Template:Unreferenced section

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This template is used on approximately 41,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Shortcuts

{{UrsTemplate:Urs}}
{{UnrefsectTemplate:Unrefsect}}

Usage

{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2025}}

Only use this template when the section completely lacks references. For sections with some but too few references, use {{More citations needed section}} instead.

This template puts articles in Category:Articles needing additional references or a dated subcategory thereof. If you leave the date off, a bot will add it later. To fill the date automatically, you can use {{subst:Unreferenced section}}.

Sample usage using optional "find" param:

{{Unreferenced section|find=search keyword(s)|date=December 2025}}

Parameters

|date= : month and year the section was last checked for references; e.g., |date=December 2025
|small= : Any value (typically "y", "yes", etc.) will make the template smaller. The template should normally be full-width when it applies to an entire section.
|find= : search keywords for {{find sources}} param 1 (double-quoted search). This optional parameter adds a set of links produced by the {{find sources}} template to the output. If omitted, no "find sources" links are displayed.
|find2= : search keywords for {{find sources}} param 2 (unquoted search). Alias: unquoted.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Unreferenced section in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Unreferenced section

Use this template only when a section completely lacks references. For sections with some but too few references, use {{More citations needed section}} instead.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	`date`	The month and year the tag was placed, such as 'April 2023', but not 'apr23' Example April 2023 Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	String	suggested
Small	`small`	Any value (typically "y", "yes", etc.) will make the template smaller. Example y Auto value `y`	String	optional
Find	`find`	Search keywords for 'find sources' double-quoted (exact) search. May be one or more words. Leave empty to suppress 'find sources' output. Example Austen's early life	String	optional
Find2	`find2` `unquoted`	Search keywords for 'find sources' unquoted search.	String	optional

v t e Citation and verifiability article maintenance templates
Sourcing	{{Circular}} {{Dubious}} {{Excessive citations}} {{Further reading cleanup}} {{Independent sources}} {{More citations needed}} {{More citations needed section}} {{More footnotes needed}} {{No footnotes}} {{No reliable sources}} {{No significant coverage}} {{One source}} {{One source section}} {{Only primary sources}} {{NRIS only}} {{Primary sources}} {{Primary sources section}} {{Religious text primary}} {{Self-published}} {{Self-reference cleanup}} {{Self-sourcing examples}} {{Refexample section}} {{Sources exist}} {{Text-source}} {{Unreferenced}} {{Unreferenced section}} {{Unreferenced category}} {{Unreliable sources}} {{Unreliable sources section}} {{User-generated}}
BLP-specific	{{BLP unreferenced}} {{BLP unreferenced section}} {{BLP primary sources}} {{BLP self-published}} {{BLP sources}} {{BLP sources section}} {{BLP IMDb-only refimprove}} {{BLP IMDb refimprove}} {{BLP no footnotes}} {{BLP more footnotes needed}} {{BLP one source}}
Topic specific	{{Localist}} {{Media IMDb refimprove}} {{More medical citations needed}} {{More science citations needed}} {{Neologism}} {{Science review}} {{Unreferenced law}} {{Unreferenced medical section}}
Dispute-related	{{Cite check}} {{Cite check section}} {{Content}} {{Disputed}} {{Dispute about}} {{Disputed section}} {{Disputed chem}} {{Disputed list}} {{Disputed map}} {{Expert needed}} {{Hoax}} {{Original research}} {{Original research section}} {{Speculation}} {{Speculation section}} {{Synthesis}} {{Verifiability}} {{Verify sources}}
Citation improvements	{{Citation style}} {{Citations broken}} {{Cleanup bare URLs}} {{Format footnotes}} {{Full citations needed}} {{Ibid}} {{Page numbers improve}} {{Page numbers needed}} {{Parenthetical referencing}} {{Shallow references}}
General advice	Citing sources Reliable sources Maintenance template removal Citation needed Find sources Combining sources Referencing styles

Usage

Parameters

TemplateData

See also