Citation needed

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This article is about the history and effects of the Wikipedia tag. For the template that generates the tag, see Template:Citation needed. For proper usage of the tag, see Wikipedia:Citation needed. For the comedy video series, see The Technical Difficulties.

Example of "Citation Needed" in an English Wikipedia article
An example of the citation needed template as seen in an article about the mushroom on the English Wikipedia. As of the revision at 14:07, 19 June 2023, this can no longer be seen at the part pictured above.

The tag "[citation needed]" (stylized as "[citation needed]") is added by Wikipedia editors to unsourced statements in articles requesting citations to be added.[1] The phrase is reflective of the policies of verifiability and original research on Wikipedia and has become a general Internet meme.[2]

Usage on Wikipedia

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The tag was first used on Wikipedia in 2006,[2] and its template created by user Ta bu shi da yu[3] According to Wikipedia's policy, editors should add citations for content, to ensure accuracy and neutrality, and to avoid original research.[4] The citation needed tag is used to mark statements that lack such citations.[1] Wikipedia editors may use tools like Citation Hunt to address these uncited statements.[5] As of June 2025, there were more than 604,000 pages on Wikipedia (or roughly 1% of all pages) containing at least one instance of the tag.[1] Users who click the tag will be directed to pages about Wikipedia's verifiability policy and its application using the tag.[6]

A parody of the tag, [cetacean needed], is used for missing images on Wikipedia's list of cetaceans page.[7]

Usage outside Wikipedia

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File:Webcomic xkcd - Wikipedian protester.png
A 2007 xkcd comic by Randall Munroe featuring a protester with a "[citation needed]" placard
File:Citation needed - March for Science (cropped).jpg
Poster at the 2017 March for Science

In 2008, Matt Mechtley created stickers with "[citation needed]", encouraging people to stick them on advertisements.[8]

In 2010, American television hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert led the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where some participants held placards with "[citation needed]".[9]

Randall Munroe has frequently used "[citation needed]" tags for humorous commentary in his writings, including in his 2014 book What If?.[10][11][12]

The podcast "Citations Needed" is a Webby nominated[13] media criticism podcast, hosted by journalists Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson to explore the intersection of media, PR, and power.[14]

YouTuber Tom Scott and The Technical Difficulties used "[citation needed]" as the title for a Wikipedia-based gameshow that ran from 2014 to 2018.[15]

Wikipedian Molly White publishes a newsletter covering the cryptocurrency and technology industries called Citation Needed.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  14. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
[edit | edit source]
  • File:Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg The dictionary definition of citation needed at Wiktionary
  • Citation needed entry at Know Your Meme
  • Citation Hunt
Retrieved from "http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=Citation_needed&oldid=17352402"