User:Mini-mitch/Sandbox Three/Citation

In-universe articles
Telling readers where a statement can be verified is important. It helps to focus articles and keeps the details in an article to only that which actually appeared in the various Doctor Who narratives. Don't assume that your readers have the same level of knowledge about the Whoniverse as you do. Cite often, cite accurately. Format your citations according to these guidelines:
 * When citing an episode, novel, book, audio drama, webcast, comic or any other story use brackets, the proper prefix for the series and then the name of the episode, in italics and linked, e.g:
 * (DW: An Unearthly Child)
 * (NA: Timewyrm: Revelation)
 * (TW: Everything Changes)


 * When citing an in-universe website, use the WEB prefix, the name of the website in italics and the website address shown using a piped link, e.g:
 * (WEB: torchwood.org.uk ), which appears as: (WEB: torchwood.org.uk)


 * If you encounter a statement that obviously needs a citation, but you don't have the time or knowledge to correct it, type, which produces:
 * On this wiki, it is difficult to avoid using "weasel words" like "many", "often" and "sometimes". The nature of an internally inconsistent universe like Doctor Who's usually makes concise, absolute statements untrue.  For instance, there are many occasions when the Doctor appears have a binary vascular system, but there are a few where he does not.  Weasel words can be made more accurate by remembering to balance them with an appropriate number of citations.  In general, if a sentence implies that something occurred multiple times, then there should multiple citations given.  For instance, if you write, "The Doctor often thwarted the plans of the Master", then you should give several story names to give a sense that "often" is an accurate term.  Some other words which trigger the need for multiple citations are "frequently", "various", and "regularly" — as well as the simple use of numerals ("the Doctor was known to have gone there three times").
 * Should you come across a sentence that seems to need more citations, but you don't have the time or the knowledge to correct it, type, which produces:

Behind the scenes
"Behind the scenes" or "real world" subsections within in-universe articles should be cited using the same method as out of universe articles. See below for more information.

What a citation indicates to our readers
The above sections tell you when, where and how to insert a citation, but it's important to understand what a citation means. A citation says to our readers, "If you go back to the story cited, you will find that the work substantively includes the statement just prior to the citation.

For instance, let's look at the following statement:

By putting  at the end of that sentence, what we're saying is that, within the body of the serial known as Spearhead from Space, you will find a scene where a guy named "Dr Henderson" puzzles over a TARDIS key. Since that actually happens in Spearhead, this sentence is allowed to remain in our database.

The problem is that sometimes we kind of remember scenes being in one serial, but in fact they're in another. Or sometimes we use fan sites comprised of badly-researched statements incorrectly ascribed to a particular story. Worse, some fan sites give a citation for a particular story, but fail to make obvious that this assertion is based on speculation involving another story. (This, incidentally, is why we don't think fan sites are valid sources.)

It's absolutely vital that you check every statement you make against the story you're citing. Some good questions to ask yourself include:


 * Am I going off my own research into the story?
 * If asked — and given a few minutes, cause me memory's goin' — could I definitely point to a page, episode or time code when the event I'm citing happened within the story?
 * Could I insert a direct quotation from the story into my sentence?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no", you're probably not on terribly solid ground.

Remember: the goal of our project is to write an original reference work.  If you're copying someone else's work, rather than going back to the original narrative, you're not really creating anything new. You're just participating in a game of Chinese whispers.

If information is discovered which includes false citations, it is subject to immediate deletion.

Out of universe articles
Telling readers a statement that can be verified is important. For out of universe articles (those about the Real World or Behind the scenes) we use the same system as Wikipedia; Footnotes. The sources must have reference tags around the (see also Wikipedia:Citing sources for more info). Or The Dark Dimension and Gothic stories for examples of correct citation within articles. A section at the base of the article entitled 'Footnotes' must also be placed with (this will collect the cited sources at the base of the article).


 * Please use 'Footnotes' rather than 'References' as this term is associated with the in-universe References section.

If while editing you come across a cited piece of information which has no source you can place the tag beside it which will display the Fact tag like this;, which states a source needs to be cited.

Rumours
Rumours may be added to articles concerning yet to be broadcast stories/series', these should only be placed within the 'Rumours' section of the article. Users must ensure the rumours are cited with a source so that they may be verified by other readers and editors.

Unsourced rumours should be removed.

Articles on living people
Although all articles should be as accurate as possible, special care must be taken with regards to articles on people that are currently alive, as issues such as libel may arise if claims are made without sources being given, or unnecessary rumours sparked. If you choose to include information of a potentially controversial nature, a source must be given, and preferably a "reliable source" such as an interview, newspaper or magazine article, etc. Wikipedia and the Internet Movie Database, not being peer reviewed, are not considered reliable sources. Nor are online (and, occasionally, print) sources that site Wikipedia and IMDb as their main sources.

Although this Wikia site is not considered part of Wikipedia, it is nonetheless helpful to review the Wikipedia Biographies of Living Persons policy. If you see an unsourced claim or comment regarding a living person, if a source cannot be located, it is best to play it safe and remove that material from the article.