

On the Edit page, place this at the bottom of an article to produce a references (or footnotes) section:

==References (or Footnotes)==

{{reflist}}

This is what it produces and note that the list numbers are automatically generated:

Notes on using the reference list

• Clicking on the blue superscript ^1.0 causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the first reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted. Clicking on the blue superscript ^1.1 causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the the second reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted. Clicking on the blue superscript ^1.2 causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the the third reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted ... and so forth.

• Clicking on any up arrow (↑) that has no associated superscripts cause the screen display to scroll back up to the point where that single-use references was inserted.

Using templates to insert reference text

A number of templates, such {{cite book}}, are available to format the text between the <ref> and </ref> tags in a more structured way.