Template:Full citation needed/sandbox

This is the template sandbox page for Template:Full citation needed (diff).

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{{fcnTemplate:Fcn}}

This template is used on approximately 9,800 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.

This template is an alternative to {{Citation needed}}, for the cases where a reference is alluded to, or given in part, but not specified in enough detail. The factuality may or may not be in question; this template is just about the completeness of the citation.

For an article with numerous partial citations, consider instead the banner template {{Full citations needed}}.

Usage

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{{Full citation needed|date=December 2025}}

The template should be placed outside <ref>...</ref> tags.

Nixon resigned August 9, 1974.<ref>''The New York Times''</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=December 2025}}
Result: Nixon resigned August 9, 1974.^[1]^{[full citation needed]}

References

^ The New York Times

This template places the article into Category:Articles needing more detailed references or a dated subcategory thereof.

This template is a self-reference and so is part of the Wikipedia project rather than the encyclopædic content.

Template data

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

TemplateData for Full citation needed

This inline template is used where a reference is alluded to, or given in part, but not specified in enough detail to identify it.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	`date`	Provides the month and year; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	String	suggested

Redirects

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{{Ref expand}} – banner version of this template, for when an article needs many citations to be completed
{{Incomplete short citation}} – variant of this inline template for when a short citation is too incomplete to identify which long citation it references
{{Citation needed}} – for when no source is indicated at all
{{Ref improve}} – banner template for when an article needs more than one citation to be added
{{Author missing}} – inline template for a specific issue
{{Year missing}} – inline template for a specific issue
{{Page missing}} – inline template for a specific issue
Wikipedia:Citing sources, especially Unsourced material
Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources
Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
Wikipedia:Verifiability
Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check

Inline cleanup tags

Attribution

Clarity

Miscellaneous

Neutrality

Precision

{{By how much}} {{Definition}} {{Definition span}} {{Definition needed}} {{Example needed}} {{Example needed span}} {{Explain}} {{Explain-wrap}} {{From where}} {{How}} {{How often}} {{Misquoted}} {{More detail needed}} {{Of what}} {{Quantify}} {{Specify}} {{Vague}} {{When}} {{Where}} {{Where-geo}} {{Which}} {{Who else}} {{Why}} {{Year needed}}
Excessive	{{Duplication span}} {{Globalize inline}} {{Importance example}} {{Importance inline}} {{Infobox clutter}} {{List entry too long}} {{Long quote}} {{Off topic paragraph}} {{Off topic sentence}} {{Overly detailed inline}} {{Over-explained}} {{Relevance inline}} {{Undue weight inline}}

Time-sensitivity

Verifiability

Dubious	{{Contradictory inline}} {{Discuss}} {{Disputed inline}} {{Dubious}} {{Dubious span}} {{Inconsistent}} {{Needs independent confirmation}} {{Speculation inline}}
Bare URLs	{{Bare URL inline}} {{Bare URL AV media}} {{Bare URL DOC}} {{Bare URL image}} {{Bare URL non-HTML}} {{Bare URL PDF}} {{Bare URL plain text}} {{Bare URL spreadsheet}}
Incomplete or broken citation	{{Author incomplete}} {{Author missing}} {{Broken footnote}} {{Date missing}} {{Dead link}} {{Dead YouTube link}} {{Deep link needed}} {{Edition needed}} {{Episode needed}} {{Full citation needed}} {{Incomplete short citation}} {{ISBN missing}} {{Missing long citation}} {{Moved resource}} {{Page needed}} {{Pages needed}} {{Permanent dead link}} {{Place missing}} {{Publisher missing}} {{Season needed}} {{Time needed}} {{Title incomplete}} {{Title missing}} {{Unused source}} {{Volume needed}} {{Year missing}}
Missing or problematic reference	{{Additional citation needed}} {{AI-generated inline}} {{AI-generated source?}} {{AI-retrieved source}} {{Better source needed}} {{Better source needed example}} {{Check quotation}} {{Chronology citation needed}} {{Circular reference}} {{Circular reporting}} {{Citation needed}} {{Citation needed span}} {{Citation needed paragraph}} {{Citation not found}} {{Close paraphrasing inline}} {{COI source}} {{Deprecated inline}} {{Excessive citations inline}} {{Failed verification}} {{Failed verification span}} {{Image reference needed}} {{Independent source inline}} {{Irrelevant citation}} {{Marketing material}} {{Medical citation needed}} {{Medical citation needed span}} {{Misplaced footnote}} {{Nonspecific}} {{Not verified in body}} {{Not verified in body span}} {{Obsolete source}} {{Page range too broad}} {{Primary source inline}} {{Promotional source}} {{Quote without source}} {{Request quotation}} {{Request quotation span}} {{Retracted}} {{Scientific citation needed}} {{Self-published inline}} {{Self-published source}} {{Shallow reference inline}} {{Tertiary source inline}} {{Text-source inline}} {{Unreliable source?}} {{Unreliable fringe source}} {{Unreliable medical source}} {{Unreliable scientific source}} {{User-generated inline}} {{User-generated source}} {{Verify quote}} {{Verify source}} {{Whose quote}}

Wording

General advice

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

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Full citation needed/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

Usage

Template data

Redirects

See also