View source for Help:References and page numbers

{{Wikipedia how to|WP:CITEPAGE|WP:REFPAGE|WP:PAGENR}}
When [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|citing sources]] in Wikipedia articles, the [[citation]] must clearly support the material as presented in the article, per the [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|verifiability policy]]. It helps to give a page number or page range—or a section, chapter, or other division of the source—because then the reader does not have to carefully review the whole cited source to find the relevant supporting evidence, which promotes efficient source checking. This page shows examples of various ways to include a page number or page range in citations as well as various ways to cite the same source multiple times with different page numbers. It also summarizes ways to include [[#Other in-source locations|other in-source locations]].

The following examples use {{cs1}} templates, but these are not required (see the section [[WP:INLINECITE|Inline citations]] in the guideline [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|Citing sources]] for alternatives). For a basic introduction to citation templates, see [[Help:Referencing for beginners with citation templates]].

==Page numbers in the reference list==
This example uses {{fnote}}.

This example is the most basic and includes unique references for each citation, showing the page numbers in the reference list. This repeats the citation, changing the page number. A disadvantage is that this can create a lot of redundant text in the reference list [[WP:DUPCITES|when a source is cited many times]].
So consider using one of the alternatives listed in the sections below this one.

{{markup
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |page=5}}</ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |pages=6–7}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |page=5 |ref=none}}</ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |pages=6–7 |ref=none}}</ref>
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{reflist}}
}}

==Shortened footnotes==
The following two examples use {{sfnote}}, showing the author(s) and date and page number(s) in the notes list and a separate list for the full reference. An advantage is that the list of full references can be sorted arbitrarily—for example, by author last name or by publication date. A disadvantage is that it is necessary to have two separate sections for short and full references.

{{markup|title=Shortened footnotes using {{tl|harvtxt}} or {{tl|harvnb}}:
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{harvtxt|Elk|1972|p=5}}</ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref>{{harvnb|Elk|1972|p=6–7}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972}}
{{refend}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{harvtxt|Elk|1972|p=5}}</ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref>{{harvnb|Elk|1972|p=6–7}}</ref>
{{fake heading|sub=2|Notes}}
{{reflist}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972}}<!--This is CITEREFElk1972-->
{{refend}}
}}

{{markup|title=Shortened footnotes using {{tl|sfn}}:
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.{{sfn|Elk|1972a|p=5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{sfn|Elk|1972a|p=6–7}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972a}}
{{refend}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.{{sfn|Elk|1972a|p=5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{sfn|Elk|1972a|p=6–7}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|Notes}}
{{reflist}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972a}}<!--This is CITEREFElk1972a-->
{{refend}}
}}

The next example shows that it is possible to mix {{fnote}} and {{sfnote}} with the full reference in the first footnote and shortened footnotes for subsequent references. An advantage is that it is not necessary to have two separate sections for short and full references. A disadvantage is that the full references cannot be sorted arbitrarily—for example, by author last name or by publication date—as in the previous two examples.

{{markup
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972b |page=5}}</ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{sfn|Elk|1972b|p=6–7}}

==References==
{{reflist}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972b |page=5}}<!--This is CITEREFElk1972b--></ref> Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{sfn|Elk|1972b|p=6–7}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{reflist}}
}}

==Inline page numbers==
This example uses {{fnote}} with the addition of adjacent page numbers in the text by using {{tlx|rp}}. This allows [[WP:NAMEDREFS|named references]] to be used, combining multiple references to the same citation in a single footnote.

{{markup
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972}}</ref>{{rp|5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref name=elk1972 />{{rp|6–7}}

==References==
{{reflist}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |ref=none}}</ref>{{rp|5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.<ref name=elk1972 />{{rp|6–7}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{reflist}}
}}

===Named references===
The following two examples use {{tlx|r}}. Whether using {{ldr}} or inline [[WP:NAMEDREFS|named references]], {{tlx|r}} compactly combines the functions of {{tag|ref|s}} and {{tlx|rp}}.

In this first example, {{tlx|rp}} must be used in tandem with the initial complete inline-citation, whereas {{tlx|r}} is used to duplicate the citation elsewhere with different page numbers:

{{markup|title=Inline named references:
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972}}</ref>{{rp|5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{r|elk1972|p=6–7}}

==References==
{{reflist}}</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |ref=none}}</ref>{{rp|5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{r|elk1972|p=6–7}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{reflist}}
}}

In this second example, {{tlx|r}} is used for all inline citations whilst the complete citation—rather than being written inline—is stored within the reference list itself. {{tlx|rp}} isn't used at all:

{{markup|title=List-defined references:
|<nowiki>The brontosaurus is thin at one end.{{r|elk1972|p=5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{r|elk1972|p=6–7}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972}}</ref>
}}
</nowiki>
|The brontosaurus is thin at one end.{{r|elk1972|p=5}} Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.{{r|elk1972|p=6–7}}
{{fake heading|sub=2|References}}
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=elk1972>{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972 |ref=none}}</ref>
}}
}}

==Other in-source locations==
{{More|Wikipedia:Citing sources#Sound recordings}}
Often, a page number is not appropriate such as when citing an audio or video source or a book that has no page numbers. The {{cs1}} templates have an {{para|at}} parameter that can be used to include non-page locators. The [[:Category:Author-date citation templates|Author-date citation templates]] use {{para|loc}}.

Some example locators: section (sec.), column (col.), paragraph (para.); track; hours, minutes and seconds; act, scene, canto, book, part, folio, stanza, back cover, liner notes, indicia, colophon, dust jacket, verse

==See also==
*{{section link|Wikipedia:Citing sources#Citing multiple pages of the same source}}

{{Wikipedia referencing}}
{{Help navigation}}

[[Category:Wikipedia citation administration]]