Template:References/doc

When to use
You may add this template only to articles that contain zero sources of any kind.


 * Do not add this template:
 * In articles that have some citations, but not enough, the Refimprove template should be used instead as a general template, or the Unreferenced section template for specific unsourced sections.
 * In articles containing a list of sources at the end, but no inline citations, including parenthetical references or in-text attributions, consider no footnotes when the article would be significantly improved by detailed attribution of sources to specific claims.
 * Watch out for lists of general references that someone has incorrectly listed under ==External links==. If the link leads to a reliable source that supports some article content, then that website is a reference, not an external link.
 * Other templates, listed below, should be used when the sources are inadequate for other reasons.


 * Alternatives:
 * Be bold! Consider searching for references and adding them to the article, instead of this template.
 * In articles about people and businesses, consider using the more specific template, to encourage citation of WP:Independent sources rather than the subject's own website.
 * See Biographies of living people for guidance on dealing with unreferenced biographies of living people.
 * Consider not adding this template to very brief stubs, since anyone visiting the page can see, in a single glance, that it contains no citations.

How to use
or Substitution of this template will automatically fill the date parameter.


 * Date parameter: The date parameter is (generally ) used to indicate when the template was added to a page. An example of its usage is . Adding this parameter sorts the article into monthly subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, rather than adding it to Category:Articles lacking sources itself, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. If the date parameter is omitted, a bot will add it later.

General information
This template can either be placed at the top of an article, at the bottom of the article page (in an empty "References" or "Notes" section—usually just before a Reflist template), or on the article's talk page.

Categorization
This template adds articles to Category:Articles lacking sources, a hidden category.

Differences from related templates
The similar template Refimprove adds an article to Category:Articles needing additional references.

Short-cut

 * Unref