User:Toa 95/Citation Policy

This page details the policy NintendoWiki maintains toward sources and citations. As an encyclopedia, it is the primary goal of NintendoWiki to provide accurate and factual information to its readers. Thus, it is recommended that we cite sources to maintain the wiki's credibility and ensure that the information we provide is indeed accurate.

What to source

In general, much of NintendoWiki's information comes directly from Nintendo's games, products, and services, which do not typically need to be cited. However, for more dubious information which cannot be verified as easily and may be contested, a source should be provided that shows that the information is indeed true. If such information cannot be attributed to a reliable source, it should be removed.

In general, information such as the following should be cited:

• Any and all information on upcoming games or products must be given a source. This includes gameplay and features, release dates, hardware specifications, etc. NintendoWiki does not consider rumors and leaks to be valid sources of information, and any referrals to such will be removed on the spot.
• Sales figures, especially for our console articles, should always be sourced, either directly from Nintendo's IR website or from another reputable source such as the NPD Group. Note that VGChartz is not to be considered to be a reputable source for sales information.
• Comments made by Nintendo's employees relating to a game or product should be sourced; generally, if possible, the original source should be used over secondary sources.

How to cite a source

General citations

NintendoWiki uses a similar citation code to other wikis such as Wikipedia. To that extent, the tags "<ref></ref>" should be placed after the information that is being sourced, while the original source of the information goes inside the tags. Finally, a "References" section should be added at the end of the article (before the navigation templates) and should only feature the text "{{ref}}"; this is where all citations will be displayed.

For example, inputting:

''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' is a video game for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].<ref>''Super Mario Bros.'' manual, page 2.</ref>

==References==
{{ref}}

Will produce:

Super Mario Bros. is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.[1] References 1. ↑ Super Mario Bros. manual, page 2.

External websites

Much of NintendoWiki's sources are from external websites, such as news outlets, web videos, and Nintendo's official websites and social media. To cite another website as a source, an external link should be added between the tags. While just the external link can be added to link to another website as a source, NintendoWiki has proper guidelines to citing a web source. In general, one should use the following format for adding web citations:

<ref>[[Link to website] [Page/article title]]. [Website] ([Date of publication]). Retrieved [Current date].</ref>

If certain information is unavailable, however, it is okay for that to be omitted.

Therefore, for example, putting:

''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'' for the [[Nintendo GameCube]] will be released on December 11, 2006, in North America.<ref>
[http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/09/14/twilight-princess-slips Twilight Princess Slips]. IGN (September 14, 2006). Retrieved September 16, 2006.</ref>

==References==
{{ref}}

Will give:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo GameCube will be released on December 11, 2006, in North America.[1] References 1. ↑ Twilight Princess Slips. IGN (September 14, 2006). Retrieved September 16, 2006.

Multiple citations of the same source

To cite the same source multiple times, one needs to add a name to the original citation, by putting "<ref name="[name of the citation]"></ref>" rather than the normal reference tags, "[name of the citation]" being a brief yet descriptive way to refer to the source. To refer to that citation later in the article, simply put "<ref name="[name of the citation]"/>" next to text that needs to be cited using that source.

For example, typing:

''[[Star Fox Zero]]'' was announced at E3 2014.<ref name="E3 2014">
[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2014-connecting-star-fox-on-wii-u-with-project-guard-and-project-giant-robot/1100-6420390/
E3 2014: Connecting Star Fox on Wii U with Project Guard and Project Giant Robot]. GameSpot (June 11, 2014). Retrieved June 11, 2014.</ref>
According to [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], the game is connected to the tech demos [[Project Guard]] and [[Project Giant Robot]].<ref name="E3 2014"/>

==References==
{{ref}}

Will produce:

Star Fox Zero was announced at E3 2014.[1] According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the game is connected to the tech demos Project Guard and Project Giant Robot.[1] References 1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 E3 2014: Connecting Star Fox on Wii U with Project Guard and Project Giant Robot. GameSpot (June 11, 2014). Retrieved June 11, 2014.

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