Help:Footnotes
Wikipedia help article
This page explains how to create the Footnotes section for Wikipedia articles. In this context, the word "Footnotes" refers to the Wikipedia-specific manner of documenting an article's sources and providing tangential information, and should not be confused with the general concept of footnotes. This how-to does not cover the formatting of citations within the Footnotes section, which is reviewed in Citing sources.
Footnotes are used most commonly to provide:
references (bibliographic citations) to reliable sources,
explanatory information, or
source information for tables and other elements.
Footnotes or shortened footnotes may be used at the editor's discretion in accordance with the guideline on Variation in citation methods.
Only certain types of material on the English Wikipedia are required to have an inline citation. There is no requirement to provide a citation for every sentence, because multiple sentences may be supported by the same footnote. For advice on which material should be cited, see the guidelines on When you must use inline citations, the Good article criteria and When to cite. For advice on how to organize and format bibliographic citations, see the guideline on Citing sources and examples of Citation templates.
Footnotes rely upon the Cite mediawiki software extension, which enables use of the HTML-like elements <ref>...</ref>, <references />, and <references>...</references> within wikitext.
The public source identifies “Help:Footnotes” as wikipedia help article. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Help, Footnotes and Wikipedia.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Help:Footnotes”, the useful work is to connect “wikipedia help article” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4664147. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Help:Footnotes”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Help:Footnotes primary sources, Help:Footnotes archive and Help research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Help:Footnotes”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Help:Footnotes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.