Source checking
Source checking an article means confirming that the cited source is properly cited and that it supports the claim being made. When source checking, you should ask the following questions:
- Is there a citation for all information and claims in the article? (Exception: Simple facts that are common knowledge do not have to be cited. For additional guidelines, see Wikipedia's definition of common knowledge.)
- Is the citation complete and accurate?
- Does the article accurately represent the information in the source?
- Are any quotations accurate?
- Are the paraphrases, if any, thoroughly reworded in order to avoid plagiarism?
When source checking, you should check on 5 sources cited within the article. On the Discussion page for the article or essay, make a list of the sources you checked and sign it using 4 tildes (~). You may use abbreviate citations for this purpose. For example:
Source checked by ~~~~ (this will sign/date your note)
- Smith, 2002 (added complete title)
- Argall, 1999 (no changes)
- Jones, 2015 (improved paraphrase)
- Ridgely, 2008 (made small correction to quotation)
- Steele, 2014 (added phrase to more accurately represent the source)
If you believe that a particular sentence, quotation, or paragraph requires the addition of a citation, add the following immediately following the passage in question: {{cn}}
This code will produce a "citation needed" superscript, as shown here.[ citation needed ]
Note that omitting a citation can be a form of plagiarism. You can also plagiarize by omitting quotation marks on an exact quotation or through poor paraphrasing. For additional information about plagiarism, see the Wikipedia plagiarism policy.