Template:Refimprove

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

This template indicates that the article needs additional inline citations. This template should be used only for articles where there are some, but insufficient, inline citations. For articles that have no inline citations at all currently, use Template:Unreferenced. There is currently no consensus on where to place this template. Many editors understand this template to be redundant when it is used on articles clearly marked as stubs.

For articles about living persons, the more specific template {{BLP sources}} should be used instead.

Usage

A |talk= parameter is allowed; setting this to any value will result in the message "See talk page for details." being included in the tag.

This template also includes support for using the |date= parameter. Adding this parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles needing additional references and out of the parent category, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. A bot will add this parameter if it is omitted. Be careful not to abbreviate the date, because then it will automatically add a redlinked category instead of the correct category. The simplest way to use this parameter manually is {{Refimprove|{{subst:DATE}}}} but it can be done more explicitly as {{Refimprove|date=August 2025}} (both result in the same output).

Listed below are four examples of usage:

{{Refimprove}}

{{Refimprove|date=August 2025}}

{{Refimprove|section}}  (the same as {{Ref improve section}})

{{Refimprove|section|{{subst:DATE}}|talk=y}}

A user warning template, {{Uw-refimprove}}, is available to notify contributors that an article they created needs its referencing improved.

General advantage

• The naming scheme of Refimprove parallels that used for {{Refbegin}}, {{Refend}}, and {{Reflist}}, thereby reducing confusion, in compliance with the KISS principle.

Differences from related templates

Differences from {{BLP sources}}

• Use BLP sources in articles about living persons that need additional references. If the article need additional references but is not about a living or recently deceased subject, then use refimprove.

Differences from {{Unreferenced}} and {{Citation needed}}

• Use Unreferenced when there are no inline citations in an article. If there are one or more, but insufficient inline citations in an article, then use refimprove.
• However if an article has sufficient inline citations, but the article lacks citations to cover specific information (such as no citation on a quotation) then use the inline citation template {{citation needed}} to indicate more precisely where additional citations are needed. Unlike citation needed, refimprove places a very conspicuous banner in the article.
• There is also a {{refimprove section}} and the normal variations.

Differences from {{Primary sources}}

• If an article has sufficient inline citations, but if the citations in an article are from primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject (see WP:PSTS), then use {{Primary sources}}.

Differences from {{Citation style}}

• The refimprove template is intended for use in articles that need additional citations, while citation style template is used to request consistency within the citations present in an article (see WP:CITEVAR). For example when there is a mixture of footnotes or parenthetical references.

Differences from {{No footnotes}}, {{More footnotes}}

• Refimprove can be used when there is no "References" or "Further reading" section in the article.

Redirects

Include:

1. {{Ri}}
2. {{Citations needed}}
3. {{Citations missing}}
4. {{Cite sources}}
5. {{Cleanup-cite}}
6. {{Cleanup-verify}}
7. {{Cleanup cite}}
8. {{Few references}}
9. {{Few refs}}
10. {{Fewreferences}}
11. {{Fewrefs}}
12. {{Improve-references}}
13. {{Improve-refs}}
14. {{Improve references}}
15. {{Improve refs}}
16. {{Improvereferences}}
17. {{Improverefs}}
18. {{Missing citations}}
19. {{More references}}
20. {{More sources}}
21. {{Moreref}}
22. {{Morereferences}}
23. {{Morerefs}}
24. {{Moresources}}
25. {{Not verified}}
26. {{Notverified}}
27. {{Ref-improve}}
28. {{Ref improve}}
29. {{Reference-improve}}
30. {{Sources}}
31. {{Verification}}
32. {{Verify}}

See also

• {{BLP sources}}
• {{Refbegin}}
• {{Refend}}
• {{Reflist}}
• Template:Citation needed/doc#Inline templates
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources

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