Editing Encyclopedia:Citing sources (section)

===What information to include <span id="Putting together the citation"></span><span id="HOW"></span>===
{{shortcut|WP:CITEHOW|WP:HOWCITE}}
Listed below is the information that a typical inline citation or general reference will provide, though other details may be added as necessary. This information is included in order to identify the source, assist readers in finding it, and (in the case of inline citations) indicate the place in the source where the information is to be found. (If an article uses [[#Short citations|short citations]], then the inline citations will refer to this information in abbreviated form, as described in the relevant sections above.)

In general, the citation information should be cited as it appears in the original source; exceptions are noted at [[MOS:CONFORMTITLE]], [[MOS:TMRULES]], [[MOS:NUMERO]], and [[MOS:TE]].{{Disputed inline|Clarifying which MOS guidelines apply to citations|date=April 2025}} For example, the album notes from ''[[Hurts 2B Human]]'' should not be cited as being from the album ''Hurts to be Human'', or an [[X (social media platform)|X]] (formerly Twitter) user named "i😍dogs" should not be cited as "i[love]dogs". Do not use {{tl|sic}}, per [[WP:QUOTETYPO]].
[[File:Good citations vs bad citations.jpg|thumb|Use details in citing. Citations 1–3 are good, while citations 4–6 should be improved.]]