This is an
essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
The purpose of this essay is to explain that wikilinks are not references. I hope to explain that demanding reliable third party references over wikilinks is not just policy wonking, but an important requirement to improving the encyclopedia.
There seems to be a myth out there that lists do not need to be cited. This is just not true.
Partial summary of Wikipedia:List guideline#Criteria for inclusion in lists:
Examples of articles that were "cited" with wikilinks only, and the results of actually checking the linked articles for citations:
This is an
essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
The purpose of this essay is to explain that wikilinks are not references. I hope to explain that demanding reliable third party references over wikilinks is not just policy wonking, but an important requirement to improving the encyclopedia.
There seems to be a myth out there that lists do not need to be cited. This is just not true.
Partial summary of Wikipedia:List guideline#Criteria for inclusion in lists:
Examples of articles that were "cited" with wikilinks only, and the results of actually checking the linked articles for citations: