Template:Self-published/doc/details
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Template:Self-published/doc/details/docThis template will categorize tagged articles into Category:Articles lacking reliable references.
- This template is a self-reference.
- Please do not subst: this template.
When to use
Please try to improve the article, e.g. by looking for better sources to cite, before adding this template, and discuss the matter on the talk page. If the problem is not widespread, consider instead using inline templates, {{Self-published/doc source}} if only one citation is problematic, or {{Self-published/doc inline}} for particular statements with more than one such citation.
The simplest way to add this template to an article is to copy and paste {{Self-published/doc|date=October 2026}} at the top of the article. To flag only an affected section, use {{Self-published/doc|section|date=October 2026}}.
Use a more appropriate template for articles that have different sourcing problems or have neutrality problems.
Alternatives include:
- {{independent source}} – When the source is written by or paid for by the subject (e.g., an op-ed written by the subject, an advertisement).
- {{self-published source}} – When the source is written by and published by the subject (e.g., a personal or business website).
- {{user-generated source}} – When the source is written by ordinary people on the internet (e.g., a wiki).
- {{primary source}} – When the source contains no analysis, comparison, evaluation, etc. of the subject (e.g., WP:PRIMARYNEWS).
Many sources fall into multiple categories. It's best to use the most specific or important one, instead of filling the page with similar tags.
Technical details
This template has two optional fields.
The first permits the user to specify what needs to be cited. For instance, if the entire article needs to be cited, a user would enter {{Self-published/doc|article}}; but should the user wish to be more specific on which section of the article needs to be cited, then the user could enter {{Self-published/doc|section called "Childhood"}}. Leaving the parameter undefined is acceptable, as it will print out the default text "article or section."
The second field is a date parameter, entered as |date=October 2026. Adding this sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles lacking reliable references, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. If the date parameter is omitted, a bot will add it later.
Note that order does not matter with respect to the above optional parameters. Both {{Self-published/doc|section|date=October 2026}} and {{Self-published/doc|date=October 2026|section}} will produce the same result.