Template:Citation needed span

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^{[citation needed ]}

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Warning This template is used on approximately 3,600 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

Usage

The {{citation needed span }} template may be used when there is unsourced text that should be attributed to a reference citation. Unlike the template {{citation needed }}, this template attaches explicitly to a portion of text, for example one or more specific sentences, by surrounding the text with the template. This is especially useful for flagging a block of multiple facts or multiple sentences as needing citation, and for singling out a specific fact that is unsourced among many sourced ones.

Avoid use for multiple paragraphs or around a list without closing and opening each template around each paragraph or list item. This kind of use causes linting errors and may disrupt the page display. An alternative with multiple paragraphs is {{unreferenced|section}} or {{more citations needed|section}}.

Once a citation is added, please remove this template from the surrounded text.

{{citation needed span|date=March 2025|Passage(s) to be sourced}}, or:

{{citation needed span|date=March 2025|text=Passage(s) to be sourced}}

The date is optional, so the minimal syntax is:

{{citation needed span|Passage(s) to be sourced}}

Example of usage:

Sourced material. {{citation needed span|date=March 2025|Passage to be sourced. Another passage to be sourced.}} More sourced material.

Sourced material. Passage to be sourced. Another passage to be sourced.^{[citation needed ]} More sourced material.

Compare usage of {{citation needed }}:

Sourced material. Passage to be sourced.{{Citation needed}} Another passage to be sourced.{{Citation needed}} More sourced material.

Sourced material. Passage to be sourced.^{[citation needed ]} Another passage to be sourced.^{[citation needed ]} More sourced material.

Parameters

There are three parameters to the template:

|text= (or no parameter): The unreferenced content that needs a citation.
|date=: The date in the form March 2025. If omitted, AnomieBOT will add it if there are no new edits for a few minutes.
|reason=: The reason for the citation request. If omitted, "This claim needs references to reliable sources." will be used. This text is shown as a tooltip.

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for Citation needed span

Marks a specific piece of text as needing a citation.

Template parameters[Edit template data ]
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Text	`text` `1`	The text needing a citation Auto value	Content	required
Date	`date`	Month and year the tag was added Example June 2015 Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	Date	suggested
Reason?	`reason`	Reason the text needs a citation; shown in a tooltip Default This claim needs references to reliable sources	String	suggested

Categorization of articles

Adding this template to an article places the article into Category:All articles with unsourced statements, Category:Articles with unsourced statements, and/or dated subcategories thereof.

Redirects to this template

{{cns }}
{{cspan }}
{{cnspan }}
{{fact span }}
{{citation span }}
{{citations needed span }}

{{By how much }} {{Definition }} {{Definition needed }} {{Example needed }} {{Example needed span }} {{Explain }} {{How }} {{How often }} {{Misquoted }} {{Quantify }} {{Specify }} {{Vague }} {{When }} {{Where }} {{Which }} {{Who else }} {{Why }} {{Year needed }}
Excessive	{{Overly detailed inline }} {{Duplication span }} {{Importance inline }} {{Relevance inline }} {{Undue weight inline }} {{Globalize inline }} {{Infobox clutter }}

Time-sensitivity

Verifiability

Dubious	{{Contradictory inline }} {{Disputed inline }} {{Dubious }} {{Dubious span }} {{Inconsistent }} {{Needs independent confirmation }} {{Speculation inline }}
Bare URLs	{{Bare URL inline }} {{Bare URL non-HTML }} {{Bare URL AV media }} {{Bare URL PDF }} {{Bare URL image }} {{Bare URL DOC }} {{Bare URL plain text }} {{Bare URL spreadsheet }}
Incomplete or broken citation	{{Author incomplete }} {{Author missing }} {{Date missing }} {{Dead link }} {{Edition needed }} {{Episode needed }} {{Full citation needed }} {{Incomplete short citation }} {{ISBN missing }} {{Moved resource }} {{Page 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 }} {{Better source needed }} {{Better source needed example }} {{Check quotation }} {{Chronology citation needed }} {{Circular reference }} {{Citation needed }} {{Citation needed span }} {{Citation not found }} {{Close paraphrasing inline }} {{COI source }} {{Deprecated inline }} {{Excessive citations inline }} {{Failed verification }} {{Failed verification span }} {{Image reference needed }} {{Irrelevant citation }} {{Medical citation needed }} {{Medical citation needed span }} {{Nonspecific }} {{Not verified in body }} {{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 }} {{Shallow reference inline }} {{Tertiary source inline }} {{Third-party inline }} {{Unreliable fringe source }} {{Unreliable medical source }} {{Unreliable source? }} {{Verify quote }} {{Verify source }}

Wording

General advice

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Citation needed span/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (edit | diff) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Citation_needed_span&oldid=1063310353"

Usage

Parameters

TemplateData

Categorization of articles

Redirects to this template

See also