Wikiquote:Sourced and Unsourced sections

This page is a guideline on Wikiquote.
It illustrates standards of conduct, which many editors agree with in principle, but it is not policy.
Feel free to update the page, but please discuss major changes on the talk page first.


Wikiquote Policies and Guidelines
Content
Conduct
Operation

Only quotes properly sourced to an original work or a reputable secondary publication should appear in Wikiquote pages.

Where they appear depends on whether they are -

(a) sourced to an original speech, book, interview, film, or other work ("Quotes"),
(b) found in a reputable secondary source ("Attributed"), or
(c) widely associated with an author or work but sourced to another author or work ("Misattributed").

Quotes widely attributed to the author or work but not sourced to an original work or reputable secondary publication should appear as the first entry on the Discussion page {"Unsourced"}.

Sourced edit

Place sourced quotes as follows.

Quotes edit

Quotes sourced to the author or work appear without qualification in a "Quotes" section of the author's article,

Attributed edit

Quotes sourced to a reputable secondary publication but not to an original work appear in an "Attributed" section in the author's article,

Markup. Create an Attributed section by copying the following wikitext and pasting it just below the Quotes section:

{{disputed begin}}
==Attributed==
<small>''Attributed: Quotes found in a ''reputable'' secondary source but not sourced to an original work. Read more at [[Wikiquote:Sourced and Unsourced sections]].''</small>
{{disputed end}}

Then insert content after </small> and before {{disputed end}}.

Misattributed edit

Quotes widely attributed to one author or work but sourced to another author or work appear in a "Misattributed" section in the non-author's article with citation to the correct authorship.

Markup. Create a Misattributed section by copying the following wikitext and pasting it just below the Attributed section if there is one, the Quotes section if there isn't:

{{misattributed begin}}
==Misattributed==
<small>''Misattributed: Quotes widely associated with an author or work but sourced to another author or work. Read more at [[Wikiquote:Sourced and Unsourced sections]].''</small>
{{misattributed end}}

Then insert content after </small> and before {{misattributed end}}.

Unsourced edit

Unsourced quotes widely attributed to an author but not sourced to any author's work or a reputable secondary publication should not appear in the author's article. Instead, they should appear in an "Unsourced" section in the reputed author's discussion page. See, for example, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme," widely attributed to Mark Twain. In the past, many articles were divided into "Sourced" and "Unsourced" sections. Move unsourced sections appearing in articles to discussion pages.

Markup. Create an Unsourced section at the top of a talk page by copying the following wikitext and pasting it just below {{talkheader}} and any other leading templates:

__TOC__
{{disputed begin}}
==Unsourced==
<small>''Unsourced: Quotes widely attributed to the author or work but not sourced to an original work or reputable secondary publication. Read more at [[Wikiquote:Sourced and Unsourced sections]].''</small>
{{disputed end}}

Then insert content after </small> and before {{disputed end}}.

Idiocy, pranks and vandalism edit

Remove unsourced quotes that are not commonly attributed to an author. This includes quotes obviously not made by or about the subject, prank edits, and outright vandalism.

Moving quotes edit

In all cases of moving or removing a quote, please include an explanation in the edit summary to inform other Wikiquotians why you feel this is appropriate. Example summaries include:

  • "sourced quote"
  • "moved to Misattributed after finding original quote"
  • "removed likely prank edit"

See also edit